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Council discusses adding civility language to mission statement; refers wording to executive committee
Summary
Councilmembers proposed replacing an existing line in the city mission statement with language that would explicitly encourage civil discussion; members agreed to send the idea to the executive committee for further consideration.
Long Branch City Councilmembers discussed adding explicit language to the city's mission statement encouraging civil and respectful discourse and agreed to refer the proposed change to the executive committee for further consideration.
Councilmember Glenn was invited into the discussion after Councilmember (presiding) read a suggested replacement for the mission statement's existing language. The proposed change would remove the sentence "we will treat all members of the public with respect" and replace it with wording that reads, in effect, "we will strive to promote civil and respectful discussions among all of us." One councilmember said the intent is to be reminded at every meeting to encourage civility.
Councilmembers said the item does not require immediate adoption and can be discussed further. "We'll agree we'll bring it to executive then," the presiding councilmember said, referring the proposal to the council's executive committee. Another councilmember said they were not opposed but wanted additional discussion.
No formal motion or vote to change the mission statement was taken at the meeting excerpt; the item was referred to the executive committee for review and possible future action.
Councilmembers said the change is intended as a meeting reminder about tone and conduct rather than as a punitive measure. The council did not specify a schedule for the executive committee review or a deadline for return to the full council.
