Elgin council debates rules overhaul: executive-session materials and voting order divide members

The Elgin City Council spent the longest portion of its June 25 meeting reviewing possible changes to the council rules of procedure, debating whether council members may remove materials from executive sessions, how to rotate the order of roll-call votes and whether to set guidelines for travel to conferences.

Council member Ortiz introduced the rules-review items and said he had discussed options with colleagues. Ortiz proposed retaining Council member Powell on the Cultural Arts Commission and removing council liaisons from other commissions, plus a proposal that materials provided in executive session not leave the meeting room. "No city staff materials come out of the executive session," Ortiz said, describing the change he was advancing.

Council members split on the executive-session proposal. Council member Powell said she opposed restricting council members from taking personal notes and materials out of executive session, saying she has used notes to follow up on questions and make informed votes. Council member Goode urged a middle ground: logging when materials leave the room so a chain of custody exists for sensitive documents. "Perhaps corporate counsel logs that that information was taken out of the room by said person," Goode said.

Corporate counsel Mr. Beck explained the statutory purposes for closed sessions, noting property acquisition, contract negotiations and personnel matters often require confidentiality; he said the council could set additional practices if it wished. Several council members raised concerns about perception and leaks: Council member Martinez recalled a prior meeting when a public commenter referenced an item that had been discussed only in executive session.

On voting order, Council member Powell moved to alternate the order of votes among council members for each meeting rather than using a fixed order; the motion was seconded. The motion failed on a roll call, four in favor, three opposed and one abstention (4-3, 1 abstention). Several members favored keeping the current alphabetical order; others supported rotation or moving to simultaneous electronic voting in the future.

Council members also discussed establishing conference-travel guidelines, including spending limits and expectations for attendees to report back to council. Some members said staff typically attends many conferences and that any council travel policy should align with staff rules; others suggested council members should present a brief report after attending a conference.

Ending: Council did not adopt a comprehensive change to rules at this meeting. The discussion produced several follow-up suggestions: a possible chain-of-custody form for executive-session materials, staff proposals for conference-travel limits that align with staff practice, and additional outreach to include all council members in liaison appointment processes. Council members said they would continue review and invited feedback from the absent colleague before a final vote.