A VIEW FROM THE COUNCIL TABLE

Wimberley City Council

At last week’s City Council meeting, Wimberley’s Comprehensive Plan Review Team reported its findings. The group did numerous interviews/focus groups with citizens. The top three issues with those citizens were:

- Completing the wastewater system

- Traffic, parking, sidewalks and overall congestion along our roadways

- Divisiveness and lack of civility

Thanks to a workshop attended by all Councilmembers Aug. 8, we made forward progress on the sewer project. The Downtown Improvement Committee, formed in July and meeting regularly since, has dug into the congestion issues and will be participating in a workshop with the Comprehensive Plan Team to sync insights and strategies.

Which brings us to divisiveness and lack of civility.

The dictionary definition of DIVISIVENESS is “a tendency to cause disagreement or hostility between people.”

It’s up to all Councilmembers, boards and commission members, and staff to promote a respectful, productive atmosphere in our city government. It is the Mayor’s role to preside over Council meetings, ensure that proper procedure is followed and to set an example for leadership, civil discourse and tone of the meetings.

I think all of four of my fellow Councilmembers will agree that we are all dedicated to proceeding in a business-like manner.

Observing parliamentary procedure and thoughtful decision-making processes traditionally have been the means to maintaining a civil atmosphere in meetings of governmental bodies. The value of parliamentary procedure is that it helps to maintain order and assists in building consensus.

Since the May elections, at council request, the city engaged a professional parliamentarian to provide training. This happened at our strategic planning session, and Council Members Christine Byrne, Gary Barchfeld and myself attended, along with City Administrator Shawn Cox and City Secretary Laura Calcote. In addition, Byrne, Council Member Bowman and I completed several trainings on municipal law and procedures. The takeaways included several nuggets on the traits and responsibilities of the governing board.

According to our “City Hall Essentials” ® Training, best practices for effective municipal meetings include:

- The chair maintains a civil and respectful atmosphere

- The chair leads with a positive agenda

- The chair and members know the law and rules

- The chair and members focus on the big picture, the good of the community and seeking and building consensus

These best practices can help us create a more positive environment in our town. But it will take all of us doing our part to end the divisiveness and engage in civility. We – all Councilmembers and the Mayor -- need to show up to meetings prepared with facts, show up prepared to listen and show up prepared to solve problems.

The definition of CIVILITY is “politeness and courtesy in manner or speech,” But civility alone will not move Wimberley forward. It will take cooperation, commitment and hard work.

Editor’s Note: The views expressed by the writer are their own and do not neces - sarily represent the views of the city they serve.