Council Members,

Last week you heard a (politically spiced) call to establish a standard procedure for selection of Mayor and Vice-Mayor. The implication is that "everyone deserves a turn" at the gavel. While this avoids taking a position on merit, I hope we can have better parameters than mere rotation.

One suggestion is that council vote for the leader each feels is most capable of the task. We elected each council person for his/her judgement, but the quality of that judgement often becomes clear only after exposure on the dais. Any body functions best with leadership that is respected by the body.

There is concern about one person dominating the system, so it makes sense to also limit the mayor's term, perhaps by avoiding consecutive terms without a unanimous vote, and/or limiting to two years in four or six.

There may be a third answer, but I hope the conversation is taken seriously.

Henry Riggs
Callie Lane Received on Fri Nov 23 17:01:56 2007