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Citizen Government Review Committee adopts rules, sets 20-minute standard presentation time
Summary
The Citizen Government Review Committee voted to adopt proposed committee rules with deletions of three provisions and an amendment extending standard presenter time to 20 minutes; the motion carried by a five-member majority.
The Citizen Government Review Committee voted Feb. 19 to adopt a set of committee rules with three provisions removed and a longer standard presentation time for outside speakers.
The motion, approved by the committee, omits rules numbered 2, 10 and 12 from the draft Brandy (staff) presented and changes the proposed speaker time limit from 15 to 20 minutes. Chair Jim Kout led the discussion and called for the vote; the committee reported five members voting in favor and the motion carried.
The committee had debated which procedural items to keep after Brandy explained the draft was adapted from existing, longer-standing council committees: “There really are no, set rules for committee with the city of Topeka. So I just kind of went through, some of the committees that are already in existence,” Brandy said during the discussion. Kout recommended deleting rules 2, 6 and 10; the committee ultimately endorsed deleting 2, 10 and 12 and amending the time limit.
Members split on the presentation time. One member argued in favor of a shorter standard: “I think 15 minutes is a pretty good time point,” while other members proposed 20 minutes as a compromise; the committee settled on 20 minutes as the default for presenters, with the option to extend time in specific cases.
A committee member moved to adopt the rules as amended; another seconded the motion and the body voted. For the record, the committee reported five affirmative votes and no votes opposed; an alternate member later clarified that alternates do not cast votes, confirming the five-member majority.
The adopted changes are administrative rules for committee process and do not alter City of Topeka ordinances or charter provisions. The committee asked staff to publish the final rules and proceed under the new presentation-time standard at future meetings.
Actions recorded at the meeting indicate the committee formally adopted the rules as amended and will apply the 20-minute standard to scheduled presenters.
