MONTICELLO — Legislative Chair Nadia Rajsz opened the Sullivan County Legislature meeting on Thursday, July 24, with a new initiative to streamline meetings and make proceedings more civil. This comes after the efficiency of recent meetings has been disrupted by name-calling among legislators and long public comments that were sometimes not relevant to the meeting’s agenda.

“Before we officially start this meeting, I would like to welcome everyone and let you all know that it is my intention as chair that we create a space where every member of our board feels seen, heard, respected, and valued. I would like to go over some rules as we go on,” said Rajsz. 

Rajsz’s rules for the legislature were reminiscent of Robert’s Rules of Order, a manual of parliamentary procedure written by the U.S. Army officer Henry Martyn Robert in 1876. Robert observed chaotic meetings in San Francisco in the late 19th century and wrote the book, loosely based on the procedures of the United States House of Representatives, to make meetings more efficient and orderly. Today, Robert’s Rules of Order is the most widely used manual for parliamentary procedure in the United States.

Rajsz read eight rules of conduct aloud to the legislature, after which she added: “We have a lot of business to conduct, and we need to get through this. I will not allow anyone to speak against any employee, whether it’s a county employee, or agency. Please be respectful of our staff and the hard work that they do.”

Legislators were mostly observant of the rules during the following meeting, which was significantly shorter in length than recent ones. Rajsz calmly but assertively held fellow legislators accountable when a rule was violated, and she enforced the three-minute time limit when members of the public made comments. 

Frequent public commenter Ken Walter scored a major victory during the same meeting when Legislators adopted a resolution to spell out the meaning of acronyms. Walter read aloud a resolution concerning probation that the board was voting on and asked the Legislators, “Does someone mind telling me what ATI is?” After they exhibited confusion about the meaning of the acronym, which can refer to ‘Action Toward Independence,’ a non-profit organization based in Monticello, and also to ‘Alternatives To Incarceration,’ Walter responded, “Now you know why I say you must have the full name in there. And by the way, you make that policy, you should have a resolution, right now…you make that policy, don’t talk about it, make that policy a resolution.” 

Walter, who is a regular fixture at legislature meetings, has been pleading to the board for the past few months to explain the acronyms that permeate meeting agendas and reports. The legislature finally heeded his call and adopted a resolution to write out each acronym in their documents so the public knows what entity is being referenced. 

District 5 Legislator Cat Scott was the first to support Walter’s suggestion, saying, “I would move that it be policy of this board that moving forward anytime there is an acronym, it is spelled out first in any resolution, in any documents, and then later on used as an acronym.” The motion was seconded by District 1 Legislator Matt McPhillips, and the resolution passed unanimously.

Recent legislature meetings have been rife with disruptive arguments among legislators and also between the elected officials and members of the public, but Rajsz’s new rules of conduct and the board’s resolution to spell out acronyms have already made the proceedings more civil, efficient, and transparent. 

Rules of Conduct

1. “I will read each resolution, then ask for a motion- we’re gonna slow down the process.” 

2. “No member may speak until recognized by the chair.”

3.”All discussion must be relevant to the immediately pending question.” 

4. “No member may speak a second time until every member who wishes to speak has had the opportunity to do so.” 

5. “No member can speak more than twice on a motion.”

6. “All remarks must be addressed to the chair, there will be no cross debate.”

7. “Members may not disrupt the assembly.”

8. “In the interest of time, public comment will be three minutes.”