Tag: work sessions

Board recommends pay increase for Election Day poll workers, goes now to Monroe County commissioners

At a special meeting on Monday, Monroe County’s election board voted to recommend a change to county code that would increase the not-to-exceed amounts for Election Day poll workers.

It is the Monroe County commissioners, who would need to enact the change to the county code that sets Election Day poll worker pay.

But the election board will still have a role to play, even after county code is changed to specify a higher range, assuming that commissioners do increase the amounts. It’s the election board that specifies the exact amount, within the range spelled out in county code.

Commissioners are expected to consider the item at their work session on Wednesday. Commissioner work sessions start after the regular Wednesday morning meetings conclude, typically with a short break. The regular meetings start at 10 a.m. and typically wrap up in 90 minutes or less.

The current per diem pay for different jobs on Election Day breaks down like this: $165 for inspectors; $135 for judges; $135 for clerks; and $115 for sheriffs.

At its special meeting on Monday, the election board voted to recommend that the not-to-exceed amounts be changed so that the following pay schedule could be followed: $200 for inspectors; $175 for judges; $150 for clerks; and $120 for sheriffs. (A poll worker sheriff is not a sworn law enforcement officer.) Continue reading “Board recommends pay increase for Election Day poll workers, goes now to Monroe County commissioners” →

Column: Quorum issue for Bloomington city council highlights need for objective study of procedures

Attendance at Bloomington city council committee-of-the-whole meetings, chronological from left to right.
Attendance at Bloomington city council work sessions, chronological from left to right.
Percentage of votes at council meetings (regular and special sessions, not including committee-of-the-whole meetings) for which councilmembers were present. For this chart, abstentions are counted as present for the vote.

This past Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council failed to achieve a quorum for its committee-of-the-whole meeting.

For the nine-member council, a quorum is five. But only four councilmembers showed up: Susan Sandberg, Jim Sims, Dave Rollo, and Ron Smith.

In practical terms, the lack of a quorum just meant that the four councilmembers could not take an advisory vote on the one agenda item, which was the historic designation of the Bethel AME church.

The four councilmembers still heard the presentation from the city’s historic preservation program manager, and comments from the public.

The lack of quorum did not mean the church’s historic designation was delayed. That item will still appear on the city council’s Wednesday, Aug. 17 agenda, but without a committee recommendation.

But as Wednesday’s gathering was wrapping up, councilmember Jim Sims remarked on the lack of quorum.

He started by noting who else was in the room: “I probably shouldn’t say anything, but I just got to say, we’ve got people from the public that have come here to share their voices, staff that is here to make a presentation. We’ve got a couple of historic preservation commissioners here.”

Sims added: “I personally think it’s a bit of a disservice that we don’t have at least five people here on this council as a quorum to conduct proper business.”

Sims was right to say something. But I think it’s time for the city council to do something. Continue reading “Column: Quorum issue for Bloomington city council highlights need for objective study of procedures” →