MASON CITY – After some City Council members voiced a desire for better communication amongst themselves, Mayor Eric Bookmeyer has scheduled non-mandatory council workshops that will occur on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month starting at 4 pm and ending at 5 pm. “My goal has been to put council in the best possible position to make decisions at the regular council meeting,” Bookmeyer said.
The agenda on the second Tuesday will be driven by City Administrator Brent Trout and his staff, while the agenda on the fourth Tuesday of the month will consist of an agenda driven by the mayor and council members.
The public and press are welcome to attend, according to an email Bookmeyer sent to Council members.
Councilman Scott Tornquist called for a more communication between Council members at a public forum after a City Council meeting on December 21st. “What I’m really missing is the Council dialogue. We should have a workshop once month where we talk about things that are important to us.”
Councilman Max Weaver said he is in favor of the meetings and applauded Tornquist for bringing the idea up. “First I’d like to thank Councilman Scott Tornquist for saying what I’ve been saying for 10-12 months. We don’t communicate. Scott said in less than five minutes what I’ve been saying all along. We all know Scott is a pretty good wordsmith,” Weaver said.
Weaver also praised the Mayor, saying “I want to applaud Mayor Bookmeyer for ending his first year on a positive note with this suggestion. If it’s good for the Mayor and Council, it will be good for the community. I’ll give it a chance.”
Not all Council members were thrilled with the idea of more meetings, however. Jeff Marsters said “Not interested in more meetings just to listen to unknown subjects.”
Don Nelson echoed that sentiment, saying “some of us don’t have regular on going dialog with each other, its been that way for the past 11 years I have served on the City Council, but regardless, citizens business gets accomplished. I am protective of my personal time… (I) just question the need for still another meeting.”
