Elgin considers rule change for placing agenda items

The Elgin City Council is moving forward with a rule change requiring a consensus of two members to place items on the agenda for discussion.

The proposed change, which would exclude the mayor and city manager, was prompted by unhappiness with Councilman John Prigge's habit of single-handedly sparking discussions, at times lengthy, about topics including backyard chickens, animal control fines and recreational vehicles.

Council members voted 8-1 at the committee of the whole meeting Wednesday night to move forward. Prigge cast the only "no" vote.

The chickens discussion in particular "made us look foolish as a body," said Councilman Terry Gavin, who spearheaded the change. Serving on the council "is not an individual sport," Gavin said, also admitting he did the same thing once.

The move equates to wanting to "shut down" constituents who bring up issues, Prigge said.

"Is there anything morally wrong with trying to keep one person with trying to do city business at the discussion portion of a council meeting?" Prigge asked rhetorically.

But just because residents raise issues doesn't mean they should be addressed by the council, others said.

"The things (residents) come to me with don't need to be on agenda 99.9 percent of the time," Gavin said.

Many issues can be addressed by contacting the appropriate city department, Councilwoman Tish Powell said. "No one is trying to shut down conversation. No one is trying to shut down the public."

Prigge also took issue with making an exception for the city manager.

"I've never worked in a structure where the bosses couldn't do something but they gave an employee the power to do it," he said.

Gavin said he trusts the city manager wouldn't abuse that power.

Under the proposed new rules, agenda items need to include background information and description about any action requested, unless the item is purely informational.

That also addresses a complaint expressed by council members, including Councilman John Steffen, who said having background information on topics is critical. "We don't want to deny discussions or conversations, contrary to what John says," he said.

Mayor David Kaptain said he most objects to trying to create or change ordinances on the spur of the moment, which he called an insult to the council.

"This council's job is to provide clear, thorough, good ordinances back to constituents," he said.

Under the rules, city council members must request items be placed on the agenda within seven days of the meeting, while residents must do so within 14 days.