Galt City Council makes guidelines to promote respectful discourse

While it may seem like another stagnant policy document, the Galt City Council is hoping its new set of guidelines will improve decorum at meetings and help with the council's image.

The council put the final touches on an update to its set of policies guiding meetings, but it still needs to vote to approve them at a future meeting.

Changes to the policy include stronger language on decorum and inclusion of a silent prayer instead of a moment of silence. The council also decided Tuesday night to change the mayor's term from two years to one, starting after Mayor Randy Shelton finishes his term at the end of 2010.

To promote respectful discussion, the council added guidelines asking residents who speak at the meeting as well as council members to not make "belligerent, personal, slanderous, threatening or abusive remarks."

During the past couple of months, council members have continuously asked the public and their own members to be respectful. Often, the reminders have come after heated debates or outbursts on the Delta Greens project, a senior housing community proposed on Twin Cities Road.

At the Aug. 18 meeting, when the council originally discussed the proposal guidelines, several members of the public took exception to the council trying to regulate public comments.

Resident Rick Walters worried it would infringe on free speech, while resident Jerry Stribling said he wanted more specifics on how it would be enforced because speakers are often passionate or angry when talking to the council. Both Councilman Darryl Clare and Councilwoman Barbara Payne said the aim of the policy is not to restrict freedom of speech but to keep the debate civil. The two helped update the policies with City Attorney Steve Rudolph. The policy would only be applied in extreme circumstances, they said.

"We want to preserve the dignity of our City Council because it reflects how people look at our city," Payne said in August.

Little was said about the policies to regulate decorum at Tuesday night's meeting. Councilman Donald Haines was the only council member who touched on them, saying he is worried there could be some gray area.

If people make false accusations, he said he is going to call them out.

"If I call someone a hypocrite or a liar, I have good reason," Haines said.

Resident Al Baldwin was the only resident to speak on the policies, and he hopes meetings will be more positive with the new procedures.

"I've been to many of these meetings, and it's been very disruptive and abusive, and it's been taxing on council members," he said.

In other action

Park curfew: The council heard for the first time about changing the curfew ordinance to allow some parks to close at dusk. Currently, all parks close at 10 p.m.

After receiving complaints from neighbors at some parks, city staff is recommending the council change its ordinance, said Parks and Recreation Director Boyce Jeffries. The change would allow the council to vote in the future to immediately close parks at dusk if there are problems, Jeffries said.

He decided to propose the change after Police Chief Loren Cattolico reported problems with loitering. The problems happened in the evening when no activities were going on.

"As long as you have ... adult or youth structured activities, you don't have the problems. It is just when parks are open, and there aren't adult eyes observing the usage," Jeffries said.

If the ordinance change passes at an upcoming meeting, Jeffries said he plans to suggest Lions Oak and Harvey Park close at dusk unless there is a scheduled activity, like youth baseball, happening.

Jeffries said the ordinance change is similar to when the council in 2006 decided it could ban the consumption of alcohol from certain parks. Right now, alcohol is not permitted in Meadow Views, Harvey, Chabolla and Roundstone parks.

City budget: The city's budget was a topic of praise at the council meeting because city staff correctly estimated revenue shortfalls during the economic slump of the 2008-09 budget year and made cuts accordingly.

At the end of fiscal year on June 30, 2009, the city had a decrease of $254,817 in General Fund revenue, but staff had managed to cut expenses by $716,250.

When compared with other cities, counties and the state, Assistant City Manager Jason Behrmann said the city of Galt has been much more frugal.

All the council members applauded the efforts to keep Galt's budget in the black.

"I hope the citizens realize how well you are watching the taxpayers' dollars," Councilman Darryl Clare said. "To be this close on target in an uncertain economy, the Federal Reserve would be happy to hire you."

Councilman Donald Haines said because the city started to cut unnecessary expenses last fall, it is in a position where it hasn't had to make tough decisions like layoffs.

News-Sentinel staff

Also on Tuesday, in a 3 to 2 vote, the council decided to rotate the mayor position yearly. Haines, Councilman Andrew Meredith and Payne voted in support.

Meredith brought up the idea and said he has advocated making it a rotating position for two years. Currently, the council votes to appoint a new mayor every two years.

"We are already getting into a situation where people expect they should be the mayor," Meredith said. "I want this legislation to make sure it doesn't happen in the future."

Clare opposed the idea because he believes the mayor needs two years to be most effective. He said regionally, it helps to have a longer time, so people in other cities and at the county level will get to know the mayor.

Shelton said he believes the mayor should serve for two years because it takes about 10 months to develop a working relationship with staff and feel comfortable in new responsibilities.

"I'm trying honestly not to take this personally. ... I feel that if I vote to move it to one-year, I'm kind of saying to myself, I don't think I'm doing a good job," he said.

Payne said she agrees it should rotate, but added a stipulation to allow Shelton to finish out his term.

Haines also supported the change.

"It gives a chance for anyone on the council to sit in that seat," he said.

But the issue might not be over. Shelton asked city staff to review and bring back a procedure on how the council would change the mayor position so residents would elect a mayor to serve a four-year term. He said it would let Galt residents participate and decide who will lead the community.

He said he could not comment further until he receives more information from staff at a future meeting.

Contact Maggie Creamer at maggiec@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

LodiFreeThinker wrote on Oct 21, 2009 12:10 PM:

" Decency... civility... belligerence, verbal abuse... these are subjective terms. No one has the right to restrict free speech in a public forum. No one.

Also, going from a moment of silence to a silent prayer, defeats the point of a moment of silence. A moment of silence allows people to do whatever they way prior to the meeting. They can pray, to whomever they please, or they can use the time in any other, non-disruptive way.

Of course changing the name doesn't actually change anything, but its dishonest and misrepresents the intent. "

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funyon wrote on Oct 21, 2009 8:27 AM:

" It's a stagnant policy! Keep it a moment of silence--why the need for mentioning prayer? This stirs up unnecessary controversy. Keep religion in church or at home! Folks need to be able to express themselves fully at the meetings--from both the council and public sides. This is America and if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen-- Clare and Payne I presume. It doesn't help when some on council are getting their hands a little dirty and then don't want to hear from the public about it. Who cares who the mayor of Galt is--really? Galt has a city manager form of government and our mayor is nothing more than a gavel pounding, agenda reading equal member of the council. Galt doesn't have more important things to worry about? Geeshh! "

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