Local Government Meeting: Agenda and Participants
For this assignment, you will attend a local government meeting to observe (firsthand) and analyze the decision-making process of your city or county (parish/borough) council or commission meeting. For students unable to attend in person, viewing a recent (within last 4 months) meeting online is an acceptable substitute.
You will review the topics covered on the meeting agenda and note relevant discussions and outcomes. You will then provide an analysis of the meeting and determine whether you agreed with the steps and actions taken by the council or commission. You will need to explain why you agreed or disagreed.
Be sure to include the following information in your paper:
Which leaders were present and participated in the meeting?
Provide a review of items on the agenda.
Indicate the items that required a vote, the voting process, and the outcome of those votes and whether you would have voted with the majority on each vote.
Analyze any contentious issues and problems.
What community services were addressed in the meeting?
Include other items of particular interest.
Provide your overall impression. Was the meeting what you expected? Was any partisanship or bias observed?
The name of the council or commission, location, date, and web address (if applicable) must be included on your title page. A copy of the official meeting agenda must be attached as supporting documentation at the end of your paper as Appendix A.
Your paper must be at least three pages in length, not counting the title, reference, and appendix pages. You must use at least one academic or government source (other than the agenda) to support your paper. All sources used must have citations and references properly formatted in APA Style.
Local Government
Author’s Name
Institution of Affiliation
Course Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Texas Transportation Commission
125 East 11th Street Austin, Texas
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Local Government
Meetings are vital to the local agency involved in the entire process of making decisions. Via public meetings, elected and appointed leaders meet together to obtain public input, debate, measure and agree on issues representing the public. These decisions usually need the support of most of the body responsible for making decisions. Every member involved in making decisions has the same voting power. On the other hand, the meeting chair plays a significant role in assisting the group in making tailored decisions. As usual, cities or counties participate in frequent local meetings to make decisions on matters affecting the city or county. One meeting by the Texas State took part on 27th April 2023, addressing matters associated with transport.
The meeting consisted of various leaders responsible for performing various roles and responsibilities. The meeting comprised commissioners and the executive director. The officials included Alvin New (commissioner), J. Bruce Bugg. Jr. (Chairman), Alex Meade (commissioner), and Robert C. Vaughn (commissioner) (Texas Department of Transportation, 2023). Besides, Marc Williams (Executive Director), Jeff Graham (General Counsel), and Amanda Brown (Commission Chief Clerk) also took part in the meeting (Texas Department of Transportation, 2023). All participants involved in making decisions were tasked to realize the meeting's objectives. Moreover, all officials were interested in supporting their chair's effort to conduct the meeting fairly and effectively. The public notice of the meeting entailed every item in the proposed agenda filed by the Office of the Secretary of the State on 19th April 2023.
The agenda consisted of a total of nine items, where some items had some sub-items. Item 1 entailed a safety briefing where Executive Director Marc William requested the Greer building safety video to be displayed on the screens in the Ric Williamson hearing room. The second item comprised commissioners and executive directors who gave the opening comments. The third item involved considering approving minutes made on 29th March 2023 and a special meeting held on 30th March 2023. 4th item focused on contracts involving considering awarding or rejecting contracts for highway construction and maintenance. It also addressed the construction and rehabilitation of buildings. The Aviation issue was the fifth item where different counties considered grant funding to fund the enhancement of projects (Texas Department of Transportation, 2023). Item six was all about the State infrastructure bank. The seventh item of the agenda consisted of eminent domain proceedings, where various counties considered authorizing the filing of condemnation to obtain real property. Item eight was about routine minute orders and reports; the 9th item was the executive session.
One of the items that required a vote was Item 4. Construction Director Duane Milligan presented this item concerning highway improvement and other transportation facilities....