There’s a formula, and this one has got it all. Another classic example . . .
1. Don’t tell the alders the meeting is coming up so it can’t fit in their busy schedules or help get the word out. It’s the classic Seinfeld non-vite.
Check. On the Tuesday the 19th at 11:30 an email gets sent to council staff to send out the following email for a meeting on Thursday, the 21st at 1:00. If lucky, they might have gotten a 49.5 hour notice of the meeting. Many alders don’t read their alder email when at work, so they probably first got the notice after they got home from their evening meetings. Then it not only diminishes the likelihood that the alders will attend cuz they can’t fit it in their busy schedules, it also limits the time that they can get the information out to their networks of people who might be interested.
Hi Lisa, could you please get a public meeting noticed for this coming Thursday , May 21, from 1 – 2pm at at the offices of Godfrey & Kahn, 1 East Main Street, 5th floor. Parking is off of Doty St. and will be stamped. To be safe, you may want to note that a quorum of the City Council and the ALRC may be present.
All Alders
At the last Council meeting I asked for referral of the proposed ordinance to establish uniform license conditions (banning “cheap” liquor sold at retail stores) to give the industry an additional opportunity to be part of the solution. During our first meeting , May 11, the industry made a commitment to work with the City to mitigate the unacceptable public behavior that occur at a number of the retail stores selling liquor. We will have another meeting on May 21 to identify how the industry will specifically work with us and the community.
The purpose for the public meeting is to share what we learned and continue our dialogue to formulate a framework for future actions to address alcohol abuse in various segments of the Madison community.
Collaborative, voluntary involvement by the industry combined with effective government licensing will have a higher potential to address some of the alcohol-related issues we are seeing in our community. As we learn to work together and join forces with other community and social agencies and governmental bodies, we can perhaps leverage our resources and abilities to make mitigate the public consequences of alcohol abuse.
Please forward this e-mail to anyone who may have an interest in this issue.
If you have more questions, please contact me individually. Hope to see you there, Michael
2. Make sure the meeting isn’t on the Weekly Meeting Schedule on Monday morning.
Check. The meeting wasn’t on the weekly meeting agenda Monday morning, so the people who preview the week ahead (me, the Cap Times and what happened to the Isthmus?) won’t put it on the week ahead that many people read. And those who do check the schedule, have less of a likelihood of checking back and noticing the meeting will be held.
3. Give as close to the minimal legally required notice as possible.
Check. At best, there might have been 48 hours notice, but the notice sent to alders went out yesterday morning at 9:00 and I’m guessing that is when it was sent to the clerk as well. Technically, you only have to legally give 24 hours notice.
Please find attached a meeting notice for the following meeting:
Possible Quorum of the Common Council & ALRC
Meeting Relative to Ordinance, #14171
Thursday, May 21, 2009
1 p.m.
Godfrey & Kahn Law Office, 1 E. Main Street
(5th floor)If you have any questions please feel free to contact Ald. Michael Schumacher at 242-1779 or district18@cityofmadison.com
Thank you.
4. Hold the meeting during the work day, when many members of the public are working and can’t attend (especially with such short notice.)
Check. 1:00.
5. If the meeting is held during the day, hold it at a time other than noon, when people might be able to attend during their lunch break if they work in the downtown area.
Check. The meeting is at 1:00, so people might have to ask to move their lunch with about 24 hours to rearrange their day.
6. Hold the meeting in a location other than the Municipal or City-County Building, so people who attend these meetings are unfamiliar with where they are going.
Check. It’s being held at a law firm’s offices, but at least it is in the general area of the city buildings so if you accidentally go there assuming that is where the meetings will be, you don’t have far to walk.
7. Hold the meeting at a private business.
Check. It’s being held at the law offices of Kodfrey & Kahn, but hey, they’ll validate your parking.
8. Make sure the meeting is not in legistar.
Check. If you look at the meetings that are being held on the meetings calendar here, this meeting won’t show up. You have to look here instead, at the notice of additional meetings, which very, very few people check or probably even know about.
9. Use technical terms instead of plain language in your notice of the meeting.
Check. You know what ordinance #14171 is, right?
I wonder if the ALRC members got any more notice than the alders did? Or what about the industry? They had been complaining that the process was bad, if the rest of it was like this, I can see why.
Just so you know, I first heard about the meeting about 10:00 last night, and I probably have a bit of an unfair advantage when it comes to getting the inside track on Common Council dealings. I do really need to remember to check that weekly schedule later in the week!
This is insider, unopen government at its best! Now, let the excuses begin. I could probably list them here for you, as the excuses are as predictable as the methodology.
