The Sedona City Council finished up its spring cleaning this week as it approved updates to its own policies and procedures, but not without debate on a few items.
The discussion came during the council’s meeting Tuesday, April 13. The purpose of these rules is to provide standard methods and general policy guidelines for members of council to use when conducting business with city staff, the general public and among its own members.
This item, which was approved unanimously, was a continuation of the March 23 council meeting. Before receiving approval, council discussed the procedure to fill a vacancy on the council, the process of choosing a vice mayor from among the council and whether or not to change meeting start times.
Vacancy
As for filling a vacancy, which has occurred six times in the last six years, the policy states the following:
■ Upon the death or resignation of a council member, the city clerk shall immediately advertise the vacancy, request applications from all interested and qualified citizens and accept applications for a period of not less than three weeks.
■ After the application period is closed, city council shall meet to determine which applicants to interview. Applicants who receive a majority vote of council members present in a vacancy.
“The election of councilors is a public process,” he said. “Each one of us who has campaigned knows what it’s like to go through the vetting process by the newspaper and to stand up in front of the forums and make our comments, answer the questions and to raise money. It’s all a very difficult process. Because that’s a public process, it seems to me to be very important that we definitely err on the side of keeping this as public a process as possible.”
The majority of the council members felt the current wording is sufficient, so they made no changes.
Vice Mayor
Council also discussed the selection process of a vice mayor, which is voted upon by council. At the first council meeting when new members are seated — following a general election — council shall designate one of its members as vice mayor. This individual shall serve until after the next general election. The designation process shall be as follows:
■ The mayor will solicit a single nomination from the mayor and each council member desiring to nominate until all nominations have been made. Nominations do not require a second. When it appears that no one else wishes to make a nomination, the mayor will declare the nominations closed.
■ After nominations have been closed, each nominee will have an opportunity to speak. If the nominee chooses to speak, it may not be for longer than three minutes. Any person nominated may withdraw his or her name from nomination.
■ Then voting for vice mayor will take place in the order nominations were made. Council members will be asked for a voice vote and a raise of hands. As soon as one of the nominees receives a majority vote of the council members present, then the mayor will declare that individual elected. No votes will be taken on the remaining nominees.
■ If none of the nominees receives a majority vote of council, the mayor will call for nominations again and repeat the process until a candidate receives a majority vote.
■ A tie vote results in a failed nomination.
Meeting Times
During the March 23 meeting, when council first discussed policies and procedures, one of the topics that lasted the longest was whether or not to change the start time of council’s Wednesday meetings. Those meetings start at 3 p.m., as opposed to the normal council meetings, which begin on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 4:30 p.m.
At that March meeting, an informal vote of the council split 3-3, and thus failed. Now with Thompson on the council, which gives them an odd number on the dais, they discussed it again. Councilwomen Kathy Kinsella and Holli Ploog felt a later starting time would encourage more people to attend or run for council.
Councilwoman Jessica Williamson agreed.
During this week’s meeting, those three were still in favor of the change while Mayor Sandy Moriarty, Vice Mayor Scott Jablow and Councilman Tom Lamkin were opposed to changing it, citing staff having to work later and whether or not it would, in fact, encourage more people to attend since the Wednesday meetings are almost always for discussion and direction only and no vote is taken. They also said those in the public who cannot attend can always call or email members of council with their questions and concerns.
Thompson agreed with Moriarty, Jablow and Lamkin, so the Wednesday starting time will remain at 3 p.m.
