Navigating the Common Council Agenda (Update)

Updated 7/28/2023 @ 2:45 PM - Resending to resolve issues reported with the link and to share a reference to a prior navigation blog: City of Madison Website Navigation Tips & Legistar

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Hello! I hope you are having a fun and safe summer. This term is moving very fast. A lot is happening at the City level. Below you will find information on how to navigate the agenda, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, district10@cityofmadison.com

1- In June, the Metro implementation was launched. Have you tried the new routes? I have taken several trips from home to downtown via D, and I look forward to heading West via the H route.

2- The West Area Plan has been in full swing; from District 10, only the Summit Wood area is covered. I have been in almost every meeting, joining the staff to collect input while preparing for the rest of the District’s turn beginning in 2024—West Plan page.

• The West Area Plan Team will host our third public meeting for review of initial draft recommendations next week on August 2 at Rennebohm Park, 115 N. Eau Claire Avenue, 5:30-7:30 p.m. We hope you will be able to attend and please share this meeting announcement through your blogs, email lists, and other methods. There is also a social media post and flyer attached to this message if you can share those as well. · This will be an Open House format where will share initial draft recommendations on presentation boards and invite people to provide feedback.
• There will be Traditional Chinese interpretation provided, along with food carts, games, a fire truck tour, and other activities. You can learn more about this public feedback phase from our press release posted 7/14: https://www.cityofmadison.com/news/west-area-plan-moves-forward-seeks-further-insights-from-the-community

3- Plan Commission (PC) has kept me busy; there is much to learn. To prepare for the PC agenda, I watch the Transportation Committee, the Board of Public Works and Urban Design meetings when applicable. I had a break in my schedule last night, allowing me to join the Transportation discussion. The Stoughton Rd reconstruction is a hot topic; the DOT seeks your input. To learn more, click here.

Navigating the Common Council Agenda

Here are some tips on how to stay connected and ahead of the game. Let’s explore the July 25, 2023, Council Meeting Agenda. Sundays before a meeting, I carve out between 3 to 5 hours to review the agenda. I export the list into Excel to keep track of the items I need to dig deeper.

The agenda is a wealth of information organized according to the Order of Business ordinance.
 

Order of Business (Common Council Agenda 7/25/23)	Agenda Page
Meeting information: Date & Instructions on how to access the meeting	1
Roll Call	2
Honoring resolutions.	2
Presentation of consent agenda.	2
Public Comment on any items on the agenda and Public Hearings excluded from the consent agenda.	3
Informational hearings.	3 - 7
Business presented by the Mayor, including appointments and confirmations.	7
Business presented by the President of the Common Council.	8
Reports of officers, departments and divisions, committees, boards and commissions including re-referrals according to the provisions of Sec. 2.05	8 - 19
Introduction of new ordinances and resolutions for referral without debate.	20 - 24
Presentation of accounts and other claims against the City of Madison.	24
Adjournment.	25

Traceability
Pages 8-19 contain the reports from “officers” like Boards, Committees, and agencies. Page 20-24 includes the Introduction of NEW Business; each has the committee routing by date. Dates and routings may change during the meeting, or new referrals can be put to a vote and added to the Legistar record. Items under the Introduction section cannot be discussed until this return to Council later.

Let's look at page 15:

Agenda Item 34, Legistar Id 78717. This resolution was introduced on July 5 and came to Council for approval on July 25. But this process started early in the year, as shown in the diagram.

The Community Development Division (CDD) presented the request for proposal (RFP) paper to the Community Service Committee in March. The item was back in the committee twice in June; all the applicants are located here and on the CDD website. After the committee made the recommendations, the item was introduced in Council and referred to Finance for review; the meeting can be found here.

Engagement Opportunities: 3/22, 6/7, 6/14, 7/17 & 7/25:
Each stop at a committee is an opportunity to engage and to learn about the funding. This is just one example of how items get thru the system. How do we know where an agenda item is headed?

Introduction of new business for referral without debate, pages 20-24
This agenda section lists new items for committee discussion and is referred to a future council meeting for approval. For example, agenda item 48, Legistar 78874, was introduced on 7/25 and referred to two committees before returning to Council on 9/5.

List of introductions pulled from the 7/25 agenda:

In summary, the agenda is a guide for current topics and new discussion items. Is a guide that helps us anticipate the flow of the Council Business, things may change, but all changes are recorded in Legistar. 

Have a great weekend!