Hearing residents’ frustrations over same-day agenda changes, Miami commissioners are considering ways to provide advance notice when they anticipate legislative items will be deferred or withdrawn. The issue came to a head March 13 when 16 commission items were deferred or withdrawn, an unusually high number, prompting public complaints. Currently, deferrals and withdrawals are only announced at the start of meetings, leaving some residents unaware until the last minute after taking time off from work to speak on specific items. Once an item is deferred or withdrawn, the public is no longer allowed to comment on it, frustrating those who had planned to voice concerns. No formal action was taken, but commissioners discussed potential solutions such as setting Tuesday evening as the deadline for announcing any anticipated changes, allowing residents to know ahead of the commission’s usual Thursday meetings. After hearing public comments March 13, Chairwoman Christine King acknowledged the concerns and asked City Attorney George Wysong whether agenda changes could be announced in advance. Mr. Wysong explained that once an item is placed on the agenda, it belongs to the full commission, meaning only a majority vote can defer or withdraw it. Under the commission’s procedural rules, these changes must happen in a public setting, making early notification difficult. “I can appreciate the frustration,” Mr. Wysong said. “But once an item is placed on an agenda, it belongs to the city commission as a whole, not an individual commissioner, the manager, or myself. Only the commission, by majority vote, can change, defer or remove an item.” Commissioners debated potential ways to offer earlier notice while still complying with procedural rules. Commissioner Miguel A. Gabela suggested setting a deadline for deferral decisions by Tuesday evening so the city can publish anticipated changes on Wednesday. Ms. King reiterated that formal deferrals require a vote but encouraged commissioners to individually notify their communities in advance if they plan to request one. She added that many of the day’s deferrals were a courtesy to Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who was absent – a situation that was difficult to anticipate until the day of the meeting, further complicating advance notification. Commissioner Damian Pardo asked, “There’s no way, with an appropriate disclaimer, that we can say these are tentative potential deferrals, just like a warning notice?” Mr. Wysong noted that some items on the agenda are printed with a “may be deferred or withdrawn” label. “Ultimately, the public needs to know that even though it says may be deferred or withdrawn, a majority of the commissioners might say they want to hear it. So, it still requires a majority vote to remove,” he said. Mr. Pardo also proposed holding a virtual meeting on the prior Tuesday to inform the public of likely deferrals, with an additional disclaimer that final decisions would still be made at the commission meeting. “I would say that we do a call the day before, usually Tuesday, at 6 p.m.,” Mr. Pardo suggested. “If we know there’s a potential deferral or withdrawal, we let people on the Zoom call know that it may potentially happen, but we always tell them it may not.” Not all commissioners saw the issue as pressing. Joe Carollo dismissed concerns, saying such complaints had not surfaced in his decades in city government. “For 129 years, since the City of Miami was founded, we’ve been doing it this way,” Mr. Carollo said. “I haven’t heard many complaints until recently from the same people that come to every meeting. As we discussed … it’s pretty much impossible to say for sure if an item is going to be deferred or not, because we would have to meet to order to accomplish that. So, I don’t see any other way but to keep doing it as we have.” Ultimately, no formal decision was made, but commissioners agreed to explore ways to improve communication with residents before meetings. Related Posts:Miami’s indefinite deferral stalls Marine Stadium…Miami eyes charter review to deal with officials’…Scooters wheeled off streets of MiamiMiami looks at getting PAMM museum to remove jumbo billboardMiami targets even larger billboards throughout urban coreThe post Miami looks at blowing whistle on city agenda delays appeared first on Miami Today. ...read more read less