What was I thinking in 2007 when I voted for an ordinance prescribing City Council appointments? Following procedures described in RMC 2.16.090, the February 10 City Council meeting could go on all night.

At a minimum the ordinance provides for:

·         8-minute presentations
·         2-minute rebuttal

With 18 applicants, that’s three hours minimum plus time between presentations.

Then, City Council members have unlimited time to question the applicants, and the public has unlimited time to comment, limited by only two minutes per speaker.

My guess is that this will consume another 1 ½ to two hours, bringing us up to at least 11:30 PM before any motions can be made. It could be well past midnight before any voting actually takes place.

It would take a vote by all six members, but I will be asking for a suspension of the rules as follows to shorten the meeting:

·         Limit candidate presentations to 5 minutes.
·         Eliminate rebuttals.
·         Eliminate Council member’s questions to candidates.
·         Limit public comment to 1-minute per person.

Most of the candidates are already well-known to Council members, and in fact, many have been previous candidates or City Council members. Many have also been contacting City Council members and have been interviewed by them.