(Columbus) The Columbus City Council discussed an amendment related to items going to the Committee of the Whole at a recent meeting. The amendment calls for items that are reviewed by a city committee bypass the committee of the whole and go straight to council. Any item not going to a committee would need to come to the Committee of the Whole then to council for a vote. Alderman Michael Lawson says this makes sense.
“The one addition to that I would say is [is] that as long as there’s confirmation from the council liaison that it is appropriate to move on.”
Alderwoman Sarah Motiff agrees this is a good compromise from a previous discussion.
“I do think that there needs to be a council liaison or a committee liaison available when the recommendation is presented.”
On the other hand, Alderwoman Trina Reid is cautioning against the change.
“I feel like it makes government less transparent to have so many things hashed out in committee, where it’s much less public, people are much less aware,” says Reid.
Reid says the current set up allows time for the public to react to certain issues, and says it is poor timing. She says if the change is made to take items out of the public eye, it would appear to eliminate checks and balances. City Administrator Matt Amundson provided a counterpoint.
“We’ve struggled to fill positions, and I look at if I’m a resident of the community and wanna serve on a committee, ‘Does the council trust me?’ Am I engaged and involved to be part of the decision process?’”
The city administrator says that in his experience working in other cities is that the committees have greater knowledge of subjects on the agenda than any of the council members themselves and can get a deeper dive into an issue. This item will be discussed further at a future council meeting.
