Wichita City Council member Jim Skelton is right to criticize the council practice of putting important city business into workshop consent agendas where there are no cameras or public input.
Based on his concerns, the City Council last week directed city staff to draw up new rules for the workshops, including one that would allow a council member to pull an item out of a consent agenda for full council public debate — as Skelton demanded be done for the recent Eaton Place loan decision. Skelton also called for a top-to-bottom review of council rules, which he calls “out of date and a complete mess.” And while they are at it, how about televising the workshops?
This is an opportunity for City Council members to show their commitment to transparency and openness on city decisions.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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27 Comments
Don’t hold your breath. Not only the City Council but the Manager’s office prefer the cover of darkness. This has always been the case.
Ben Huie,
I’m beginning to glimpse just what a hotbed of cronyism and nepotism this city is. And the city fathers wring their hands and wonder why the best and brightest get the hell out of here at the earliest opportunity?
This is a city council that has held illegal meetings for years. It was pointed out pretty clearly by Sharon Fearey that they are still doing it. Remember when Skelton asked for the Eaton to be pulled off and Sharon said we had this all worked out in executive session? That was illegal but she will get by with it just like she always has.
They will not make the workshops public because then people would see what they really do. Which are great deals for their friends and buddies? The city manager is no better when he puts that many things on a consent agenda in the first place. He wants to hide as much as he can also.
So what do you do? The people have to speak up and let their local elected officials know that they want and open and honest government. Not one that operates behind closed doors. Carols Mayans of all people should be very upset with this. Considering what country he comes from. But it appears that the secret meetings do not disturb him enough to make any changes.
It took a new council person to come on and start asking the right questions. It is time for the council to listen and get out of the old ways and into the new. Provide an open and honest presentation of what the city manager and city council does.
You may want to also consider having a meeting a least once a month or more of an evening so that the average person could attend. Some of the towns around Wichita do that and they get more public input. But that may be what the city council is afraid of. They would have to do things in front of the people.
Years ago when Stan Reeser was elected to the Council I told him to cultivate his own information sources independent of the City Manager. Far too much of the information Councilmen receive is “sanitized” by staff.
“If I can control the information you receive I can control you”
Why should they have out-of-public-eye sessions? There is literally no excuse for it.
It is tragic that certain issues have been handled behind closed doors. There is no excuse for it. However, we may be seeing a change in this policy now. These rushes to judgment and blind mistrust some of us are guilty of is insane. Only if the policies do not ultimately change are we entitled to storm city hall and lynch the perpetrators. In the meantime, guys, let’s put down our pitchforks and torches and give them a chance. Geez.
Give them a chance Steve? For how many years? This has been going on for decades.
I remember the whole Chris Churches fiasco several years back that secret sessions for special deals came to light. It ended his career.
The public been burned on this before and will again unless they open them up.
Joe – and how much was that bottle of wine? $500?
Joe,How many chances do you want to give them? They should be aware that the public is who they serve and they should be willing to work where the public can see them.
They seem to think that because their staff likes the status quo then everything should stay the way it has been. Sharon and Bob Martz were there when Bob Knight held that illegal meeting in the offices. She knows better. Carlos was a legislator and they hold their meetings in the public. The rest of them should have heard about it in the news and they also should have been smart enough to know that things should be done in front of the public not behind some closed doors.
So there is not a learning curve needed here. It is about getting off of their high horses and remember that they work for the people not themselves or their little staff people. They also do not work for the City manager but they seem to have forgotten that also.
Ruby – I think you are referring to Steve, not Joe.
‘little staff people’…we have leprechauns in City Hall now?
I know some people who work there, and they are honest, hard working people who don’t necessarily deserve the animosity that is directed toward the elected council.
You are correct. I did mean Steve. Thank you for correcting me. Joe I apologize.
raptor – I don’t think the slams against staff are directed toward the rank and file but rather the entrenched big shots.
The majority of the citizens of Wichita do not care what the city does. Just watch the council meetings on Channel 7. I would bet that maybe 10 people are in the audiance. Until citizens go to the council meetings then maybe the council will have more open meetings.
What’s the point in going to their meetings? They have everything sanitized and put all the real decisions onto the consent agenda.
You’re right, Ben, this has been going on for decades. Decades under Chris Churches. Decades when Jim Skelton was NOT on the council. You cannot view elected government as one faceless entity. Elected positions often have a revolving door of politicians filling them (this is not necessarily a bad thing in itself).
Chris Churches is no longer around to completely screw up anything and everything he touches. Let’s give Kolb some credit–will anyone argue that he inherited probably the most inept and useless staff of any city manager in the nation??? And let’s give Skelton a chance to effect change–read the article carefully, it seems the council is adopting some policies they have never had before regarding open meetings.
What I’m trying to say is the face of government is not at fault for what has been screwed up in the past. People are. Churches. Knight. Reecer. Ferris. Ojile. Whatever. Most of these idiots are gone. Let’s give the new guys this opportunity to change things. And if they screw up this opportunity, then I’ll be right behind you in the lynch mob.
But nothing will change until Rebenstorf, Holderman and Bell are finally removed from City Hall.When, oh WHEN will Mr. Kolb FINALLY get around to doing the job we all thought he was brought here to do???
Unfortunately it seems that Skelton is still a voice in the wilderness.
Ruby–just saw your earlier post, and on this one, we agree :)
Thanks for the clarification, Ben. Yep, the ones I know are rank and file types..not familiar with the important types…
Yep, the “worker bees” are usually dedicated public servants.
This is the city councils way of bypassing the sunshine law. It is blatent cronyism with the publics okay. Why let the people know what really goes on behind closed doors? Aern’t the people too dumb to know anyway? Hell, they must be: they keep putting the same people in over and over.
Keith! You’re right. Nobody is paying attention to city hall and hardly anybody attends the City Council meetings or even watch it on TV, but the press does.
The Press is usually pretty good at spotting things out and if they do, they’ll let us know.
Mr. Controversy,
This I believe is a first!! Thank you.
True dat, Mr. C. Kolb still needs to take care of business by sending those three to the unemployment line. Has Rebenstorf ever won a court case for the city? Honestly. Seems like everytime the city is sued they lose. And many of the council’s decisions are based on his legal “advice.” My left butt cheek gives better legal advice.
Evidence Kolb is trying to do the right thing:
http://www.wichita.gov/TW/
Dismiss it if you must, but nothing like this has been tried here before–in fact it is being done in just a handful of places across the country. It takes some time to change the culture of an organization as large as the city of Wichita. Especially considering how many years in languished in mediocrity.
Let’s stay (or for some of us become) positive and give this guy a chance.