City Council training

[MichaelC]

More at Urban Tulsa

quote:Being new at a job is always a time of uncertainty and vague expectations, but imagine being new and expected to make decisions for a city of a quarter million people involving a myriad of complex topics-- ranging from analyzing the Mayor's proposed budget (due to them by May 1) to zoning and dealing with sacred cows, big money and emotional homeowners.

If the five new Tulsa City council members, who took office last week aren't frightened, then citizens/homeowners at least should be.

Fortunately for us, if not for the new councilors, on-the-job training is available and every taxpayer should be thankful that the transition in city administration should not be too bad.

There are a number of ways city councilors are brought up to speed, so to speak. City Council Administrator Donald Cannon said an overview session lasting about three to four hours is held for new councilors. They receive presentations on various topics; and are given large binders of written material that backs up those presentations. Topics range from city processes to Oklahoma laws such as the open meeting and records act.

Topic-specific workshops follow the overview session, he said, and are optional for councilors. The topic-specific sessions provide an opportunity to meet and begin working with various city employees and department heads.

Other training opportunities go beyond what staff does for the new council. Cannon said councilors are required to go through a certified councilor program operated by the Oklahoma Municipal League.

The program itself, he explained, is about four to eight hours long. It is something councilors are required to participate in during their tenure, under state law.

Cannon said it is a requirement that has been on the state rulebooks for some time but there was no enforcement of the rule until recently when the state legislature created the necessary enforcement mechanism to ensure officials were receiving the training.

So far, only one of the nine current City Council members completed the training, he said.
Additionally, new and old councilors alike have a staff to depend on. The council's staff does not change based on the election outcome like that of the mayor's office, he explained. Councilors can draw on staff for help and background as they look at issues in their district as well as city-wide.