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County adopts updated board meeting rules, adds annual review and time‑certain slots
Summary
The Multnomah County Board adopted a comprehensive update to its meeting rules, adding annual review, clarified agenda and scheduling procedures, reserved time‑certain slots and guidance for public testimony; the county attorney and commissioners emphasized implementation work ahead.
The board voted to adopt a comprehensive update to its meeting rules designed to bring transparency, clarity and operational changes to how meetings are scheduled and conducted.
Jenny Madcore, the county attorney, said the resolution replaces rules last updated in 2013 and includes commitments to review the rules annually, to refine the board clerk’s scheduling duties and to create two time‑certain agenda slots per meeting for board‑prioritized matters. The rules also provide guidance about how public testimony will be handled at agenda items (reasonable efforts to keep comments relevant to the item) while preserving speakers’ viewpoints.
Commissioners discussed specifics during the hearing: limits on any single elected official reserving multiple time‑certain slots (the rules state no county elected official may reserve more than one time‑certain slot per meeting), agenda prioritization tools for the board clerk and concerns about changing item order when members of the public plan to attend for a specific item. Commissioners said the rules will be treated as a living document and operational impacts will be worked out with the clerk’s office and county staff.
The resolution was adopted by roll‑call vote.
