MISSOULA — In a heated hearing, the Missoula City Council on Monday night defeated a measure that would have changed a council rule, leaving the council's minority upset about their perceived lack of influence.
Council member Bob Campbell sought to amend Rule 21, which would limit a council member's ability to bring forth new business without first bringing the item to committee. Issues deemed urgent or an emergency were carved out as exceptions to the proposed change.
Campbell said that bringing an item straight to City Council while bypassing committee limited public input and dialogue.
“At a very minimum, this amendment is getting the exposure it deserves, and so should it be with everything else,” Campbell said. “We should give folks the opportunity to examine what we bring before this body. Part of that is having committees and being able to parcel those things out and be able to get exposure and deliberate these things.”
On rare occasions over the past few years, issues have bypassed committee and gone straight to the City Council for a vote. Council last took that strategy in June as the state government moved to ban Pride flags in classrooms.
The council majority made the Pride flag an official city flag, and while it easily secured the votes needed to pass, it left some council members upset. Council member Kristen Jordan said she was cut out of the process.
“Never was I called, never was I invited,” Jordan said. “When I found out (talks) had been going on, I asked to collaborate and was told absolutely not.”
Jordan added, “Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's ethical.”
Council member Jennifer Savage brought the Pride flag measure to City Council after discussing the resolution with other council members. Savage works for Missoula County Public Schools and said the process happened organically as the flag came under attack.
She said Jordan wasn't included in crafting the resolution due to her past behavior.
“I did that work with people I have trusted and people who have shown themselves to be trustworthy council members,” Savage said. “You (Jordan) have not proven to be a trustworthy colleague.”
Jordan has been vocally critical of City Council, it's process and, at times, the administration. She has yelled at peers, attacked colleagues and members of the public in emails, and stormed out of meetings while shouting slurs.
Other council members have noted the behavior over the past three years.
“That is why no one called you. It's not because we were trying to be exclusive. It was because you've been known to sabotage. It's because you've slammed your computer in this chamber and told us all to F&$! off. You have yelled at more than one of us on numerous occasions, over the phone, in person, and people have seen it. It's something that has made it very clear that you're not a collaborative partner.”
Council member Mike Nugent said that under current rules, any council member can send any item back to committee. He added that the city's hearing rules follow state law and didn't need to be changed simply to accommodate the council's political minority.
Losing a vote on any matter is part of democracy.
“We need to be careful of changing our rules when things don't go your way,” he said. “It's straightforward democracy. Because people don't like it, they want to go and change the rules. If you don't like it, get six or seven of your council members to vote for it.”
