- April 25, 2024
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A proposed ordinance designed to prevent Flagler Beach City Commission meetings from stretching on past 11 p.m. didn't make it to a commission vote during an April 28 meeting, but commissioners said they'd be willing to take some measures to tighten up lengthy meetings, without the need for an ordinance.
"This body has a reputation that goes back for many, many years, before I was even on it, at having ridiculous, marathon meetings. ... The lack of time management in meetings is absurd."
— ERIC COOLEY, Flagler Beach city commissioner
Commissioner Cooley had suggested the ordinance, saying the late nights can affect commissioners' wellbeing and are often a result of poor time management.
"We did not sign on to play the role of martyr because we didn't manage our time very well," Cooley said. "... This body has a reputation that goes back for many, many years, before I was even on it, at having ridiculous, marathon meetings. ... The lack of time management in meetings is absurd, and that's the issue. And that is not doing city business; that is making it a social event."
Some recent meetings have run long.
Commission meetings start at 5:30 p.m. A March 24 meeting ended at about 10:45, and a March 10 meeting ended at around 11:55 p.m.
"We were elected to represent the people, and if we have to stay here late, we have to stay here late. Nobody likes it, but we have to get through all of these topics."
— DEBORAH PHILLIPS, Flagler Beach city commissioner
The city attorney drafted a proposed ordinance amendment that would have added the following line to the city's ordinance on meeting procedures:
"If a meeting of the City Commission extends beyond 11:00 p.m., such meeting shall be adjourned once all consent agenda, general business, and public hearings have been concluded unless a majority of the City Commission votes to extend such meeting."
That would mean that on nights when the meeting's general business and public hearings crept past 11 p.m., the staff reports and commission member comments generally scheduled for the end of each meeting would be cut.
"I don't want to see any changes," Commissioner Ken Bryan said. "... We meet twice a month — twice a month, that's it — to do this business of the citizens of Flagler Beach."
Generally, he said, commission meetings are over by 8 p.m.
"I don't see any need for it," Bryan said. "When I took this position, I ran on a platform of doing the business of the people and doing whatever it took for me to do the job, making sacrifices."
Bryan said that he felt that cutting staff comments would be a slap in the face to staff.
"I would rather cut my comments out to talk about what I've done, where I've been or whatever, than to cut staff, because they're the ones that are actually doing the work of the people," he said.
Commissioner Deborah Phillips said she agreed with Bryan.
"We were elected to represent the people, and if we have to stay here late, we have to stay here late," Phillips said. "Nobody likes it, but we have to get through all of these topics."
Commissioner James Sherman said he had concerns about commissioners making important decisions late at night, and suggested adjusting things within the agenda to keep important items from being heard at late hours.
"I want us to be sure that we're not rushing through something due to feeling drowsy," he said.
Mayor Suzie Johnston suggested that commissioners reduce their comments when it looks like meetings could run late.
"I think making an amendment to ... meetings closing at 11 o'clock is a lot better than a 110% salary increase, like Palm Coast," Johnston said. (The Palm Coast City Council had actually voted itself a 151% raise.)
Late meetings, Johnston added, could discourage younger, working residents from running for City Commission.
At a salary of about $500 a month, she said, "It's basically a volunteer job, and we don't want to cut out a certain group of our residents."
"That's the same argument, a similar argument, to what Palm Coast used to justify their raise," Commissioner Jane Mealy replied. "I don't buy it."
Bryan suggested that if commissioners notice it getting late, they can ask the chairman to continue an agenda item to the following day.
City Attorney Drew Smith noted that they could also continue an agenda item to the next commission meeting, if no one is waiting in the audience to hear it.
Bryan said he'd be comfortable with that.
Smith noted that in other municipalities, if meetings routinely begin running long, the commission often has a conversation with the city manager, who designs the agenda, about tightening things up. But Flagler Beach City Manager William Whitson, Smith said, "is very mindful of what he's putting on agendas."
"So, in actuality, we don't have to do anything," Mealy said.
The commission didn't vote on the proposal. The meeting ended at about 10:20 p.m.
