Erik Chalhoub here. I once covered a city council meeting that started at 6pm and ended at nearly 1am the next morning. The majority of the meeting was spent discussing whether or not to allow a Taco Bell in downtown Watsonville.
The lateness of the meeting became a big part of the story, rather than the actual business at hand.
It’s no secret that government moves slow, and its meetings just as much. All government bodies have long meetings, but Marina City Council in particular seems to get the most attention for how late they can extend, regularly ending at 11pm or midnight.
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, the council took a look at its meeting procedures to come up with ways to be more efficient. Ironically, this discussion was originally meant to happen in May, but kept getting punted over the months because the meetings were just going too long.
City Attorney Rene Alejandro Ortega presented the council with some options, drawing from Robert’s Rules of Order and Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, both used by many governing boards as a guide to run meetings.
One of the suggestions included having the council make a motion on an item after public comment, then have a discussion. Currently, after public comment is closed, the council will deliberate, make a motion, then talk some more before a vote.
Mayor Bruce Delgado said the council has always had late meetings, noting instances from when he was first elected in the early 2000s. He suggested time could be shaved off if council members asked most of their questions to staff before the meeting after reading through the agendas that are published the Friday before the meeting.
“One of the biggest time-wasters is me and other council members asking questions for the first time during a meeting that could have been asked before the meeting,” he said. “But it’s very difficult for humans to get this information on a Friday and always be ready to go by Tuesday night.”
Councilmember Jenny McAdams suggested moving the Tuesday meetings to Wednesday, and having a timer in front of the members that limits them to three minutes to speak.
The council will consider these and other changes at a future meeting.
Late meetings are more than just an inconvenience to those working long days and early mornings—they seriously impact the city’s business. During most council meetings that extend past 10pm, the members discuss which items are urgent and which can be postponed.
Work is not getting done in a timely manner. We’ll see if the council can strike a balance between deliberation and efficiency.