It is quite apparent that parliamentary procedure is not a specialty among most of the members of the present city council.
Several recent gaffes by the council president and by the Clerk Michael Mangan, have revealed the mayor’s powerful influence over the meanderings on the council concerning his longevity payment.
When Attorney Fred Capone was a councilor, he kept the council in check because no one understood parliamentary procedure better than him.
Without Capone, the council is like a ship without a rudder when it comes to parliamentary procedure.
As a matter of parliamentary procedure, Council President John Hanlon should not have prevented Councilor Jimmy Tri Le from speaking on a motion he wished to present before a vote was taken on another motion at the special meeting where the mayor’s longevity was taken up.
There should have been a reconsideration, but Hanlon did not allow it, compounding the mistake he made at the special council meeting last Thursday.
This kind of sloppy parliamentary procedure cannot be allowed to become a standard part of every council meeting.
Each clerk to the council should be a parliamentarian to make certain that procedure is handled correctly and not as the mayor prefers it.