Council Code of Conduct??

Here is a letter my neighbor e-mailed to me in response to the March 7th council meeting. The letter is relevant to past and future meetings so please read it.

Hello, Blogmeister:Feel free to post this if you want. My other post didn't seem to "take"---probably an AOL thing or something. Recently, I attended my first City Council meeting and frankly wasn't sure if I'd made a wrong turn and landed on the set of the Jerry Springer show. Friends, Romans, New Albanians---here's the deal. If I were an industry rep thinking of relocating a major business to this city, and I happened to drop by the meeting I witnessed, I would frankly reconsider the move. (And, trust me, people who are considering doing significant business in a city DO sometimes check out things like how such basic governmental meetings function.) The chair certainly didn't have a handle on the meeting but those garden-variety citizens attending who didn't know how to behave were shameless and many in number. I was inspired to slush back to the office and write a proposed Code of Conduct for these meetings---a covenant of responsibility, if you will, for both the council and the council meeting attendees. I've passed it along to a couple of council folk already and suggested they might want to adopt some version of this. But, maybe we need a groundswell movement! I would simply say that, in my view, an open meeting like the council is in essence a front door to our community. We can choose, as citizens and as a council, what type of front door impression we want to present to the wider world. I just hope we'll all choose wisely and, when in doubt, default to professionalism.KC

CODE OF CONDUCT
NEW ALBANY CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS

Thank you for attending this meeting of the New Albany City Council. As so to ensure that our meetings progress smoothly and professionally, we have adopted a meeting Code of Conduct. Your cooperation is appreciated.

As a council, we pledge to:
1. Start our meetings on time.
2. Stick to our pre-published agenda.
3. Follow Robert’s Rules of Order as our meeting protocol.
4. Provide some opportunity for guests to speak.
5. Address each other clearly so that we can be heard throughout the room.
6. Remain individually following meeting adjournment for a minimum for 15 minutes for additional comments and questions from individuals.
7. Provide e-mail addresses where we can be reached until the next scheduled meeting.

As for guests, we respectfully ask that you:
1. Enter and exit the council room quietly and unobtrusively, showing consideration to other guests who are already seated, as well as your council members.
2. Refrain from personal conversations or verbal outbursts while the council is in session.
3. Silence cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices and refrain from cell phone conversations while the council is in session.
4. Refrain from inappropriate dress, disrespectful signage, and other obtrusive visual forms of personal expression in the meeting room and hallway.
5. Not engage in conversations directly outside the meeting room that may interfere with council or guests’ ability to hear the meeting proceedings. Please take these conversations to the perpendicular hallway on the third floor or to the first floor building lobby.
6. Not encounter council members during their five-minute breaks.
7. Refrain from bringing food into the council meeting room.
8. Respect council members’ time prior to and immediately following the meeting.
9. If you wish to speak for up to five minutes, place your request on a note card (provided) and pass it to the chair who will recognize you at an appropriate time to come to the podium.
Thank you for helping our council to serve you better.