The City Council was sharply divided Thursday night when an amendment was offered for a motion to send the council rules to the Legislative & Ordinance Committee was offered and discussed on the floor.
Ward 2 Councilor James E. Brown Jr. offered a motion requesting review of the council rules as they pertain to “establishment of committees, committee assignments and reassignments, and the authorities of the (Council) President” to assign committee posts and to establish or abolish Ad hoc committees.
Brown’s motion stems from an appeal by At-large Council David A. Flaherty to the City Solicitor of Council President Christopher Keefe’s reorganization of committee membership. Flaherty was stripped of his committee assignments by Keefe, who also abolished the Ad hoc Committee on Charter and Rules, stating that the L&O Committee was prepared to complete the process of charter review.
The City Council adopted its revised council rules in February, a process that was done by the Ad hoc committee under Chairwoman Mary O’Connell, the Ward 4 councilor.
Keefe adjusted committee membership following the May 17 appointment of Ann Callahan as the Ward 3 councilor, replacing Peter J. Miller Jr., who resigned.
Keefe had indicated that he was planning to change committee membership during discussion of a motion he cosponsored with Ward 5 Councilor Richard R. Onofrey Jr., proposing that the council amend the council rules to incorporate disciplinary procedures and guidelines.
Onofrey said that currently there is no mechanism to discipline councilors who violate the council’s code of conduct and council rules during meetings. Onofrey cited Flaherty’s conduct during a heated debate with At-large Councilor Brent B. Bean II about the council’s process of filling Miller’s Ward 3 seat at the May 3 council session.
That motion was sent to the Legislative & Ordinance Committee for review and a recommendation to the council on a course of action.
Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell made a motion to amend Onofrey’s motion and also send the motion to the Ad Hoc Committee on Charter and Rules in addition to sending it to the L&O Committee. O’Connell’s motion to amend Onofrey’s original motion was defeated by a 5-6 vote of the council on May 17.
Keefe then named the new committee memberships at the end of that session, removing Flaherty from several committees, including the powerful Finance Committee.
Flaherty requested an opinion from the Law Department, questioning Keefe’s authority to remove councilors from committee assignments.
City solicitor Susan Phillips issued an opinion of the City Council rules pertaining to president’s authority in making committee appointments Thursday, May 31, in effect reversing Keefe’s action and stating that, under the current rules, the president makes committee appointments in January following the council’s election of a president for that year.
Keefe said he would abide by Phillip’s “strict interpretation” of the existing rules earlier this week.
Brown’s motion will allow the L&O to study the language and propose an amendment to the current rules, language which could return the president’s authority over committee membership throughout the year.
Brown recently said that the ruling has exposed an unintended consequence of the vote to adopt the revised City Council rules in February.
O’Connell made a motion to amend Brown’s motion to include her ad hoc committee, a motion to amend that was again narrowly defeated when it failed the to gain seven affirmative votes needed for passage, being rejected by a 6-6 vote. Keefe ruled motion to reconsider out-of-order, stating that is was a tie vote, so it was not defeated, just not approved.
Voting with O’Connell were councilors John J. Beltrandi III, Flaherty, Callahan, Brian Sullivan and Agma Sweeney. Voting opposed to the amendment were Councilors James R. Adams, At-large Councilor Brent B. Bean II, Brown, Christopher Crean, Keefe, and Onofrey.
O’Connell said that while her ad hoc committee may be on life support, it has not been abolished and asked the councilors voting against her amendment for their rationale.
The general consensus of those councilors is that the ad hoc committee does not have the authority to bring substantive changes directly to the council and must submit recommended changes to the council rules and charter through the L&O, and the fact that O’Connell is already a member of the L&O makes the ad hoc committee redundant.
