Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Council Procedures Agenda Placement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council updates process for placing items on agenda, adds minimum 'yes' poll for staff direction
Summary
The Common Council approved an update to council rules and an agenda-flowchart clarifying how items are placed on the agenda; the update adds an affirmative, informal poll of at least three members before staff pursues items requiring staff time.
The Oshkosh Common Council voted on March 11 to adopt an updated flowchart and related council-rule language that clarifies the process for placing items on council agendas and for advancing items that require staff time. The council approved the change after members debated whether the old “nodding heads” approach provided enough clarity.
The adopted change formalizes a multi-step process: a council member may request an item, but the expectation is to discuss it with the City Manager first to identify duplication or existing staff work. If the item would require staff time or become actionable, the flowchart now calls for an informal oral poll; the council agreed to set a threshold of three affirmative council members for staff to pursue work beyond agenda discussion. Council members said this formalization aims to avoid wasting staff time while preserving a mechanism for individual members to place topics on the discussion portion of the agenda.
Council Member Larson and others said they preferred a low threshold to move items forward; Council Member Nichols suggested lowering the threshold to three rather than four, citing the value of a “healthy minority” that can pursue an item. City Manager Grill said the flowchart does not prevent a council member from placing an item on the discussion agenda but recommended a pre-meeting conversation for efficiency. The council voted to incorporate the flowchart and update council rules as noted; the roll call was recorded as carried 7-0.
Why it matters: The change clarifies how council members and staff will handle requests that could require research or staff time, creating an explicit, short-circuited step (three-member informal poll) before staff is asked to commit resources. The council asked staff to embed the updated flowchart into rules and to return with refined language in the rules packet.
