Small group meeting compromise

Greensboro City Council person Nancy Vaughan described her concerns about the current small group meeting policy, that the council will revisit this evening. She made a good point about the inefficiencies created by the policy. Specifically, the inability for two council persons to quickly meet with city staff is a hindrance to efficient action.

The policy demands a 48 hour advance public notice if any two or more council persons are to meet with staff. As Nancy pointed out, that is even more ludicrous if two council members are already at City Hall working together on an urgent matter. If questions arise, they cannot just pop into a staffer's office and get some answers.

So, yeah. Maybe we can clear the decks a little bit for council members who want to hustle. But that doesn't have to happen at the expense of the gains in transparency the policy achieved

Here are some ways that the policy could be adjusted so that council members are not frustrated and transparency is not stymied.

1. Keep the audio recording requirement.
   Establishing a public record keeps the meetings accessible to the public, even if after the fact, and does not interfere with speedy scheduling.
2. Increase the number of "small group."
   Raise the advanced public notification requirement for a meeting with two council persons to three or more.
3. Make a public notice within 24 hours of the end of the meeting. The point of public access to small group meetings is to know who met and what city business they discussed. With audio recordings available, a public notice shortly after the meeting would serve that purpose.