Tonight's (Oct. 21) Council meeting is agendized to begin at 7:00 p.m., following a a closed City Council session someone scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m. to discuss a "Public Employee Appointment: Assistant City Manager" and "Public Employee Performance Evaluation: City Manager."

The main Council meeting includes significant public business on which the public might reasonably want to be heard, including multiple Mayoral proposed appointments to City Hall Commissions and a rebuild of the Belmont Plaza Pool. On one of those items, the Council's "Personnel and Civil Service Committee" (chair Austin, vice chair Uranga, member Lowenthal) has scheduled a meeting at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed Charter commission appointments and make recommendations to the full Council. Do you think it encourages public participation to schedule a Committee meeting on proposed appointments at 3:30 p.m...and then make the public wait or return until sometime after 7:00 p.m. to be heard at the full Council?

The Long Beach Municipal Code -- written by Councilmembers -- provides the following under "Rules of the Council"

2.03.020 Meetings.

...B. Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held in the Council Chambers of City Hall at five o'clock (5:00) p.m. on Tuesday of each week, except the last Tuesday of each month, on which there will be no regular meeting of the City Council.

And as if to underscore this, LB Muni Code section 2.03.110 procides::

2.03.110 Suspension of rules.

Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, no rule contained in this Chapter shall be rescinded, modified, suspended, altered or changed except by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all the members of the Council, and at least one (1) days' notice, in writing, being given of the motion therefor.

[UPDATE Oct. 22, 11:55 a.m. After publishing our editorial, we learned that the Oct. 21 Council meeting was agendized as a "special meeting" (which can be scheduled for any start time.) This makes the agendizing of the 7:00 p.m. legally proper...but still means the main Council meeting started two hours later than it is supposed to start. END UPDATE]

It's above our pay grade, but it looks to us like the Council can change its own rules in two ways: (1) by a 2/3 vote on least one day's notice or (2) amending the Municipal Code sections on its rules, which of course a Council majority can do, but only after agendizing the item, taking public input on the change, and casting recorded Council votes.

The Council hasn't done this. We understand the need for some flexibility, but we think things have gotten out of hand and we hope the City Attorney's Office will clarify matters. In our opinion, it's good to remember that the Mayor and Council can change their rules -- but only in a way that requires public input and public votes. In this case, we think some good things might come from revisiting the Council's scheduling of closed session.

We believe the Council could decide to schedule its closed sessions AFTER conducting its Council meetings. A a number of other cities do this. It avoids forcing the public wait, and wait, and wait as the Council did on Oct. 7 and now Oct. 21.

Council meetings are a social event for Councilmembers. They deal with the public's business. Ad hoc delays don't promote public participation; they discourage it. We hope the Mayor and Council will strive to promote the former and not invite the latter.