Bringing Order to Council Meetings

Robert’s Rules of Order, the standard book of parliamentary procedure across the United States, has in its origins a connection to South Carolina. Its creator, Henry Martyn Robert, was born in 1837 in Robertville, an unincorporated community in Jasper County. 

By profession, Robert was a military engineer, serving the United States Army before, during and after the Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general. The incident that led to Robert’s Rules occurred during the Civil War, at a time when he was 25 years old and chairing a church meeting — and he lost control of the meeting. 

Embarrassed and determined to improve his abilities, Robert sought existing manuals of parliamentary procedure. Concluding that they were of no use, he crafted his own, and published the original Pocket Manual for Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies in 1876. Its popularity spread quickly, and he continued to revise it for most of his life. 

The undeniable value of Robert’s Rules for making city and town council meetings productive and professional have put it on the curriculum of the Municipal Association’s Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Institute, presented at the most recent session by Field Services Manager Jeff Shacker. 

That training covers the underlying principles of the rules — discuss only one pertinent thing at a time, only one person speaks at a time — as well as best practices in agenda management and the process of making, debating and adopting a motion. The training also discusses common pitfalls in running a meeting — the chair dominating the body; forgetting to manage the pace of the meeting, also known as letting the meeting drag on unbearably; councilmembers trying to discuss multiple issues at the time or a chair allowing discussion to unfold without a pending motion. 

There are also local rules of procedure designed to address processes specific to city and town council meetings, as required by local or state law, as well as issues unique to the municipality’s form of government. To deal with specific applications such as motions, debate, votes or appeals, councils often adopt by reference Robert’s Rules of Order to supplement local rules. The order of application should always be state law, then local rules followed by Robert’s Rules. 

Learn more about the Municipal Clerks and Treasurers Institute at www.masc.sc. (keyword: MCTI).

Applying Ethical Standards to Local Government

Local governments have numerous powers — regulating businesses or the ways property owners can use their land, contracting for services using taxpayer money, or handling sensitive information about business transactions. Anytime that a city councilmember or employee “does the wrong thing,” it can cause far-reaching damage for the people and business owners who call that city home. 

One of the most visible ways that the state of South Carolina pushes for ethical behavior is the Statement of Economic Interests that is submitted to the SC Ethics Commission. There are several types of municipal officials required to submit this document, such as elected officials, candidates for office, chief administrative officers by whatever title, such as city/town manager or city/town administrator. Chief financial officers by any title, including finance directors and treasurers, are required to submit the statement as well, as are procurement officers. 

While the Statement of Economic Interest is due every year by March 30, officials are expected to be mindful of their actions the rest of the year, too. This is where the Rules of Conduct of the SC Ethics Reform Act come in. The Municipal Association has a summary of these rules. Here are some basics:

• A public official/employee cannot “knowingly use his official office, membership, or employment to influence a government decision to obtain an economic interest for himself, a member of his immediate family, an individual with whom he is associated, or a business with which he is associated.” 
• Items of value cannot be given or promised to a public official or employee with the intent of influencing that person’s official duties, nor can public officials or employees seek anything of value in exchange for official activity. 
• Public officials/employees cannot receive anything of value for speaking before a public or private group in their official capacity, but they can accept meals that are provided to all participants in the group, and they can accept reimbursement of actual expenses incurred.
• Public officials/employees cannot hire or otherwise advance family members to positions the officials/employees supervise.
• Public officials/employees who participate directly in procurement may not resign and accept employment with a government contractor in cases where the contract between the contractor and government would have fallen under their official responsibility. 

The Municipal Association’s Municipal Elected Officials Institute of Government offers courses that explain ethical compliance in South Carolina.