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2 — Wednesday, February 24, 2021 

KATE HUA/Daily

Students walk around the Diag after another snowstorm in Ann Arbor Thursday afternoon.

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Ann Arbor City Council and public 
react to proposed rules to limit time
New resolution aims to improve discourse and accessibility of meetings

JULIA FORREST
Daily Staff Reporter

In an effort to improve 

discourse and ensure meetings 
are accessible to the public, 
the Ann Arbor City Council 
introduced a new resolution 
on Feb. 1 to amend Council 
Rules to have Council meetings 
end 
earlier, 
garnering 
both 

support and wariness from 
councilmembers. 
Since 
the 

council moved to conduct fully 
remote meetings during the 
COVID-19 pandemic, meetings 
have often gone into the early 
morning, sometimes past 1 a.m. 

The resolution also aims 

to limit negative interactions 
between councilmembers. 

On Feb. 1, City Council voted 

to approve the resolution R-21-
047, a Resolution to Approve 
Amendments to the Council 
Rules. It was brought up for 
a second time on Feb. 16 in 
a motion to reconsider its 
approval 
after 
issues 
were 

raised 
about 
the 
resolution 

potentially 
infringing 
on 

free speech. The motion to 
reconsider was approved. 

The 
resolution 
entails 

limiting 
discussion 
and 

debate on agenda items by 
reducing speaking times for 
councilmembers 
from 
three 

minutes 
down 
to 
two. 
An 

amendment in the resolution 
calls for councilmembers not to 
“assail, question, or impugn the 
integrity, character or motives 
of another Member” in or 
outside of council meetings.

Ann 
Arbor 
Mayor 

Christopher Taylor would act as 
the Presiding Officer over the 
meeting and would ultimately 
decide if a violation occurs. 

If the mayor deems that a 
violation occurred, he will give 
the councilmember who was 
spoken against two minutes 
of speaking time to defend 
themselves or say that the other 
councilmember is out of order. 

Councilmember Julie Grand, 

D-Ward 3, spoke at the Feb. 
1 meeting in support of the 
resolution, 
saying 
that 
the 

resolution will give power to 
councilmembers 
to 
defend 

themselves 
against 
attacks 

made on them without it taking 
up their limited speaking time. 
She has been on City Council 
since 2014 and said she hopes 
the resolution will help to 
improve 
councilmembers’ 

behavior.

“I believe the point of this 

is not to use it frequently and 
to actually keep us from going 
down in a rabbit hole where 
we’re defending one another,” 
Grand said at the meeting. “It 
really just gives that person, on 
hopefully a very rare occasion, 
the opportunity, if they have 
been clearly attacked to step in 
and get back in quickly to the 
work that we’ve been doing.”

Councilmember Lisa Disch, 

D-Ward 1, also spoke at the 
Feb. 
1 
meeting 
in 
support 

of 
the 
section 
allowing 

councilmembers 
to 
defend 

themselves 
against 
attacks 

that may imgun their integrity. 
Disch has been a member of 
City Council since Nov. 2020.

“This is not constraining 

anyone’s 
ability 
to 
express 

their opinion,” Disch said. “It 
is constraining their ability to 
promulgate 
negativity 
about 

this body and its individual 
members. 
And 
because 

statements 
that 
promulgate 

negativity 
about 
the 
body 

and it’s members compromise 
the dignity of this council, it 
compromises trustin council.” 

Councilmember 
Elizabeth 

Nelson, D-Ward 4, told The 
Daily she does not think the 
resolution would shorten the 
meeting because the length is 
based largely on the number 
of 
agenda 
items, 
not 
each 

individual speaking. She also 
worried about issues not being 
fully discussed and understood 
by various councilmembers in 
the interest of time. 

“I’m concerned about the 

idea that we want to reduce 
speaking time and that the 
suggestion is coming from new 
councilmembers right out of 
the gate,” Nelson said. “(They) 
are 
perhaps 
less 
informed 

about some of these issues, and 
I will say that when I first got 
on council, I benefited hearing 
from our colleagues who have 
more experience than me.”

Councilmember 
Jeff 

Hayner, D-Ward 1, said he also 
disapproves of the proposal 
and told The Michigan Daily 
he thinks the desire of new 
councilmembers 
to 
limit 

speaking time seems to be an 
overstep. 

“I didn’t see the need for the 

rules,” Hayner said. “And the 
rules were coming from a couple 
of councilmembers who’ve only 
been seated for a month and 
a half and so I thought it was 
a little presumptuous to start 
changing the rules.”

Hayner said the new rule 

would 
reduce 
the 
amount 

of time councilmembers are 
present to hear the concerns of 
their constituents. 

“It’s not like you’re reducing 

speaking 
time, 
what 
you’re 

reducing is my ability to speak 

on behalf of the 25,000 people 
I represent,” Hayner said. “I 
feel like you’re taking away 
from constituents your ability 
to express your constituents’ 
concerns.”

Brandon Dimcheff, a resident 

of Ward 4, spoke to The Daily 
in support of the resolution. 
He said he thinks the rule 
should be adopted to limit 
councilmembers from arguing 
with one another. 

“I feel like (the resolution) 

shouldn’t be that controversial,” 
Dimcheff said. “For me, I am 
definitely 
happy 
that 
(the 

resolution is) happening. People 
think it’s going to be weaponized 
against something, but I don’t 
see it. I think regardless of 
the situation, they should stop 
bickering at each other.” 

Dimcheff also said he thinks 

councilmembers’ time should 
be time-limited to shorten the 
total meeting times. 

“I think that this process is 

not intended to limit the scope 
of 
the 
grievance 
hearing,” 

Dimcheff said. “I don’t think 
anybody’s 
First 
Amendment 

rights are getting trampled.”

Dimcheff said he believes 

that the new rule would result 
in 
increased 
information 

density and quality of debate, 
as each councilmember would 
have to keep the information 
they are sharing concise. 

“If everyone comes prepared 

for the meeting (it will be) 
productive,” 
Dimcheff 
said. 

“Everyone would get up to 
speed individually and ask the 
best questions.”

Daily Staff Reporter Julia 

Forrest 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

juforres@umich.edu. 

ISAAC MANGOLD/Daily

Members of the Ann Arbor City Council are debating new rules to limit the length of meetings and to allow councilmembers to respond to direct verbal attacks.

ANN ARBOR

