Duct Tape 1 Way to Shorten a Meeting

Acknowledging that serious steps need to be taken to streamline their marathon meetings, City Council members offered a wide array of solutions Monday night that ranged from strict time limits to squirt guns.

Squirt guns?

Yep. And egg timers, too. And--if all else fails--duct tape to seal shut the mouths of council members who talk too much.

Those were among the recommendations raised by Councilman Ray Di Guilio, the council’s most notorious talker, during an offbeat discussion of how to make the Monday night sessions run more efficiently.

“I think the mayor probably ought to have an egg timer or a squirt gun,” Di Guilio suggested, placing a bright green water pistol and a kitchen egg timer in front of his colleagues.

That way, he explained, when they talk too much “the mayor can shoot at us.”

It was a popular idea.

City Manager Donna Landeros requested that members of her staff be given Super Soakers since they sit farther away from the dais and need water weapons that have a greater shooting distance.

Even Councilman Jim Friedman, who raised the issue of late meetings as a serious concern, got into the act.

“I like the idea of squirt guns,” he said. “I think all council members should get them.”

It was a lighthearted solution to a problem of increasing concern to city leaders and residents. In recent weeks, the council meetings have lasted as long as six or seven hours and adjourned well past midnight.

Some council members say they are concerned that the late-night sessions are a drain on city staff members and residents who sometimes wait hours to address the council on an issue.

After hearing numerous jokes from residents who say they now watch the meetings in their pajamas, Friedman decided to bring the issue up for council discussion.

“I am bringing this forward because . . . constituents are not really happy with the way the meetings are run,” he told his colleagues Monday. “It seems there is a better way of doing this.”

Apart from kidding around about squirt guns and egg timers, the council members got little accomplished during their discussion.

While the seven-member panel agreed that meetings have been running painfully late, some questioned suggestions such as time limits on council members or an early adjournment deadline.

“This is very difficult to deal with,” Councilman Steve Bennett said. “It won’t be easy to do this fairly.”

Councilman Gary Tuttle agreed that restricting elected officials from speaking out on issues could be problematic.

“Limiting debate could become quite contentious and dicey,” Tuttle said.

Council members took no action, but agreed to bring the issue back for further discussion at a retreat in September.

In the meantime, city officials said they plan to look at what steps other communities have taken to streamline council meetings and make them run efficiently.