A Bad Council Meeting Procedure

The City Council has a long standing procedure for initiating policy considerations that has seen its better days. It is time to abolish the practice in favor of a more cooperative procedure.
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According to the current procedure, members of the Council must “sponsor” all proposed items in order for them to be placed on the agenda. The staff may not place an item on the agenda, nor may the Council members by informal consensus. At least one of them must put his or her name to the item.
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The most common practice is for a member of the staff to contact a member, explain the proposed policy consideration and receive permission to place it on the agenda. A member may also direct the City Clerk to add an item to the agenda. At the December 1st meeting we saw an example of both, and both of the discussions were a comedy of errors that was quite embarrassing.
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On one of the ordinances, some members had asked the City Attorney to draft an ordinance concerning the placement of the City’s poly carts in the public right-of-ways. The attorney cannot be expected to be an expert in every detail of the Municipal Code and City operations but he sincerely tries. In this case, conflicting sections of the Municipal Code were not addressed in the ordinance. Because of the conflicts we were witness to the Council, Attorney and staff attempting to rewrite the ordinance at the meeting.
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On the other ordinance the staff had asked a member of the Council to put his name on an ordinance appropriating some of the anticipated 2005 fund balances on two projects concerning the waste water treatment plant. It became very clear during the discussion that the staff had misled the Council member on the full impact of the ordinance to fiscal 2005 and 2006. Other problems also came out that need not be discussed at this time.
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I would like to suggest two changes to the policy whereby members of the Council are required to sponsor agenda items. There is no requirement in the Charter requiring sponsorship; therefore the Council has the power to consider my suggestions.
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First, drop the sponsorship requirement and allow staff to place items on the agendas for both regular and special meetings and study sessions. A member can still add items to the agenda to protect her or his rights as an elected official even though it would be wise to consider my second suggestion; first. The same applies to the staff.

Second, the Council should work as a team by sharing areas of concern informally at a study session before they appear on the agenda of a regular meeting. Items should be discussed while in their infancy so that the wisdom of all, including staff, can be obtained before the details are worked out and a specific document, ordinance or resolution is drafted. They can save a lot of staff time and legal expenses by cooperating at the start. Of course, members wishing to do some grandstanding might not agree with this suggestion but we have seen enough of that already.
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Yes, this will slow down the speed of some considerations, but it will foster cooperation.
Yes, study sessions will have fewer presentations and more items for discussion. Study sessions will also become the work horse of a better and more efficient local government.