At the April 16 council meeting, the council discussed changes to Gulfport City Council’s rules and policies for future meetings.Photo by Patrick Heinzen
In recent Gulfport City Council meetings, rules and policies, specifically those looking at decorum, have come up. At the April 2 meeting, they looked at the current rules, and discussed changes they have.
Recently reelected Council member April Thanos (Ward I), along with Gulfportians, brought up some changes she suggested. This included topics such as moving when the public can comment on items of business, and how council members can put items on the agenda.
At the April 16 Gulfport City Council meeting, they voted on those changes.
Discussing Gulfport City Council’s Rules and Policies
While the changes came up at the previous meeting, there still was some discussion at the April 16 meeting. After reading Resolution 2024-21, Mayor Sam Henderson went through the proposed changes to Gulfport City Council’s rules and policies. The first was a rule encouraging council members to report back to the City after they go to meetings or events outside of Gulfport. The second looked at the order in which things get discussed, with public comment moving after the council discusses the item. The third change, which received the most comments, is one that would set City Attorney Andrew Salzman as the council’s parliamentarian.
Vice Mayor Ian O’Hara (Ward IV) had issues with the changes.
“I really think we should look at each of these separately, because I cannot support the whole thing,” said O’Hara.
When they talked about the first two changes, there were no issues. The third brought up some more discussion
Changes to Gulfport City Council’s rules and policies is not all that happened. Read what was overheard at the April 16 council meeting, presentations and proclamations, and ordinances and resolutions.
Parliamentarian
At the April 2 meeting, Thanos broached the idea of designating a parliamentarian for the meetings. This position would allow the City Attorney to bring up points of order and maintain decorum from the council during the meetings. This discussion came before the Mayor’s statement at the end of that meeting.
At the April 16 meeting, two city council members disagreed with this idea. Christine Brown (Ward II) talked about the importance of the Chair of the meeting, and how they are head of the discussion. O’Hara also disagreed with the position.
“I disagree because there’s instances where the chair is the person who is violating the rules,” said Paul Ray (Ward III). “I like the ability for an extra authority. The chair still has its own power to be able to say if a member of the audience is pointing out somebody specific where they’re not supposed to. They’re supposed to be speaking to the whole of council, then the chair has the authority to do that. At the same time, if the chair is out of control or whatever, then the parliamentarian can step in. I think it’s a good failsafe.”
Thanos agreed with Ray. The Mayor asked for a consensus, and the change was struck down 3-2, with Ray and Thanos voting to keep it.
Gulfport City Council’s Rules and Policies: Public Opinion
After the council had their chance to discuss, the audience gave their ideas. Lenny Guckenheimer brought up how it’s important to remember the passion and emotion involved with the job, and how they can impact the council members. Guckenheimer also brought up a part of Gulfport City Council’s rules and policies. Section N, item 3 states, “Council members shall refrain from making statements that promote the election or defeat of a candidate or candidates for public office.” He brought this up, and asked if it applied to the council members and mayor outside of the council.
The mayor and City Attorney Andy Salzman clarified that it did not apply.
After this, members of the public stood up to discuss why they wanted a parliamentarian. Caron Schwartz said she thought it was common it is for organizations and governments to have a parliamentarian. She also said she believed that meant the chair still would hold the power, and the parliamentarian simply keeps order and decorum. Bonnie Sklaren agreed with this, saying she thought that sometimes it could be difficult to calm down discussions and that parliamentarian would make this easier.
Kimberly Mikaliunas echoed this, saying that the council already practices this. The parliamentarian would only be there to bring up if the council violated a rule.
After the discussion was over, Resolution 2024-21 passed 3-2, with Thanos and Ray voting against it.
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