2010 School Committee retreat: consent agenda

There was quite a bit of discussion around the idea of a consent agenda; the upshot was to try it..
Effective meetings:
we don't create the solutions, we approve them and install them
get to the root cause of what the problem is before you can solve them
ensure agenda items are relevant, they link to goals; some will be referred to policy
x, y axis of governance/operations; low/high impact on student achievement
system looks at things and the communities knows that it's being discussed and attended to
consent agenda: "a few items that don't need discussion, they're routine and generally get unanimous consent"
for example: approval of minutes, final approval of policies & reports, staff appointments, reports for information, receipt of donations
Mullaney: how is that list generated?
Gilbert: "all it takes is one member to say...objects to an item on the consent agenda...you can pull that item"
all items on consent agenda are then approved as a block
Mayor recommends that consent agenda is generated by clerk, members notify her if they'd like to move them off, may also move off from the floor
Mullaney asks what the advantage is
Gilbert: no individual motion and vote, a time saver
Monfredo asks if it's fair to the taxpayer or voter
Foley suggests that the reports coming back would be one item
Boone: gets to the heart of meeting efficiency
Biancheria: are we saying that when people make donations, we wouldn't read their names
there are murmurs that it wouldn't save any time, really
Biancheria: concern that we wouldn't hear people's names for donations, also around discussion of reports coming back
Mayor: we could try it, don't see the harm to it
O'Connell says we're close to that right now; minutes approved quickly, personnel approved quickly...possible exception of donations
Gilbert: is it important that it be acknowledged that they be broadcast on television, or that they be acknowledged?
Overwhelming sentiment that it be acknowledged on television (as well as written)
Monfredo: if it take a little longer, so what? We've been elected to serve
Boone: we have very few staff presentations...so we aren't just there for the sake of time; how do we have an effective meeting, that moves things forward?
"point of order" can ask the chair to remind the speaker that he's gone over time and gone off agenda
"a meeting held in public, not a public meeting"
"leave your kids and neighbors at home"...Mullaney asks what that means
Gilbert says some people bring their kids or a neighbor to speak to a topic, usually not in big districts
"what's the vision, what's the strategic plan...got to move from the election process to the governing process"
Biancheria: "each person has a constituency base and you have a responsibility to respect that member's participation"