|
All governmental
meetings in our county (and nation) are operated based on
Robert’s
Rules of Order. Many citizens do not know the history or purpose--or
even existence--of these rules, even though it is this set of rules that
ensures a democratic process in decision-making. Elected officials are
selected to come to sound decisions, and to do so, need to hear the
different views on the issues. In any organization, minority views must
be expressed, or the minority will quit participating in the democratic
process, and the process is no longer democratic.
In 1867,
immediately following the Civil War, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Major
Henry M. Robert was transferred to
San Francisco,
which was, at the time, a mix of people from very divergent backgrounds.
Social clubs and organizations were popular, and without warning,
Robert
was asked to preside over a church meeting and realized that he did not
know how. He soon noticed the lack of any agreement on how to run such
meetings, and the inefficiencies of the decision-making processes. So,
he set out rules for the “order” when considering any question (i.e., a
yes or no question) brought before a society or organization.
Robert’s
Rules of Order can be traced back to the rules of U.S. Congress, which
in turn came from British Parliamentary law. In
Robert’s
time, the House of Representatives’ rules were significantly different
from those used in the Senate, and neither set had the needed procedures
for running a social meeting for public input. Congressional rules were
established for limiting debate, while
Robert
wanted rules for managing questions and alternative views. His rules are
now the accepted method for running social or governmental meetings to
ensure sound decision-making.
The rules
are designed to include questions, opinions and different views in a
specific order. That is why we hear, “you are out of order,” in meetings
and courtrooms when someone has disrupted the process. The rules
directly provide for scheduled input from all those involved. Public
input and expression is so important to the process that even the lack
of public notification can be considered “improper order”--and decisions
made out of order can be declared null and void. Because the rules
provide a scheduled time for input, unscheduled outbursts, or improperly
timed statements, are not accepted. If you have input for the decision
making process, you must give it at the appropriate point in the
schedule.
Every group in
Calhoun
County
uses Robert’s
Rules to some extent or another.
Robert’s
Rules are sometimes confusing to the layman and are, by nature, tedious.
Thus, each group’s application of
Robert’s
Rules is directly related to their enforcement of the rules. The most
proper use (and stringent use) of
Robert’s
Rules that I have seen in
Calhoun
County
is at school board meetings. A solid use of the rules can also be seen
at CCCOA meetings, FRN meetings, and among many social groups within the
community. Citizens and members are permitted to give their input, but
only at the proper time.
County
commission meetings are a little more relaxed, almost always taking
place before a very small audience of two or three who are regularly
involved in the process. Audience members are asked questions or offer
information when topics are in general discussion, but the casual banter
is never permitted to take the meeting off the prescribed course.
Town council
meetings always seem to run off course. Because they occur before a
larger, often disgruntled audience that is not familiar with
Robert’s
Rules, the meeting’s chair (the mayor, or sometimes recorder) often has
to regain control of the meeting. Citizens are provided a set time in
the meeting to voice their opinions, but it is common for audience
members to burst out, ask questions or otherwise interrupt the process
at any given time during the meeting.
I know this
is not proper procedure, and yet, even though as a reporter I should
merely observe, I am one of the worst offenders. Six months ago, I made
a goal to keep my mouth shut during council meetings. The first meeting,
I did well. The second meeting, I repeatedly scribbled, “keep your mouth
shut,” in my notes for 20 minutes before I broke my silence one time. In
the last two meetings, my resolve flew right out the window.
Why can’t I
manage to follow the proper procedure? I have wondered and thought about
this, and decided that I can’t work my input into the proper process
because, with the Town of
Grantsville,
the process is somehow dysfunctional. The communication among department
heads, the mayor, the council and the public is broken, distorted or
simply closed. The information needed for proper decision-making and
sound public input isn’t getting around as it should.
What remains
is a governing body that isn’t equipped to make sound decisions and a
public that doesn’t understand the decisions that are being made. What
results is a reporter blurting out, “You can’t do that,” when she knows
she is out of order.
I can’t help myself, and
I can’t make myself “play by
Robert’s
Rules,” because, it seems to me, no one is.
|