city administrator delivers message from absent council member?

[Guest dlbrad123]

In a recent City Council meeting, the City Administrator delivered a message from the one absent council member, asking the other council members to vote a certain way on a proposal being voted on during that meeting. Is that allowed?

 

 

[Josh Martin]

26 minutes ago, Guest dlbrad123 said:

In a recent City Council meeting, the City Administrator delivered a message from the one absent council member, asking the other council members to vote a certain way on a proposal being voted on during that meeting. Is that allowed?

So far as RONR is concerned, persons who are not members of the council do not have a right to speak in debate unless the council grants permission to do so, and persons may not read from papers unless the council grants permission to do so. There is, however, no rule in RONR specifically prohibiting a person from reading "a message from the one absent council member, asking the other council members to vote a certain way on a proposal being voted on during that meeting," so assuming the permission to speak and the permission to read from papers is granted (and either or both of these things may well be granted by unanimous consent), the reading of this letter violates no rule in RONR.

The council might have its own rules on these matters, and those rules will take precedence.

[Guest dlbrad123]

Even if the message appears to be trying to influence the other council members to vote a certain way?

 

[George Mervosh]

3 minutes ago, Guest dlbrad123 said:

Even if the message appears to be trying to influence the other council members to vote a certain way?

Yes.

[Josh Martin]

5 minutes ago, Guest dlbrad123 said:

Even if the message appears to be trying to influence the other council members to vote a certain way?

Trying to influence other members to vote a certain way is the entire point of debate.

Edited February 19, 2021 at 05:02 PM by Josh Martin

[Gary Novosielski]

n/m

Edited February 19, 2021 at 09:57 PM by Gary Novosielski
Because delete doesn't exist.

[Richard Brown]

As a practical matter, if this is a public body such as a city council, and if the other members want to afford absent members the opportunity to "be heard", knowing they may themselves may be absent at the next meeting at which the council is considering something they want to be heard on, the council is going  to permit it.  It is a courtesy they are going  to extend to each other.   As Mr. Martin pointed out, this will most likely be done routinely by unanimous consent.