Legislative governance is not Kabuki theater
Brother Mike Blaska was renowned for his expertise in parliamentary procedure chairing the Dane County Board of Supervisors. He later taught the subject to county boards across the state.
“People appreciate a well run meeting,” he said.
That does not mean a rehearsed and scripted meeting, edited for television and formatted to fit the screen. But neither does it mean a free-for-all where mob action drives citizens from the chambers fearing for their safety — as occurs monthly at the Madison Board of Education.
It frustrates the white lab coats here at Blaska Policy Werkes that the WI State Journal and the WI Freedom of Information Council fret that individual Madison school board members may do an informational sit-down with the superintendent of schools. Sunday’s news headline reads: “Madison schools test limits of open government with private board member meetings.” THAT is the big issue at Madison schools?
Individually or in pairs, Madison School Board members spend hours each year in private “board briefings” with Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham, discussing matters soon to come before the full board for votes that must be held in public.
The fear is that these sit downs might amount to prohibited “walking quorums” — that being defined as a number of members below the threshold required to establish a legal quorum (in the case of the Madison Board of Education — four of the seven total membership).
Walking quorums are illegal because they can “render the publicly held meeting a mere formality,” the Wisconsin attorney general’s office is quoted.
Under state law, school boards and other local public bodies must have a quorum — typically a majority or more — of members to take official action, and the action they take must occur in publicly noticed meetings. However, as Chris Rickert reports, no decisions are taken at the sit-downs with the superintendent. Certainly, an opinion could be formed — but that could occur brushing one’s teeth in the morning.
Laws and sausages
Here, however, the Werkes must acknowledge Bismarck’s observation about laws and sausages. Let’s just say: It’s messy.
It is lollipops and rainbows to think that a legislator (such as a school board member) comes into a meeting cold, uninformed, devoid of opinion before rendering his/her vote. Just not human nature.
School board members are the district’s board of directors. They should sit down with their chief executive. It is their duty to be informed.
Members must also be allowed to talk to other members. Not just arrayed around the council table but over the telephone, in the coffee house, and walking down the hallway. They are not sequestered from each other. They are not jurors in a criminal case. In “The Good Legislature,” the National Conference of State Legislatures posits:
The deliberative process is not restricted to the debate (or lack thereof) that goes on … on the senate and house floor. It is also a vital element of committee activity and continues in the frequent and unstructured exchanges in members’ offices, leadership conferences, at lunch, and in the corridors of the state house or legislative office building.
The law ultimately requires only that the vote of a governmental body be held in the open, properly noticed and recorded. How they got to that vote is mostly unknowable and, unless it involves outright bribery, immaterial.
The heckler’s veto
That openness is frustrated when a committed special interest group like Freedom Inc. abuses the open meeting laws as a tactic to eat up hours of time haranguing the school board, intimidating those with whom they disagree and, ultimately, shutting down the meeting. These suggestions:
• Have disrupters arrested. Not at the meeting. They want to be dragged out screaming “The whole word is watching” as they record their well rehearsed martyrdom. Instead, have the ring leaders arrested the next day and charged with disorderly conduct.
• Board president Mary Burke says she wishes she could respond to the public comments. She can. Put an item on the agenda called “Response to public comments.” No action would be taken, just response, which (in any case) good government demands.
• Set aside a special, public-comment only meeting. Follow up the next day with a no-comment action meeting. Even making the community cable TV audience wait two hours is an imposition.
• Restrict comments to Madison school district residents only. It is appalling that the board allowed comments from Milwaukee residents and that half the commenters do not bother to fill out the appearance forms — many just listing a first name.
• Do not let an issue fester. We’re past three years and counting on cops in schools. Get off the pot and move on.
• For true and open debate, elect someone from outside the Madison liberal-progressive-socialist bubble. (Not that we had anyone in mind, understand.)
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Let’s see how the new school board fares at tonight’s (04-29-19) meeting 6 p.m. at Chavez elementary school. You can watch live here.
110 responses to “The meeting will come to order”
You just said unquantifiable bobo.
Your gal Hillary lost fair and square.
Time to move on dude.
Some of us are praying for you.
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Fair and square with Putin’s thumb on the scale. Unquantifiable doesn’t mean nonexistent. No wonder Trump won’t even bring the subject up with Vladimir. He knows it means he’s an illegitimate president. He’s a bit touchy about that. The former Dept. of Homeland Security secretary was warned not to bring the subject of Russian election interference up in meetings. Our democracy suffers.
Thanks for your prayers, Bat-traitor, but none of us should just move on.
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Praying extra hard now bobo.
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@AnonyBob;
“Our democracy suffers.”
Curious, do you have a preference of…um… TOPPINGS; Reynolds Wrap©™® or Alcoa©™®?
The Trump Derangement Syndrome is POWERFUL with this one, am I right?
The Gotch
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Bat-traitor was probably a bit harsh. Bat- and Gootch-useful-idiot is probably more appropriate.
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@AnonyBob;
What about YOU GUYS ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY?
Wait a minute.
THAT hysterical slobbering was dutifully SLAIN by some ugly reality.
Never mind.
The Gotch
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The only pressure Putin applied was $148M to the Clinton Foundation while Hill was SecState and a cool half million to Bill.
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ABob’s answer to David’s question posits erstwhile Hillary voters getting “swayed” by Boris and Natasha into voting for Stein or whatshisname.
That’s ascribing levels of stupid and clueless to Hillary’s voters I find hard to believe but hey! ABob would know better than I.
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Putin ran an impressive disinformation campaign. It’s in the Mueller report you praise for finding no collusion. I also blame Bernie, his Bros, and Putin’s bots.
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ABob, the only mis/disinformation campaign was from the Peepee tape forward. Once again it is very instructive to listen to the most hysterical charge made against President Trump to see the Democrats sin.
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Seriously, Splat? Mueller details a “sweeping and systematic” effort by the Russian govt. to subvert the election through fake social media accounts (confirmed by Zuckerberg), hacking and releasing emails thru Wikileaks, etc. (and 140 contacts between Russians and Trump’s campaign), and yet you close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears and chant “It’sNotTrueIt’sNotTrueIt’sNotTrue…”
You suffer from a raging case of Trumpster Denialism.
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Next comes ABob to illustrate my point.
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@AnonyBob;
“I also blame Bernie, his Bros,”
Why, for being gutless wankers while bending WAY over and allowing Hillarity to cheat/lie/pillage/steal the nomination?
You’re careening into seriously dangerous, Terminal Velocity Intervention Territory, you should listen to your wife.
The Gotch
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I’m sure your long-suffering, extremely elderly mother tells you to get off the sticky (ew) keyboard and out of her basement all the time.
“cheat/lie/pillage/steal” – I thought you were talking about Trump’s business practices.
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Straight up. Gotta give ABob an attaboy for staying in the batter’s box.
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@madisonexpat;
“Gotta give ABob an attaboy for staying in the batter’s box.”
More like the after shot of Tony Conigliaro getting beaned, or Denis Lebedev getting pummeled but coming back for more.
The Gotch
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Churlish of me not to acknowledge Splat’s “straight up” comment, especially when I know he disagrees with everything I’ve said.
My wife would say (and does), “Get off Blaska’s Blog and getta life.”
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” ‘Get off Blaska’s Blog and getta life.’ ”
Trouble with advise? Wise people don’t need it and fools don’t heed it.
To no one’s surprise, you align firmly with the latter!
The Gotch
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Speaking of churlish…
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I suggest that Blaska’s Blog is not your problem but your therapy. You’ve invested your life in paranoiac delusions that turn into nothing. You tilt at windmills and wonder why you’ve done nothing productive or creative. You’ve become Gollum without the ring cursing Trump, er I mean Baggins.
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@AnonyBob;
Seeing none, and I mean NONE, of the foul balls you’ve chasing has amounted to anything but cringe-inducing frustration, here’s some more Hilarious Hijinx for you to chase down.
The Gotch
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You Trumpster Denialists are hilarious. Too bad it’s not a laughing matter.
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Must you torture plain English? And yes, indeed there are many Wile E. Coyote plots that are very funny. You’ve made the President a boogeyman and yes, I believe you believe it. I don’t.
Comedy and fear are both in the mind of the beholder.
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Torturing plain English? You need to speak to your comrade in arms, Gootch.
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”Torturing plain English?”
Sez Mr. Undisappointed himself.
Priceless!
The Gotch
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Sez
(Priceless! Except it’s not. It never is.)
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@AnonyBob;
Not only do you double down on STUPID, you do it with effortless aplomb
The Gotch
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Mr. Always Has to Have the Last Word. (eye roll)
(Hey, prove me wrong, Gootch. Dare ya!)
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”X”
The Gotch
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FAIL
I knew you couldn’t do it! Thanks for the entertainment!
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[✓]
The Gotch
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You keep proving my point.
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Holy $#!t
This is some fine entertainment and it’s free!
Bless Joe Biden’s heart…
Well, at least he for sure has three votes.
Thanks Gotch-
https://news.grabien.com/story-old-man-joe-biden-slurs-his-way-through-first-speech-preside
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Maybe huffing hairspray kills brain cells?
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