Gulfport City Council Meeting Analysis

The Warsaw Common Council is just that. The Warsaw Common Council (WCC) is made up of seven, resident elected government officials that exist to make Warsaw what the people want. There are currently seven elected officials to the WCC. The first two, are “at large” members; Elaine Call and Cindy Dobbins. Call is a lifetime resident of Warsaw and served in public service as Warsaw’s Clerk-Treasurer for 26 years. She currently works in the Wayne Township Trustee’s office. Dobbins is the director of the Warsaw Community Development Corporation (WCDC) and owns the Buffalo Street Emporium in downtown Warsaw.

All of the city commissioners were present for the meeting, they include: Todd Neville, Nancy Sikes-Kline, Leanna Freeman, Mayor, Nancy Shaver, and Vice Mayor, Roxanne Horvath. At the meeting just about every type of group was represented, city residents of St. Augustine, business owners, special interested groups, in particular the Clean Up the City of St. Augustine initiative represented by Ed Salvin, and even a local Neighborhood Association represented by its president Susan Rathbone was present. Almost all of the individuals I mentioned attended the meeting to voice their belief that there should be an increase in the budget for improvement of local roads.

The City of Gulfport, Mississippi is has an approximate population of 80,000 and a daily population of over 144,000. The Gulfport Police Department is responsible for providing police services for over 55.6 square miles. The department is made up of 67 sworn personnel and 57 civilian personnell. Our department provides patrol services, traffic enforcement, criminal investigations, narcotics investigations, community and intelligence led policing initiatives, an R.U.O.K program that checks on the elderly, school resource programs, community relations projects, Airport division, K-9 division, SWAT team, and a special events division to handle parades, concerts, and other public events held within the city. The department also provides other services such as assisting other departments in the city including the fire department, emergency medical services, public works, parks and recreation, and also outside agencies when requested.

On November 13th there was a Raymore City Council meeting held at the City Hall. The meeting was well organized and went over various topics such as the water bill change, more street lights, work areas being painted, and there was discussion of Christmas lights being added onto the City Hall in spirit of the holidays.

They also had a scripted method of discussing topics brought before the council. First the mayor would call an individual to the podium. This person would be the speaker that came for the

The board meeting was well run. The atmosphere was positive, supportive, inspiring and respectful. As you entered the boardroom, a table was set up with a sign-in sheet, agendas, handouts, and blue cards. The blue cards were for the public. If they desired to address the board concerning an agenda item, they must fill it out and submit it to the secretary.

Question No. 1: The urban governance official I interviewed is Mr. Joel Navarro, a third-generation Arizonan resident born and raised in Tempe and has lived in the Valley of the Sun most of his life. Navaro is a father of three children, Jillian, Parker, and Henley. He was first elected as a member of the Tempe City Council in Arizona in May 2008 and is today serving his second term after he was re-elected in March 2012. His current term will expire in 2016 ("Joel Navarro, Councilmember" Para 2-8).

The city council of Atlanta, Georgia servers as a local legislative government branch. The council is made of the president, Ceasar Mitchell and fifteen members elected from district within the city. The city of Atlanta is broken up into twelve different districts and three post, each councilmen is responsible for representing the needs and wants for their district. The members of the council are elected by the citizens, and they work together to pass laws, make general policies, supervise city government, and appropriate funds for various needs. Usually, council meetings are open to the public, and public input is welcomed. The majority the councils work is done in committees. In the committees proposed legislation is debated and the members of other government branches and the public are given a chance to comment. Each council member serves on at least three of the council's standing committees, and select committees and panels. This week the author had the chance to attend a City of Atlanta council committee meeting and view how the meeting was conducted and went.

Discussion of local government is a subject where eyes glaze over and information floats in one ear and right out the other. Most citizens know in greater depth about national politics rather than local, even if the city government has a greater influence and impact on daily life. With the permission of Professor Duckworth, I watched Frisco Independent School District’s board meeting online (link provided, pg. 4). The school board meeting explained a lot about the process, organization, and the structure of local politics.

The meeting started off with Public Comments which allowed the public to address the City Council and others on any issues or comments they needed to discuss. Each person got only three minutes to speak, that was their limit. Robert Dahl’s criteria, Effective Participation: all must vote and participate, was really inputted in this part of the meeting. The public really did participate in

This is the first city council meeting that I have actually attended. The meeting lasted about 1.5 hours. The meeting began with 2 citizen comments. The first speaker was Dr. Archer from Stone Crest Hospital, who discussed heart health. The Mayor Mary Esther Reed proclaimed that the month of February will be considered as American Heart Month. The second speaker was Elizabeth White from Read to Succeed. Read to Succeed is an initiative for literacy in Rutherford County. Ms. White presented the chosen book for the one community book program to the council members.

Following the portion of the meeting where the public could bring things to the table, the Council continued with its agenda. Multiple departments came and gave reports on what they were doing and their progress. Including

Chairperson Statement on expected conduct and decorum at Commission Meetings. The Board of Fire Commissioners welcomes you. The Board will operate with transparency and will properly post public notice and agenda for our meetings. The goal is to restore the public trust in this Board and its work. As Chair of this Board, I will run the meetings with decorum and respect, following Roberts Rules of Order. Doing so will allow everyone to be heard and for this Board to make decisions with both public and internal discussion and without confusion. Citizens comments are a part of the agenda and the District welcome it. The District asks that you identify yourself, that you keep your comments to two minutes, and that you be courteous and

The meeting continued with the Joint Consent Calendar, the consent calendar is a grouping of routine matters to be acted on in one motion. There were six items considered and recommended actions taken anywhere from issues related to utilities to professional services. At the end of this presentation it was open to public hearing providing any concerned resident an opportunity to speak. This was followed by consent ordinances which city staff members began to speak about Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and its draft citizen participation plan for years 2015-2019. This was followed by an ordinance for the Civic Plaza which would limit the use of skateboards, bicycles, and leashed animals during special events held at this location. Following these issues the council would make a decision which would be placed on record for public view. New business was proposed where an approval of long ranged property management was projected, but they motioned to push this event forward to the next meeting due to the absence of a council member who was more familiar with the issue.

I have never attended a community meeting or any meeting regarding my community therefore, attending this meeting for the first time was a great first experience. I was able to see how a meeting is ran and how the organization works in order to help make improvements in my community. When I went into the office the meeting was being held, I was offered an agenda and other informational forms regarding the meeting. The agenda provided information of how the organization of the meeting would be and who will be going over what topics. The meeting was a timed meeting where Richard Hernandez and Bill Houtt managed on recording to keep data. The issues that were discussed were citizen’s request for city improvements, a short review of the 2016 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) Accomplishments, which is a grant that helps build homes for low income families and was reviewed by Rhonda Haynes a community developer. Lastly, the Sidewalk at Divisadero and Rinaldi, North Visalia citizen report were also discussed by Bill Houtt a member of the committee, and construction issues in N. Visalia discussed by Lt. Brent Abbott.