There were too many times during last night's board meeting that one member talked over another. "Kindness" was the word for the night, and kindness was not shown during the discussion of concealed carry on Richland 2 school grounds.
Early in the discussion Dr. Elkins-Johnson made a Motion to replace one word in Board Policy GBEB Staff Conduct. Rather than allowing a second to the motion, the Vice Chair invited a comment by the superintendent, and he passed. There followed extensive conversation and discussion, and then the Vice Chair cut off further discussion with her own motion and quickly insisted on a second, which was provided by Amelia McKie. The Vice Chair then insisted on a vote.
But there was already a motion on the floor, that by Dr. Elkins to replace the word "superintendent" with "Board" in the draft Board Policy. Dr. Elkin's motion was never seconded or discussed as part of her motion, and there was no vote on her motion.
After lengthy discussion the Vice Chair cut off questions and refused to allow Dr. Elkins to continue with comments and questions to staff, so that staff could re-work the Policy revision. The Vice Chair wanted to table further discussion, and she was corrected by James Shadd that the procedure is to postpone, not "table".
During other Board meetings a Parliamentarian would have observed and corrected board members who engaged in side conversations and who used electronic devices during a meeting.
In an official Open Session of a public body, which the Richland 2 Board is, everything said or written is public record. If two members engage in a side conversation, the public usually cannot hear what they say. If electronic devices are used for email, texting, instant messaging, etc., the public has no way of knowing what is being transmitted.
The Parliamentarian should probably not be one of the board members, because he or she will end up not being too popular among friends. It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. Or should.
No comments:
Post a Comment