Fairhope, Alabama
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| Fairhope city council meeting. |
SHORTER MEETINGS POSSIBLE
An amendment (to ordinance 1692) has been introduced to change the usual 6 PM meeting time of regular city council meetings to "after the work session" -- unless a public meeting is needed, in that case it will still begin at 6 PM.
Council president Martin, who originated the idea, said "we can eliminate some of the dead time ... when there is not a hearing ... go straight from work session into a council meeting."
Councilman Burrell called it a "good move" and Robinson concurred; they decided to let it lay over to the next meeting for a final vote.
When asked about it later by the Times, city clerk Hanks said the Town of Perdido is the only municipality in the area using a similar method.
Mayor Sullivan would not comment other than to say "it is not my meeting."
Based on the Times' experience, depending on the length of the agenda, work sessions that begin at 4:30 can end after only 30 minutes -- or last for the full hour and a half and over-run into the council meeting.
Procedures for the meetings are required by state law to be set during an organizational meeting held the Monday after each election, in this case it was November 2, 2020.
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| Proposed amendment. |
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