Two recent targets for criticism — Iola’s city council and police department — were defended by city officials Monday.
Mayor Bill Shirley and Councilman Kendall Callahan said complaints about the time spent by council in executive sessions — meetings held out of the public eye — were unwarranted.
The executive session issue has been raised by Iolans for Good Government, a local group.
Callahan noted that in its first year, council met in executive session about 21 percent of the time, while the former city commission, in its last full year in 2010, met privately about 24 percent of the time.
That said, Callahan failed to note the council’s meetings have lasted almost twice as long as those of the former city commission, so in fact it has devoted more time to executive sessions than the previous commission.
Callahan presented a worksheet detailing the length of each commission and council session over one-year periods. The three-member commission, which was disbanded in April 2011, met 3,617 minutes total, 871 of which were in executive session. The council, meanwhile, met 6,273 minutes over the past year, of which 1,350 were done in private.
The meetings with the longest executive sessions for the council typically occurred when the group was faced with important personnel decisions, Callahan said, some of which the group inherited.
According to Callahan’s figures, the former commission’s longest executive session in 2010, 80 minutes, was exceeded five times by the current council in its first year.
Shirley noted the longer meetings — and longer executive sessions — were to be expected with the new council.
“With nine people instead of three, you have a lot more voices to be heard,” Shirley said.
Callahan challenged his fellow councilmen, and the community, to work together with a spirit of cooperation in the next year as the city tackles a number of challenges.
SHIRLEY ALSO defended the council’s use of private get-togethers outside regular council meetings to discuss city matters. One of the points advocates of an eight-member council supported, Shirley said, was the ability of its members to discuss city business outside regular meetings. Such gatherings were illegal under the former commission.
Shirley also noted council meetings are televised, providing a greater number of citizens to follow along with city matters.
In a related matter, Shirley reminded attendees that he will be at City Hall again from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday to field questions about a proposed ordinance that would that would drastically reshape the council. He hosted a similar session last week, during which nine residents showed up.
