The Otsego County
Board of Representatives Rules of Order (Rule #2) says that
Regular meetings of the Board shall be held at 10:00 a.m. on the
first Wednesday of each month. All regular and special meetings of
the Board shall be held at the Representatives' Chambers in the
Village of Cooperstown, New York, except that upon approval of the
affirmative weighted vote of at least three-fourths of the total
membership of the Board, the time and meeting place of the Board may
be changed...
So the time and day and place of the regular monthly meetings are
baked into the Rules of Order, which are the Board's bylaws. And it
takes three fourths of the board – three fourths! - to make a
change.
Our monthly meetings are in the middle of the day, on a weekday (see below). The fact that it takes three fourths of the Board to change
this – and nothing else we do is held to such a high standard –
suggests something fishy, at least to me. When this rule was
established, long ago, it was in someone's interest to make it very,
very hard to change the meetings to the evenings, when many more of
us can attend and participate. Having the meetings midday, midweek,
means that it is much harder for nine-to-fivers to run and serve in
the Board, and easier for small business owners, farmers and retired
folks to run and serve. Guess which group the perpetual majority
party is more likely to be made up of?
Time to move into the 21st century and embrace diversity
and citizen participation. In the January meeting, Andrew Stammel
will propose this change to the Rules of Order: that the time, day
or place of the regular monthly Board meeting will be established by
majority vote.
Majority vote is the way we make the vast majority of our decisions,
profound or trivial. If the majority of the Board – this or any
future Board – wants a change, they should be able to do it, and
not be held hostage by the partisan machinations of long-forgotten
members.