Sumner council and planning commissioners attend training on Robert's Rules to sharpen meeting practice

Sumner City council members, planning commissioners and key staff participated in a joint training session on Robert's Rules of Order led by Tisha Geezer, a registered parliamentarian and trainer with Jurassic Parliament. The session, framed as interactive training rather than legal advice, focused on chair and member roles, motion processing, managing discussion and public comment, and handling points of order and appeals.

Tisha Geezer said the session aimed to give the bodies a consistent process so “policy gets made” in a repeatable way and to foster civility at meetings. She framed a central principle for deliberative bodies: “the authority of the group is more important than any single individual,” and walked attendees through how that principle affects chair conduct and member voting.

Trainer guidance emphasized that the chair serves as a neutral facilitator: recognizing speakers,…