BRADEN FASTIER / STUFF

Theres a lot that goes on in council meetings, and knowing how it all operates is the first piece of the puzzle.

Its been a quiet week for public-facing council operations, so this weeks column is tackling what to expect from your average council meeting consider this your guide to understanding whats happening in the chambers (or on youtube).

Firstly, before anything starts, theres a lot of busywork making sure the meeting has enough people (quorum), making sure people who are missing (or arriving late, or leaving early) have made the right apologies, and making sure everyone knows whats happening that day.

Next up councillors confirm that their interests things like what roles they have in the council, what companies they own, are employed by, or otherwise financially benefit from, and where they own property do not conflict with anything on the days agenda.

This can be found on the council website, but at the start of every meeting councillors have the chance to highlight any issues on the agenda which they cant discuss or vote on thanks to their interests.

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The next step in the meeting is the public forum. This is the time when people who have applied to make a submission to the council can have their say at the council table.

These submissions are timed, but unless the agenda is jam-packed the time-keeping is not strict.

If your topic isnt one thats on the agenda for the day, no decisions will be made on it, and if it is on the agenda, youll have to wait for it to come up to see how things shake out.

NCC/Supplied

Depending on how many people, if any, are making public submissions, the first five or six items on any given council agenda can take just a few minutes to go through.

Finally, the meeting gets to the actual items on the agenda mostly reports from council staff.

Each report generally contains background information on the topic, an outline of the current issue, and two or more potential paths forward. One is usually a recommended option, but there is always at least one other option councillors could choose.

Staff come forward to present their report, answering questions from councillors about its contents. At this point councillors are not debating, and are meant to be forming opinions about the report and options available.

Once all questions have been asked and answered, a councillor moves an option, and if it is seconded then the council begins to debate.

Councillors talk about why they do or dont like the option put forward, suggest amendments, and eventually vote, with the simple majority rules approach.

Most news reports from the council chambers cover parts of the public forum, answers from council staff about their reports, and the debate.

See more here:
Back of the Agenda: Anatomy of a council meeting - Stuff.co.nz