City council vote didn’t follow the rules

A vote to deny issuing an animal control contract at the Tuesday night Grand Island City Council meeting did not follow the parliamentary procedures outlined in Robert's Rules of Order.

"What we did last night was wrong," City Clerk RaNae Edwards said on Wednesday.

Edwards correctly advised the council that it needed six votes to pass any motion. The six-vote requirement is part of city code, she said.

But with two of the 10-member council absent Tuesday night, it was quickly apparent that getting six votes wasn't going to happen. Two council members announced they would be abstaining and another cast a "no" vote, leaving just five "yes" votes to deny issuing a contract to Grand Island veterinarian James Kimbrough.

Edwards then advised the council that the abstentions could be counted with the majority.

"I know what I was trying to say, but it didn't come across that way," she said.

The fact of the matter is -- abstentions don't count, Edwards said.

"To abstain means to refrain from voting," she read from a parliamentary procedure Web site on Wednesday.

What Edwards had been trying to explain to the council Tuesday night is that, if the required majority vote cannot be reached because some members are abstaining, those abstentions effectively carry the same weight as a "no" vote even though an abstention is not a vote.

Edwards was thinking in her head that abstentions can effectively be a negative vote, and the motion made on Tuesday was in the negative -- it was a motion to deny a contract.

"It's so confusing," Edwards said. "And it happened so quick."

The council's 5-1 vote to deny the contract was erroneously recorded Tuesday night as a 7-1 vote to deny with the addition of the two abstentions.

Edwards said she researched her error on Wednesday and corrected the official city record. She then consulted with City Attorney Dale Shotkoski, who advised that the rejected contract still stands.

"It wouldn't have changed the outcome," she said.

Had a council member moved to approve the Kimbrough contract, there weren't enough votes to approve it, Edwards said.

"What happened last night doesn't make any difference," she said.

There were two other parliamentary errors in Tuesday's meeting, Edwards said.

After two and a half hours of discussion and debate, Councilman Bob Meyer called the question, but a necessary second was never given.

Council President Mitch Nickerson, who was presiding over the meeting, instructed the council to vote on the call. It passed 7-1 with Councilman John Gericke the lone dissent. The call ended all debate and forced a vote on the Kimbrough contract.

Edwards said the third error was in the original motion by Gericke to deny the Kimbrough contract.

"Motions should be in the affirmative," she said.

Edwards said the council's general philosophy has also been not to abstain unless there is a conflict of interest. She was disappointed that members decided to abstain instead of representing their constituencies.

The city's current animal control services contract with the Central Nebraska Humane Society will expire on Sept. 30. The society and local groomer/trainer Larry Heil also submitted proposals to provide the animal control services. The city has declined to release those proposals publicly.

"What will happen next, I don't know," Edwards said.

A call to City Administrator Jeff Pederson about the status of the contract was not returned.



For the record

In other action on Tuesday, the city council:

‰ Approved $65,400 of funding to outside agencies, $120,000 to the Central District Health Department and $20,000 to Clean Community System.

‰ Met in closed session for 90 minutes regarding IBEW union talks and real estate negotiations with Fonner Park regarding the State Fair.

‰ Rezoned land north of Indianhead Golf Course for part of the Good Samaritan retirement community project that would allow 65 senior housing apartments to be built instead of 37 apartments.