At its March meeting Monday evening, the Henderson City Council voted 6-2 to adopt a policy concerning attendance at council meetings. At issue, among other things, was what constitutes an excused absence versus an unexcused absence and just how – and who – would decide which was which.
The proposed wording didn’t include “work” in the excused list, and it did include the 12 set monthly meeting dates – already on the calendar – as well as any “special called meetings,” which aren’t on the calendar ahead of time.
After a lot of back-and-forth discussion, Council member Ola Thorpe-Cooper made a motion, seconded by Council member Michael Venable to approve the attendance policy, with a revision that excludes the special called meeting wording.
Joining Cooper and Venable with yes votes were Council members Geraldine Champion, Garry Daeke, Sam Seifert and Tami Walker; Council members Lamont Noel and Sara Coffey voted against the motion.
According to City Manager Terrell Blackmon, the policy review came out of the council’s recent strategic planning session. As it stands now, council members aren’t supposed to miss four meetings in a single calendar year.
However, if they are unable to attend a meeting in person, they can join virtually and cast votes remotely, as long as their absence is considered an “excused” absence.
Noel did not agree that fellow council members be the deciding body to determine whether an absence is excused or unexcused; individual council members are supposed to inform the clerk when they know they will be absent.
Mayor Melissa Elliott offered an example to the group, saying that she had been able to vote when she was out of town for work, but she was not able to vote when she joined virtually while on vacation.
The council agreed to fall back to Robert’s Rules of Order and handle the absences procedurally when the roll is called at each council meeting, at which time the clerk would inform the council of the reason for a member’s absence.
Discussion about special called meetings included comments from Council member Noel, who said those meetings, usually held during normal business hours, shouldn’t be part of the attendance policy.
“Some of us are working,” he said.
Daeke acknowledged that daytime meetings “may be a bit much for some folks.” He said he used 42 hours of vacation time last year alone to satisfy council attendance policies. “Not everybody has that capability,” he said.
