Presiding Over Public Searcy City Council Meetings

Searcy has a Mayor-Council form of government. According to the National League of Cities (NLC), this form of government includes three characteristics:

• "Separation of powers between directly elected mayor and city council
• Mayor has executive powers while council has legislative powers
• Mayor is directly elected to office, often full-time and paid"

On the surface, these characteristics describe our Mayor and City Council arrangement. However, some of the legislative powers of our Council have been absorbed into the executive powers of the office of Mayor.

Prior to the March 2010 passage of Ordinance 2010-07, the Searcy Code of Ordinances specified that "The order of business and rules regulating the proceedings at Council meetings shall be as provided by Robert's Rules of Order" (Art. IV. The City Council, §§ 2-50). While these rules allow the presiding officer to "prepare a proposed agenda," Mayor Belinda LaForce also required all agenda items for the City Council meetings to go through her for approval. The following emails obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are examples:

• Routine email from the City Clerk to the Mayor seeking approval for the agenda after the Clerk has assembled it
• Email from the City Clerk to the Mayor seeking approval for an alderman to put something on the agenda
• Email from the City Clerk copying the Mayor and seeking her approval for a citizen to be put on the agenda

This tight control of the agenda by the presiding officer was contrary to Robert's Rules, which says, "It is common for the president to prepare a proposed agenda, but that becomes binding only if it is adopted by the full assembly."

It is also contrary to the agenda sections of Ordinance 2010-07, which replaced some of Robert's Rules with simplified requirements for conducting Council meetings. Although that ordinance places strict restrictions on the people's ability to provide input in City Council meetings, "Any Council member" should be allowed to "place any item on the agenda" before the deadline for the Mayor to finalize the agenda.