2020-04-30 Ordinary Meeting Agenda

ORDINARY MEETING AGENDA    30 APRIL 2020


                          ATTACHMENT 2




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ORDINARY MEETING AGENDA                                                               30 APRIL 2020

                                                                                    ATTACHMENT 2
                 OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL MEETING STRUCTURES

  Some brief notes on different types of Council decision making structures. There are nuances on
  some of these but these are the most common types for Councils in Queensland.

  OPTION 1 - Council Meetings only (No Committees)

     @) cellar las
     meeting

  About
  °     Used by a lot of councils (particularly smaller councils).
  °     Most use a once a month meeting approach but some run two meetings a month.
  Pros
  e    All Councillors deal with all issues and make a decision on the day
  °     Less meetings
  Cons
  °     Difficult to request further information without deferring the decision to the next month.
  °     Less time between the issue of the agenda and the decision time leaving less time for
       consideration by Councillors.
  °     Only able to consider the issue once, not debate and seek further information before the final
       decision.
  e     Leads to long Council meetings (often all day) which can lead to fatigue towards the end of the
       day and potentially poor decision-making.

  OPTION 2 - Council Meeting with one Standing Committee

     Standing            Ordinary
    Committee            meeting

  About
  °    All Councillors are members of a committee (often called a General Committee) that considers
        issues on the agenda in the first instance and makes recommendations to the Council.
  °    The Standing Committee does not make any decisions per se (other than a decision to make
       a recommendation to the Council).
  °    The Council then considers the recommendations from the Standing Committee and makes
        its decisions.
  Pros
  °    All Councillors have input into all matters on the agenda in the first instance.
  °    With a significant number of new Councillors, this approach would assist new Councillors in
       getting across all issues coming before the Council for consideration.
  e    There is time between the Standing Committee meeting and the Council Ordinary meeting to
        receive more information before the final decision is made.
  °     It allows Councillors “two bites of the cherry” to consider the issues and hear debate before a
       final decision is made.
  Cons
  e     Likely to lead to very long General Committee meetings which could lead to fatigue towards
       the end of the day and potentially poor decision-making.
  °     Higher level of workload for all Councillors with two meetings to consider all issues.

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