05-23-2016 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 23, 2016 7:00 o'clock p.m. 3. ORONO CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION OF APRHL 25, 2016 (continued) McMillan stated it means a lot to her to run this organization professionally and that is why she put her notes down on paper. Walsh stated transparency means a lot and that they are going backwards. Walsh noted the Mayor also does not want the Planning Commission meetings videotaped either. Levang noted the Planning Commissioners also do not want their meetings videotaped. McMillan stated she is going to end the discussion right now. Council Member Printup stated there was a time before 2015 when there were very few notes made of the work sessions and there was a time before that when there was nothing. Printup noted before that there were very detailed minutes. Printup stated he has been on record before that he would like detailed minutes and a recording. Walsh asked what the Mayor means by going back to before 2015. McMillan stated previous to 2015 the work session minutes covered a lot of the details but did not get into individual comments. McMillan stated the minutes reflected that the Council talked about an idea and if they came to a consensus. McMillan stated a lot of times in policy discussions it is important to be able to have an open dialogue. Walsh stated he is not afraid of what he says or to stand for something but that it appears everybody else has a problem with that. Walsh stated in his view, having a public official in a public meeting not wanting to have people know what was said, he finds that to be spurious. Levang stated she does not have any problem saying what she feels and that she does her homework on items that come before the Council. Levang stated she is not afraid and that Council Member Walsh is trying to say that those council members who vote yes are afraid. Levang stated that is fear mongering and that is not how she feels. Council Member Cornick stated the best evidence that the Council needs to go back to the other system is that right now they are spending time on problems with the Council rather than solutions for the citizens of Orono. Cornick suggested they go back to the old way and try that. Printup asked if that is the old way or the old, old way. Printup noted there were detailed minutes at one time. Cornick stated he is talking about the system used in 2014. Page 4 of 23