How to Conduct Legal and Efficient Council Meetings?
Effective Council Meetings: Civility, Procedure, and Public Trust in Montana Municipal Government
The purpose of a meeting of the city or town council is to accomplish the governing body’s work lawfully, in full view of the public and with reasonable opportunity for public participation. Whether the commission’s work is carried out efficiently and in an orderly and harmonious manner depends entirely upon each member’s determination to do so. A smooth commission meeting that engenders and sustains public trust, especially when the stakes are high, and the
audience is hostile, does not require that the council agree with or even like one another. It does require civility and well-practiced meeting procedures. Civility merely requires individual self-discipline. Procedures, on the other hand, require collective self-‐ discipline. As one sage put it, “Let us agree to disagree with respect.” That is precisely the purpose of all legislative
procedures. To that end, many deliberative bodies in the United States have incorporated some form of Robert’s Rules of Order as a guide to their own rules of procedure. So, it is, or at least should be, with Montana's municipal governing bodies.
audience is hostile, does not require that the council agree with or even like one another. It does require civility and well-practiced meeting procedures. Civility merely requires individual self-discipline. Procedures, on the other hand, require collective self-‐ discipline. As one sage put it, “Let us agree to disagree with respect.” That is precisely the purpose of all legislative
procedures. To that end, many deliberative bodies in the United States have incorporated some form of Robert’s Rules of Order as a guide to their own rules of procedure. So, it is, or at least should be, with Montana's municipal governing bodies.