Citizens can let their voices be heard at city council meetings

How do average citizens let their voices be heard in matters before Maricopa’s City Council? An actual procedure exists, which is now detailed in the recently compiled City of Maricopa Agenda Process Handbook. Councilman Steve Baker requested the handbook in order to facilitate putting together agendas.

City Clerk Vanessa Bueras organized information on the council process, open meeting law requirements, agenda item requests and deadlines, the council meetings order of business, including ordinances, contracts and resolutions, as well as what documentation is done after council meetings.

Following the guidelines in the agenda process handbook, agendas will provide the council with facts necessary to make decisions, staff with the time to provide those facts and “citizens with a clear and concise record of council actions,” according to Bueras’s introduction.

Maricopa City Council meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at the First Baptist Church, 18705 N. John Wayne Parkway. Council work sessions begin at 6 p.m. Special sessions are also called from time to time.

Maricopa resident Kathy Paulsen questioned the timing and due diligence done in reference to a recent land purchase proposal during a recent special session of the council.

Agenda items and documents for legal review are due two and three weeks prior to a council meeting. The City Manager tentatively approves agenda items, but the Mayor gives final approval to the agenda.

Presently the Mayor’s Report, which offers pertinent information related to events in the city or its operations, and the Call to the Public are agendized just prior to adjournment. Mayor Kelly Anderson has asked council to pass an ordinance to move his report and the Call to the Public to the beginning of the meetings.

Citizen involvement comes during the Call to the Public. Council meetings, which are subject to the state’s open meeting laws, must be open to the public. Any legal action must be conducted publicly.

Request to Speak cards are always available at council meetings. A card must be completed for each item the citizen wishes to address, then turned into the City Clerk, who passes the cards on to the Mayor or other presiding officer.

Citizens must speak on issues that are on the agenda. Remarks, which should be addressed to the whole council rather than individuals, should be limited to five minutes. The mayor may limit discussion that runs too long or is inappropriate.

Maricopa resident Ken Edwards came forward to express his concerns about breaching the First Amendment by using the First Baptist Church as a council meeting site.

When a group or organization wishes to speak, only one person from that group should be designated as the speaker; no other individual may enter into the discussion without the permission of the presiding officer. No disturbances, interruptions, derogatory statements or personal attacks are tolerated.

If no other citizens step forward to speak, council may respond to criticisms aired during the Call to the Public, ask staff to review the issues or have them placed on a future agenda.

The Call to the Public is the vehicle for average citizens to let their voices be heard by council members. All it takes is filling out one card with your name and the agenda item you are addressing–and the willingness to attend a council meeting and be heard.

Maricopa City Council’s next meeting is scheduled for March 20.