Effective Local Government
May is the month when we celebrate municipal clerks, and Jurassic Parliament is delighted to join in offering kudos to these unsung heroes of our society. When you look under the hood of local government, you find clerks everywhere. They are the dedicated, quiet, consistent, reliable, and hard-working “go to” people who keep our country…
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Meeting minutes recording the actions taken by your council or board are a fundamental part of the meeting process. These are our guidelines for meeting minutes in local government. They refer to ordinary business and work or study meetings of councils, boards and committees. Public hearings are governed by different rules. Download PDF WHAT KIND…
Read MoreReaders may enjoy this article published by the Auburn Reporter about a recent Jurassic Parliament assignment. Parliamentarian schools City Council on how to be civil council
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Updated September 20, 2023 The public comment period is an essential part of local government meetings. This new publication offers 50 guidelines for public comment, and includes a sample public comment announcement. It is an update from our 2018 guidelines. These guidelines refer to ordinary business and work or study meetings of councils, boards and…
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When city councils, school boards or other public bodies hold their meetings, it is usual to reserve a time in the meeting for members of the public to speak to their elected officials. One common name for this is the public comment period. We recommend that detailed public comment should not be included in the…
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When city councils, school boards or other public bodies hold their meetings, it is usual to reserve a time in the meeting for members of the public to speak to their elected officials. One common name for this is the public comment period. We strongly recommend that elected officials should not get into back-and-forth exchanges…
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Here in Salt Lake City for the Utah School Boards Association, I find an interesting news item. The Kaysville city council is scheduled to pass a motion to censure a council member and request his resignation at this evening’s meeting. Read the Salt Lake Tribune news story here. Why pass a motion to censure? The…
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If you serve as an elected official on a local government council or board, you should know the types of remarks that are inappropriate during discussion at meetings. Robert’s Rules of Order and the common parliamentary law it is based on require that: Members of a council or board must be courteous to one another.…
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Your Citizen’s Guide to Effective Public Meetings is now available for interested citizens and residents. If you want to know the expectations for public meetings under parliamentary procedure and Robert’s Rules of Order, explained clearly and elegantly, download this Citizen’s Guide today!
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As we head into the Fourth of July holiday, I would like to thank all my readers who are involved in local government. Whether you are serving on a city or county council, a school board, a utility district, an arts commission, a library board, or as staff, you are doing quiet work that is…
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