If Manteca’s elected leaders are going to make a regular habit of adjourning regular scheduled meetings or schedule special City Council on the second and fourth Tuesdays they might want to rearrange some things to make it more palatable for the public.

As it stands now, the adjourned and special meetings are occurring at 3:30 p.m. which is a great time for staff and perhaps retired elected leaders but a bit more daunting for the public that might want to attend and council members still working for a living to squeeze into their schedules. Already it has been problematic for Councilman Jose Nuño to attend the mid-afternoon meetings.

They can’t meet later on the second or fourth Tuesday because the Planning Commission meets at 7p.m. And already one of those mid-afternoon meetings had to be cut short to clear the council chambers for the planning commission meeting,

Adding to the pressure for additional meetings is a policy adopted recently by the council not to bring up a new item on the agenda after 10 p.m. unless the majority of the council agrees. The rationale was simple — productivity goes down with people get tired and you chase the public off that might want to observe or participate as more than a few Manteca residents have jobs that require them to hit the road early in the morning.

The mid-afternoon meetings aren’t at an ideal time for most citizens. Whether they attend isn’t the point since the council has made it clear that transparency and access is a top priority. Nothing quite says access as being able to be present in real time to listen to elected leaders discuss how they spend taxes and fees collected from the public and address community concerns.

The remedy is simple. Move the Planning Commission meetings to either Monday or Wednesday and reserve the council chambers at 7 p.m. every Tuesday for council meetings. While the city could schedule council meetings for the first four Tuesdays of any given month, simply having the regular scheduled meetings on the first and third meetings with the second and fourth Tuesdays reserved for adjourned or special meetings should suffice.

Obviously there are special meetings that are closed door affairs as allowed for litigation, negotiations, and personnel issues that don’t fall under the need to have them conducted at the most opportune time for residents.

There has been significant policy discussion taking place at the mid-afternoon meetings. While it is true residents could listen to videos of proceedings, it is not the same as making sure the public can easily attend council meetings.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com