Commission amends rules of procedure

By By Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
The Morgan County Commission will not be required to act separately on each item on its agenda, beginning with its next meeting. Instead, it will have the authority to act on more than one item with the same vote.
The change was approved March 9 with passage of a resolution to amend the rules of procedure for meetings on a recommendation by County Attorney Bill Shinn.
Shinn suggested an update for the rules of procedure in a letter written to Chairman John Glasscock on Jan. 26, 2010: “During the course of the County Commission meeting, it occurred to me that there are many agendas where there is really no dispute as to any item. It would be appropriate for the commission to amend its meeting procedures so as to allow one vote to cover all or a certain portion of the items on the agenda. For example, it would have been appropriate, had our rules provided, for the commission to act on all 20 items on today’s agenda with one vote. If someone wished to have further discussion about a particular item, the motion for action could exempt that item from the motion and that item could be voted on separately.”
In a work session discussion, Glasscock said he favored the change because it would eliminate some of the redundancy of current meetings and save time. He referred to the handling of routine agenda items such as approval to pay bills for budgeted expenses.
Another change made in the rules was the changing of the title “chairman” to “chair” and the “chairman pro tem” to “vice chair.”