(Photos: Arianna Grainey/DigitalFreePress.com)
Paradise Valley rule change would require a vote of 4 for meeting topics
By Terrance Thornton | Digital Free Press
Paradise Valley Town Council appears poised to change internal rules determining how items of elected leader interest are placed upon a regular or work session meeting agenda.
Paradise Valley Mayor Jerry Bien-Willner introduced the internal mechanism change at Town Council’s Sept. 22 meeting at Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Drive.
“I think it is a very straight forward rule change that will take us back to what we used to have,” Mayor Bien-Willner said at the onset of the work session discussion. “Any member of council, of course, can bring something up for an agenda item for consideration.”
Mayor Bien-Willner says simple majority ought to be the rule of the day when matters of public discussion emerge on the local dais.
“Many on this council are aware the new rule has not been utilized to put things on the agenda,” he said of the municipal housekeeping matter. “My intention would be to ask for council support to have this rule change up for a vote at an upcoming meeting.”
What is sought to be changed is Town of Paradise Valley rule of procedure VII(b)(13) that, among other things, requires only three members of Town Council to agree to an item being added to a meeting agenda at Town Hall.
“I remember that we had to change it from four to three and I remember that was led by Jerry,” Paradise Valley Councilwoman Julie Pace pointed out over the telephone. “I don’t know where I stand at the end of the day.”
Councilwoman Pace asked for additional background regarding the change pursued in calendar year 2017 but the majority of Town Council opted to move forward with the pending vote for the rule change at its Oct. 13 meeting.
“I would like to see what this issue was that Jerry advocated for in the past from four to three,” she said. “I just need the full information to make a decision.”
Mayor Bien-Willner asserted the matter was not an opportunity for debate.
“You have made a lot of assertions of what I may have said or what I haven’t said,” he pointed out. “It’s a simple majority rule and I think everyone at this table agrees with that — I think it is a pretty straight forward measure.”
