Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2005

Richmond Changes its Policies

By Rebecca Rosen Lum
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

RICHMOND - A city councilman has won his bid to shift some power from the mayor to City Council committees. With strong majority backing, the council Tuesday approved Councilman Nat Bates' plan to increase council committees to four members and to give them the power to select their own leaders, formerly the mayor's prerogative. Mayor Irma Anderson had cut the council's three committees to three seats each, saying council members had been overworked.

The council also decided it will meet twice a month rather than weekly.

Not all the council members supported the committee change, however. "An odd number (on committees) works better when you have a split decision," Councilwoman Gayle McLaughlin said. "We're going to have to cut down anyway when the council size is reduced."

In 2008, the council will lose two seats—a change voters approved in November.

Anderson said she had complied with charter changes Richmond residents approved more than 20 years ago, but interim City Attorney Everett Jenkins said the charter only empowers the mayor to appoint committee members—not to establish the size or select leaders.

The council voted 6-2 with one abstention. Anderson and McLaughlin voted no. Councilman Tom Butt abstained.

"It just isn't an issue to die on my sword for," Butt said. "The three-person committees seem to be important to the mayor, and I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt."

Bates has denied that the move represented a power struggle with the mayor. "I have great respect for the mayor," he said at last week's meeting. "We grew up together." For more than 20 years, committee members selected their own leaders, and the practice worked, he said.

"I think the mayor was thinking she would reduce our workload," Councilwoman Mindell Penn said. "But I am not aware that anyone complained or asked to have their hours reduced." The greater possibility of a tie vote is of little consequence. Even if members deadlock on an issue, it moves forward to the council, she said.

A smaller committee means "less discussion, less debate, less minority viewpoints," Vice Mayor Jim Rogers said. With four, "you get more likelihood that if there is something that's controversial to somebody coming from some perspective, that it will get flagged for us, and I think that is a good thing," he said.

The council approved the new meeting schedule on an 8-1 vote, with McLaughlin voting no. The new schedule will begin April 1 for a six-month trial run.

One member protested. "Under the present conditions, that would be a 10-hour meeting," Councilman Richard Griffin said. "I don't know how we're going to manage it."

But most council members concurred with Rogers, who said, "I happen to think meetings expand to fill the time we have."

The changes also included controls on comments from the public. Those who come to speak to the council about agenda items must keep their comments to two minutes if 10 or more want to address the same issue. The tighter time limit will not pertain to public hearings or the open forum section.

The council approved that measure unanimously, with Butt absent.

In recent weeks, the council has experimented with holding its executive sessions, which are closed to the public, at 9 a.m. The vote Tuesday made that practice official.

Reach Rebecca Rosen Lum at 510-262-2713 or rrosenlum@cctimes.com.