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on Apr 14, 2017
CASUAL FRIDAY ... The Palo Alto City Council didn't pass any laws, approve any new developments or launch any new initiatives during its special two-day meeting at Rinconada Library last week. The council's goal for this two-day retreat was, quite simply, to learn to govern more efficiently. Some may find irony in the council spending two days talking about — among other things — the need to talk less, but the event gave the nine members a chance to talk about past challenges, discuss hopes for the future and learn a thing or two from other cities' experiences. On April 8, City Manager James Keene and top City Hall staff joined the council for a workshop led by John Nalbandian, a faculty member at the Department of Public Administration at the University of Kansas and a veteran of local politics (he had spent eight years on the Lawrence, Kansas, council, including two terms as mayor). The discussion focused on the best ways for council members to interact with staff (very selectively), how to balance the four chief values of a public servant (representation, efficiency/professionalism, social equity and individual rights), when to talk during meetings (not on every single item) and what to do when, despite all efforts, a consensus is out of reach (just vote). Nalbandian cautioned council members about getting too far into the weeds on legal and technical issues. "If you're trying to out-lawyer the lawyer out there, you're wasting your position," Nalbandian said. "You don't have to out-engineer the engineer. That's not where you add value." More than a few council members chuckled when Nalbandian hit them with this piece of news: "You don't have to speak on every item!"
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, April 14, 2017, 12:00 AM
