Less than five minutes into Monday evening’s Eureka Springs City Council meeting contention began when alderman David Mitchell, serving as Mayor Pro Tem, asked for approval of the minutes of the previous meeting. Alderman Kristi Kendrick read a prepared statement regarding her objection to the minutes submitted by City Clerk/Treasurer Ann Armstrong, stating that Armstrong had included not only what had happened at the meeting, but summaries of what was said. Kendrick maintained that was contrary to Robert’s Rules of Order.
Kendrick pointed out council approved using the abridged RRO as a guide for running meetings, and it states the duties of the secretary should be drafting minutes, the official record, of proceedings. Also secretaries often make unneeded work for themselves by putting into minutes more than is needed or appropriate, in particular trying to summarize what was said. She insisted minutes should include what happened and not what was said.
Kendrick contended it was not for the clerk to decide what should be in the minutes, that that decision belonged to council. She objected to the city clerk responding, saying Armstrong should not interject herself into council discussions since Armstrong is not a member of council. She moved they postpone the motion to approve the previous minutes until Armstrong revised them according to RRO and resubmitted them.
There was no second to her motion, so it failed.
Armstrong asked if she could respond, and Mitchell acknowledged her whereupon Kendrick immediately called for a point of order. Alderman Terry McClung said he would second the point of order so they could vote and move on. Kendrick’s was the only Yes vote, so the point of order failed 4-1, and Armstrong was allowed to speak.
Armstrong told Kendrick, “You made my point for me.” Armstrong said she was not a member of council, so rules that apply to an organization with a secretary did not apply to her situation relative to council. She added it was not appropriate for council to tell her, an elected official, how to do her job. She stated the Municipal League has affirmed that the method with which she writes minutes is not illegal and serves a definite purpose because attorneys and judges look at minutes for reference, and her minutes would be particularly useful when there was not a video recording of the meeting.
“I’m not the secretary of your organization,” Armstrong stated, “and it is not appropriate for you to dictate how the person elected to this four-year position does her job. So I encourage you to stop trying to interfere with what I do and I will do my best not to interfere with what you do.”
Motion to approve the minutes of the Nov. 27 meeting was approved 4-1, Kendrick voting No.
Majority rules
In another order of business, City Attorney Tim Weaver had prepared “An Ordinance clarifying majority vote as to all commission, boards and other sub-entities of the City of Eureka Springs” which declared “All votes necessary to pass any action… shall be by a majority vote of the whole number of members of the commission, board or sub-entity unless otherwise required by State or Federal Law.”
Council passed the first two readings of Ord. 2263.