NEWBURYPORT PUBLIC "town meeting" FORUM
to be held June 14, 2007 in City Hall Auditorium

 

 

 

Below is text of a memorandum from the Mayor to the City Council regarding the City of Newburyport's upcoming Public "town meeting" Forum. Submitted to the City Clerk to be included with City Council meeting's agenda for June 11, this step follows the traditional protocol under Section 20 of the original 1851 City Charter (now superseded). That precedent allowed that general meetings be requested by concerned citizens "to consult upon the public good" with their representatives, and that these be "duly warned" by the Mayor and Council.

That memorandum to the President and Members of the City Council from John F. Moak, Mayor, dated June 5, 2007, in regards to a "Public Finance Forum" reads as follows:

"A group of concerned citizens have approached me about a public forum to be held at City Hall Auditorium on June 14, 2007 at 7 p.m. This forum will be budget related, discussing existing revenue and expense problems, along with a dialogue on potential solutions to provide both desired and needed services for out community. This forum will be facilitated by John Altson and designed to be informative and not a platform for political discussion. I will be attending with some City Hall Department Heads to help answer questions from the public. Please join in this forum; the sponsors are working hard to make the public aware of our City's finances."

While the Mayor's memorandum was submitted to the City Clerk's Office by the June 5 deadline ~ to be included as a communications item on the June 11 city council meeting's agenda (link without) ~ this communication simply could be "received and filed" as part of the consent agenda (which is acted upon in one motion) or could be removed from the consent agenda and acted upon or discussed separately.

[Due process since the Rules Committee made recommendations and this sitting council approved, although not unanimously, a process termed "consent agenda." On each city council meeting agenda since its implementation, a note clarifies the "consent agenda" as follows:

NOTE: ALL ITEMS LISTED UNDER CONSENT AGENDA WILL BE ENACTED BY ONE MOTION. THERE WILL BE NO SEPARATE DISCUSSION OF THESE ITEMS. IF DISCUSSION IS DESIRED, THAT ITEM WILL BE REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CONSIDERED SEPARATELY.]

 

 

 



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