Council votes to eliminate sub-committees

SANDPOINT — The City Council is set to shed some subcommittees after a Wednesday decision.

At the regular April monthly meeting, a majority of council members voted to eliminate the Administrative and Public Works committees in favor of two council meetings a month. However, officials said much remains to be seen about what that will precisely looking like. The council will return to the issue next month to flesh out the details.

City Attorney Scot Campbell originally proposed the change after a potential open meeting law issue occurred early in the year. Because of quorum regulations, council members not involved in the subcommittee who attended as a private citizen risked a violation of open meeting policy.

While council members said that simply not attending other committee meetings was always an option, the two council meetings a month offered its own set of advantages. Since subcommittees can’t actually take any actions, two council meetings a month allowed for speedier decision-making and more flexibility in bill paying. Private residents who bring matters before the council for approval would endure less waiting on issues that can often be very time-sensitive. Finally, if council members said if they decide they don’t have enough information to make a decision in one meeting, they can return better-equipped in another two weeks and not a month.

“After taking the time to think about this, I realized that I really appreciated having time to think about it,” Councilman Aaron Qualls said.

On the flip side, council members worried the change would be unfriendly to residents. Because subcommittees are generally more informal, with members seated at ground level and speaking freely to guests, attendees often felt more comfortable when compared to the formality and podiums of a council meeting.

When council members and city staff set about defining the new meeting structure, they plan on taking measure to reduce the loss of comfort. Possibilities including allowing citizens involved in discussions to sit at a table rather than stand at a podium, or to have one meeting a month be conducted in a less formal style.

Because time is needed for staff to retool the meeting structure and revise city code accordingly, the changes will likely not go into effect until several months have passed. The amount of work involved prompted Councilwoman Carrie Logan to oppose the measure.

“Like I said before, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” she said. “I think this is a waste of money and city staff’s time.”