At its January 7 worksession, the Greenbelt City Council discussed possible changes to its standing rules for the 2025-2027 session. As this was a worksession, no votes were taken but these changes can be voted on at a future meeting.
Meeting Time Limits
Councilmember Kristen Weaver proposed adding a time limit of two-and-a-half hours for a council meeting. After that votes could be held to extend the time of the meeting by a half-hour. Councilmember Jenni Pompi suggested, instead, a two-hour limit for meetings with votes for 15-minute extensions. City Manager Josué Salmerón noted the fiscal and workload impact on the staff of extended meetings.
Swearing-in Order
Weaver proposed swearing all councilmembers in together, followed by the swearing in of the mayor after selection by council. Processing in this way would officially install councilmembers before they took the official act of selecting the mayor.
Worksession Types
Weaver proposed clarifying what is meant by the various types of worksessions: standard worksession, public hearing, town hall, listening session, meet and greet, stakeholder meeting and retreats. What these meetings are called impacts public expectations, notice requirements, the role of staff, materials presented and minutes taken.
Scheduling Worksessions
Pompi proposed that worksessions should not be scheduled for times when councilmembers have advisory board or committee meetings. She also proposed that a portion of worksessions on the first and third Monday of each month should be reserved for agenda and schedule review.
Topical Subcommittees
Weaver proposed establishing subcommittees to bring research back to the full council for action, and that a member of the subcommittee would lead worksessions related to that topic. Mayor Emmett Jordan expressed agreement with having subcommittees but believed subcommittees should be ad-hoc to allow for greater flexibility.
Public Comment Policy
Weaver proposed that people desiring to speak at a council meeting sign in first and indicate what items they wish to comment on. Councilmembers discussed what else might be in a future public comment policy. Suggestions included a separate time for public comment, a limit on comments to three minutes (excluding petitions and requests) and a limit on the number of electronic channels the public can use to make comments through (email, Zoom, etc.) to avoid confusion.
Seating Arrangement
Weaver proposed updating the Standing Rules to reflect the current practice of seating members in order of total votes.
Addressing Misconduct
Weaver offered a process to address councilmember misconduct in a meeting. Actions to address misconduct could escalate from a request for order, through a call to order, a recording of the misconduct in the minutes, censure, expulsion of the offending member, to recessing to another time. Weaver also offered a process to address councilmember misconduct outside meetings. There was also a discussion of to whom the misconduct would be reported and potential conflicts of interest.
Pledges
Weaver proposed formally adding the reading of the Community Pledge to the agenda of all regular meetings. Councilmember Frankie Fritz suggested changing the recitation of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance to a reading to avoid potentially forcing the public into unwanted displays of patriotism.
Packet Delivery
Weaver proposed specifying that delivery of meeting packets to councilmembers via email should use email certificate procedures.
Weaver proposed creating a list of scenarios (for example, requests for Eagle Scout or Education awards) where certificates of recognition would automatically be created to limit the amount of work for staff.
Limiting Comments
Pompi proposed limiting councilmembers to speaking no more than twice on a single item.
Readings for a Resolution
Pompi proposed having only a single reading of resolutions when lawful.
