North Adams Council Will Again Take Up Earlier Meeting Time
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council will again be asked to consider an earlier start time for its bimonthly meetings.
The General Government Committee recommended on Monday that council meetings begin an hour earlier than their current 7:30 p.m. start.
The motion was put forward by Chairman Wayne Wilkinson, who tried three years ago to get his fellow councilors to agree to 6:30 p.m. but was rejected on a 7-2 vote.
Wilkinson's reasoning has not changed since 2019: He believes more residents will participate if meetings start earlier -- and end earlier.
"There's a number of different reasons: In this kind of weather that we're having in winter, nobody wants to leave their house at 7:30 and come to a meeting," he said. "If we had it earlier then I think we'd have more reaction, we get more people in the audience, get more city involvement in what's going on."
He said the same would hold true of summer and that no one would want to "leave their pool" to go to a meeting. On the other side, Wilkinson argued, some people need to get up early for work and meetings, especially during budget season, can drag on to 10 or later.
The meetings are also structured so that residents who wish to speak on any issue must wait until all other business is over, meaning it could be 9 or later before they can have their say.
"We have the mayor's full blessing. She's all in favor of changing it. We have a council president's full blessing," Wilkinson said. "There have been a couple of people who have been resistant to it. I can understand that but I want you to know that most of city government is in favor of it."
Wilkinson had initially proposed 6 p.m., noting committee meetings are at 6, but committee member Peter Oleskiewicz suggested 6:30 p.m. as a compromise. Wilkinson said he had expected that and accepted it.
The third committee member, however, thought both times were too early.
"I honestly think any earlier than 7 p.m. is going to be difficult for people," said Ashely Shade. "I know there's a concern about time off of work and then also trying to have dinner before the meeting. If we move it too early, then everybody's eating very late. For some people that could be a problem. For me, I would prefer 7 p.m. as the earliest time."
Wilkinson motioned for a 6:30 start time, which was seconded by Oleskiewicz. The recommendation passed 2-1 with Shade voting naye.
Council approval would require an ordinance change. The Pittsfield City Council changed moved its start time from 7 p.m. to 6 in 2021 and capped meetings to four hours after numerous lengthy meetings, including one that went past 1 a.m.
The issue came up during the review of the council's Rules of Order for 2022. Several minor language changes are being advised for the rules, including changing mayor's and councilors' "concerns" to updates (at the request of the mayor), and replacing "chairman" with "chair" throughout removing "his/her honor" in front of mayor.
Shade also suggested new language regarding videocameras being limited to the back of the gallery, noting that NBCTC's cameras on on all four walls and the new Owl system is centered in the room. She suggested "videocameras not operated by the city" be restricted to the back row, which was accepted.
She also brought up Rule 15 on standing committee assignments that the appointment to the new Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Commission was not included. The committee agreed it should be placed under liaison but noted that it is an appointed voting member. Shade was recently appointed as co-chair.
Rule 28 requires diversity training for councilors within the first 90 days of being seated; Shade said with the IDEA Commission just being established, it was unlikely it would be ready to offer any training within the 90-day limit. She asked it be changed to 120 days, the first four months of the term and later that the report to the council, as suggested by Assistant City Clerk Marcus Lyon, be changed from March to April.
"I don't think there's going to be a problem but with the new commission just getting started, we're going to need a little time to get that set up," she said.
She also asked why the council did the Pledge of Allegiance when other boards and commission did not. Wilkinson said it was a tradition that had been added prior to his first term.
Councilor Marie T. Harpin, who was in attendance at the in-person meeting, asked that the city's employee handbook be included as a "guide and resource" for how councilors should comport themselves.
The handbook is on the website and Wilkinson asked that the committee members familiarize themselves with it so it can discussed at the next meeting that would address Shade's communication on removing the curfew in ordinance. He said he did not wish to get into it on Monday not knowing what was in the handbook. He also declined to take up a matter brougth forward by Councilor Jennifer Barbeau, also in attendance, on the wording of Rule 16, which states members vote on motions "unless excused on the grounds of clear and real conflict of interest by the President or the Chairman."
Barbeau saw this as a violation of the ethics training she had just taken in that it shouldn't be up to the president to decide who could or could not vote. Wilkinson thought it had been brought in up in the past and asked her to send it to council to be referred to the city solicitor.
"I really like to know what I'm talking about before we discuss things and I'm sure that everything you say is absolutely true. But right now, I don't understand it," he said.
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