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Regular City Council Meeting <br />Mond�y, January 09, 2017 <br />Page 16 <br />ahead of tiine and, if necessary, acknowledgement of those questions and re- <br />sponses could be addressed during discussion or items removed for a separate <br />vote. <br />Discussion ensued, prompted by Councilmeinber Willinus, to clarify the intent of <br />Councilmembers Etten and Laliberte between current practice and how to portray <br />sufficient clescriptions of actions for consent agenda items for the public's edifica- <br />tion. <br />Councihnember McGehee opined that the city made very poor use of the screens <br />and overhead display opportunities it had available for the public. Councilmem- <br />ber McGehee suggested the consent agenda items appear on the screen as a one- <br />line description while it was being discussed or before taking a vote, rather than <br />those viewing at home seeing a blank screen and only able to listen but not visual- <br />ize a topic or issue. Councilmember McGehee opined this would help for those <br />re-watching or viewing a taped meeting. Councilmeinber McGehee urged the city <br />to iinprove its transparency and public Linderstanding by making better us of ma- <br />terials versus simply council member face tiine, and experiinent accordingly. <br />Mayor Roe agreed that Councilineinber McGehee's comments made sense; not- <br />ing other city meetings he'd viewed had explicit descriptions and spoke in support <br />of showing consent items on screen. <br />Councilmember Etten agreed with Councilmember Laliberte'� suggestion to <br />shorten descriptions for consent iteins by using a header or two, but to keep it <br />short but descriptive for the public, allowing them to track what its city leaders <br />were doing. <br />Given how rare it was for a member of the public to malce a coirunent on a con- <br />sent item, Mayor Roe suggested those could be dealt with on a case by case basis. <br />Worlc Sessions <br />City Manager Trudgeon reviewed staff suggestions and challenges in scheduling <br />worlc sessions, noting seven were scheduled for 2017, but also noting given the <br />liinited time available, none were included for January or Febrtiary or other <br />rnonths where only two meetings were available due to scheduling conflicts or <br />holidays. Mr. Trudgeon noted that left only adjusting start times, or additional <br />meetings, or using the practice of some cities to hold a work session before every <br />regular business meeting. However, Mr. Trudgeon noted that would require push- <br />ing meeting start times earlier if feasible. <br />Councilmember McGehee reviewed her historical perspective and institutional <br />history on past work sessions. Councilmeinber McGehee stated her interest in us- <br />ing thein as listening sessions, allow residents to bring topics to the City Council's <br />attention to think about, and providing open dialogue versus the current public <br />