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Council discusses who should respond to citizen complaints and how to streamline contact
Summary
Councilors debated whether the mayor or a designated liaison should take responsibility for responding to citizen communications, with staff confirming the mayor often replies but asking council members to forward concerns through staff to avoid improper direct deliberation.
Council reviewed current practices for responding to citizen communications and whether a council member should serve as a liaison.
Staff (S4) said that the mayor has typically handled responses and that she sometimes drafts replies on the mayor’s behalf. Council members emphasized the importance of avoiding back-and-forth communications that could create quorum or open-meeting concerns and encouraged peers to direct technical or operational requests to the appropriate staff (Paul/Rose) so staff can respond.
No formal policy change was adopted; the mayor/staff will continue to coordinate responses and council members were asked to forward items to staff instead of entering prolonged email chains.
