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Council as the governing body for the city versus tYie role of the Mayor as <br />a member of that Council and as the presider at Council meetings. <br />If Council Members disagree among themselves about any of these <br />dividing lines under a Plan B form of government between Council policy <br />issues and Staff administrative issues, or between the Mayor's role as <br />presiding officer at Council meetings and the Council's role as the <br />governing body, then I suggest the Council seek the advice of a <br />Minnesota licensed attorney (presumably our City Attorney), the League <br />of Minr�esota Cities, or both. <br />2. Council Standing Rules of Procedure. <br />Call me dull, but I expect City Council Standing Rules of Procedure to <br />e�lain how a City Council proposes to organize its public meeting <br />process. Certainly, how the Council proposes to organize its public <br />meeting process is an important part of the Council's work. Consistent <br />with this emphasis on a meeting process, City Council Standing Rules of <br />Procedure deal with such issues as <br />• the prerogatives of the Presiding Officer at council meetings <br />(recognizing speakers, allotting time for speakers, clarifying <br />what motion is before the body, determining and announcing <br />the vote on each motion, etc.), <br />• how other Council Members appeal procedural rulings of the <br />Presiding Officer at meetings or how Council Members go about <br />reconsidering their vote on an issue, <br />• describes the nature of various kinds of Council meetings <br />(regular meetings, special meetings, executive sessions, etc.), <br />• describes the order of business that will be followed at Council <br />meetings, <br />• the start and ending times for meetings, <br />• and similar issues involving City Council meeting procedures. <br />The Council Member Elect's proposed standing rules of procedure do <br />deal in large part with meeting procedures but then address what seem <br />to be subjects other than City Council meeting procedures. For example, <br />as noted above, the proposed rules address the alloca.tion of city office <br />space, city purchasing, employee travel, employee grievances and various <br />other non-meeting issues. Even assuming these subjects have a policy <br />component worthy of Council consideration [see above), City Council <br />Standing Rules of Procedure would seem not to be the place to address <br />them. As a practical matter, I don't imagine anyone would think to look <br />in the City Council's Standing Rules of Procedure to find out about <br />employee travel, employee grievances, or the allocation of City office <br />space. <br />3 <br />