Lynchburg City Council changes meeting times

Related:

Councilman Ceasor Johnson becomes GED teacher

 

Lynchburg City Council will alter its schedule starting in the fall in deference to Councilman Ceasor Johnson.

Johnson, who’s in his second term representing Ward II, has taken a job as a GED instructor with Campbell County Public Schools.

His new vocation will prevent him from attending meetings in the afternoon; council’s current schedule includes a monthly work session held between 1 and 5 p.m.

On Tuesday, Johnson asked his colleagues to consider moving all meetings to the evening or, if they were set on convening in the afternoon, to refrain from voting on matters until he could be present.

Council agreed by consensus to adopt a new schedule, but not without considerable debate. Several members worried about how more night meetings will affect the city staffers who have to be on hand to explain items and answer questions.

“I think this is asking a lot of six other people, plus all the staff and other folks, just to fit your schedule,” said Councilman Jeff Helgeson, noting that all members have to rearrange their personal schedules in order to fulfill the responsibilities of their office.

Vice Mayor Bert Dodson retorted that the current system is unfair to those with rigid work schedules. “This council, for many years, has been slanted toward people who run their own businesses and set their own schedule,” he said. “The working man or woman can’t run for council.”

Council is currently dominated by the self-employed. Four of the seven members — Dodson, Helgeson and councilmen Michael Gillette and Turner Perrow — all run their own businesses.

Councilman Scott Garrett is retired while Mayor Joan Foster has arranged with her employer, the nonprofit Alliance for Families and Children, to take one day a week off in order to attend to city business.

Johnson himself was semi-retired when he first ran for office having left a longtime job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture just seven months before throwing his name into the mix for the 2004 elections. He was still employed as a pastor for Springhill Baptist Church in Campbell County, a position he continues to hold.

“It is very difficult for anyone who has any kind of set employment to be on council,” Johnson, who was re-elected last year, reflected Wednesday. “If you look at the record, it’s been mostly business people and retirees, people who have control over their schedules.”

He added he felt the revised meeting schedule, which officials plan to implement in September, will help remove those barriers for working people interested in running for office.

“It definitely will not hurt. It will definitely make it more possible for some people to say, ‘This is an option for me.’”

In response to the concerns about employees, City Manager Kimball Payne told officials their priority should be on how council can best function together. “Staff will make it work,” he said, noting there’s “nothing sacred” about the current meeting times.

The new schedule will see council hold twice-monthly work sessions from 5 to 7 p.m. followed by regular business meetings at 7:30 p.m.

Council’s meeting dates — usually the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month with the exception of certain summer months and holidays — will not be affected.

A majority of council seemed to be looking forward to the change. Currently, council’s meeting times rotate between 7:30 p.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. depending on the day.

Officials noted this would give them more consistency. Eliminating afternoon meetings will also give all members, not just Johnson, more time to focus on their private jobs, they said.

It may also make it easier for working citizens to attend meetings and will give the city more flexibility to schedule public hearings as there will now be two 7:30 p.m. meetings. The city tries to hold all hearings at 7:30 p.m. or later to maximize the potential for public participation.

Council has to formally amend its meeting calendar before the new schedule can be implemented. They plan to do that at their next meeting on Aug. 11.

Council only meets once in August, so the changes won’t take effect until September.