Monday, November 26, 2012

The El Monte City Council will meet on Tuesday. Betcha the lifeguards will be mentioned during public comment.

Earlier today, I posted an item entitled The El Monte lifeguards are NOT being reinstated - a story that the mainstream media is not covering yet, as far as I know.

The reason is obvious. As far as the mainstream media is concerned, the El Monte lifeguards were already reinstated. For example, when the Huffington Post took the information (with credit) from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune on October 17, the Huffington Post used the title El Monte Lifeguards Rehired After 'Gangnam Style' Video Flap. You had to delve into the post to find this little tidbit:

The City Council in the Southern California town of El Monte voted to rehire them PENDING A MANAGEMENT REVIEW AT THE AQUATIC CENTER...
(EMPHASIS mine)

As we now know, that management review apparently didn't include reinstatement.

I went to the El Monte city website this evening to see when the City Council's next meeting will be held. It turns out that it will be held tomorrow (Tuesday). And it's a special session. The agenda includes seven items:

1. CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING
2. ROLL CALL FOR CITY COUNCIL AND AUTHORITY BODIES
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
4. FLAG SALUTE
5. RECOGNITIONS, HONORS AND COMMUNITY INTEREST PRESENTATIONS:
5.1 Presentation to 5th Time Olympian Kim Rhode.


And no, Ms. Rhode is not a swimmer. She is a skeet shooter.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING NON-AGENDIZED MATTERS:

And incidentally, there are some rules regarding public comment. Rules such as this are always in place at all meetings of all City Councils, but anyone who is planning on speaking tomorrow may want to read these rules carefully.

This time has been set aside for persons in the audience to make comments or inquiries on matters within the general subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council, the Housing Authority, the Financing Authority and/or the Water Authority (collectively, the “Council”) that are not listed on this agenda. Although no person is required to provide their name and address as a condition to attending a Council meeting, persons who wish to address the Council are asked to state their name and address. Each speaker will be limited to three (3) continuous minutes. Speakers may not lend any portion of their speaking time to other persons or borrow additional time from other persons.

Except as otherwise provided under the Brown Act (Gov. Code section 54950 et seq.), the Council may not deliberate or take action upon any matter not listed on this posted agenda but may order that any such matter be placed on the agenda for a subsequent meeting. The Council may also direct staff to investigate certain matters for consideration at a future meeting.

All comments or queries presented by a speaker shall be addressed to the Council as a body and not to any specific member thereof. No questions shall be posed to any member of the Council except through the presiding official of the meeting, the Mayor and/or Chair. Members of the Council are under no obligation to respond to questions posed by speakers but may provide brief clarifying responses to any comment made or questions posed. The Council may not engage in any sort of prolonged discussion or deliberation with any speaker or group of speakers on matters that are not listed on this agenda.

Enforcement of Decorum: The Chief of Police, or such member, or members of the Police Department as the Chief of Police may designate, shall serve as the Sergeant-at-Arms of any Council meeting. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding official for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the meeting. While members of the public are free to level criticism of City policies and the action(s) or proposed action(s) of the Council or its members, members of the public may not engage in behavior that is disruptive to the orderly conduct of the proceedings, including, but not limited to, conduct that prevents other members of the public from being heard when it is their opportunity to speak or which prevents members of the audience from hearing or seeing the proceedings. Members of the public may not threaten any person with physical harm or act in a manner that may reasonably be interpreted as an imminent threat of physical harm. All persons attending the meeting must adhere to the City’s policy barring harassment based upon a person’s race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical handicap, medical condition, marital status, gender, sexual orientation or age.


After the public comment period (which may last a while, even with the three minute time limit) comes item 7, adjournment.

This promises to be an interesting meeting. How many of you from El Monte will be going?
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