Bronwyn's Council Review

As usual for the review, my comments are red and italicized in the context of the latest Council Preview by David Martin.
 

The Ames City Council is having a special meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 on Zoom.  The agenda includes:  
 

• 2. Discussion of future of City’s Face-Covering Ordinance. On Tuesday of last week, Council voted to reach out to our established local partners and medical advisors for last-minute input in light of the fact that the City's face covering ordinance is set to expire on June 30.  Just three days later, the CDC rather suddenly released new guidance stating among other things that “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” We're now holding this special meeting to deliberate whether to adjust our face covering ordinance prior to its expiration date. The agenda item linked here shows the responses we received from our partners and medical advisors and other considerations.
  
  Since Council doesn't deliberate outside of announced public meetings, this will be our first chance to discuss the ordinance after the CDC's new guidance was issued.  It’s possible that we'll ultimately modify it, with or without an expiration date change, or even cancel it altogether, depending on how the votes fall. But none of that will be completed in this meeting, because we need to give the public notice of changes to ordinances and the agenda doesn't state that an ordinance will be passed in this meeting. Instead, we'll discuss and vote on what changes, if any, to tee up for another Council meeting date (likely May 25).
  
  I understand that no time has been allocated for live public input at this May 18 meeting. However, you can reach Council, as always, via email prior to it (see address above). I encourage you to do this; we're already receiving a lot of email on this topic. If we do vote to tee up ordinance changes for consideration on May 25, then I believe that live public input will be permitted on that date. That's the usual practice for the first reading of an ordinance.
  (video)
  
  To begin the discussion, Councilmember Martin asked the City Attorney to confirm that we couldn't change the ordinance at the time of this meeting. The City Attorney's response confirmed that since an ordinance was not on the agenda, we couldn't make that change immediately. Councilmember Gartin moved to have staff bring back an ordinance repealing the mask mandate "as soon as practicable", but the motion failed due to lack of a second. Several on Council then mentioned that we had indicated to the public an opportunity for input at our May 25th meeting and their desire to keep this promise to the public in the interest of transparency and garnering public input. Council then voted to put three items on the May 25th agenda; an ordinance repealing the City of Ames mask mandate, a motion to suspend the rules and vote on the 2nd and 3rd (and thus immediate adoption) of the aforementioned ordinance, and third to declare the Story County mask mandate ineffective within the city. This motion passed with a vote of 6-0.

• 3. Discussion of in-person City meetings. In addition, we'll also consider how to interpret the CDC guidance for our City Council and other boards and commission meetings going forward: specifically, when should we begin meeting in person again? Changes to these policies are not ordinance changes, so they can be made relatively quickly, if Council votes to do so.
  (video)
  
  Council voted 6-0 to resume city council, board, and commission meetings in person effective June 1st, and additionally to reach out to other agencies on the ASSET board to determine their interest in resuming in-person meetings as well. Staff will also continue to investigate the viability of remote public input, though in-person meetings will move forward regardless in the meantime beginning June 1st.

COUNCIL COMMENTS: (video)

Thanks for reading,
Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen
Ames City Council, At Large