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Motion to continue Item 20 fails amid split over waiting for quarterly report
Summary
Directors debated whether to delay Item 20 pending a quarterly report. A motion to continue was defeated on a roll-call vote, 2 ayes to 6 nays, with three members absent; the chair said she voted no to avoid delaying city work.
Directors on the Providence Board of Contract and Supply debated whether to continue Item 20 to allow staff to provide a quarterly report; a motion to continue was made but failed on a roll-call vote of 2–6, with three members absent.
A board member moved to continue Item 20 to the next meeting while staff checked whether the required quarterly report had been filed with City Council. The motion was seconded and the chair called for a roll-call vote after some members requested a recorded outcome rather than a voice vote. The clerk recorded the roll call and announced the motion had failed: two ayes, six nays and three absences.
After the vote the chair explained her reason for voting no: she said she did not want to hold up city work while staff confirmed whether a quarterly report existed. "I can speak for myself and just say that I voted nay because I don't wanna hold up work in the city to find out if we have a quarterly report submitted," the chair said on the record.
Other directors argued that routinely continuing items to review documentation is part of careful oversight; one director suggested staff could secure the requested information within about 30 minutes after the meeting and that continuing the item would allow fuller review. Staff agreed to follow up on whether the city fleet manager should attend a future meeting to answer questions about a related Item 21.
Because the motion to continue failed, Item 20 remained on the agenda and was considered as originally scheduled; the board later moved forward to approve Items 1–27 in a separate roll-call vote.
The clerk will note the vote in the minutes and staff will follow up on the requested quarterly report and on scheduling the fleet manager if the board requests that official to attend a future meeting.
