Consent agendas—what’s the policy?

Don Browning speaks after being sworn in to the Marion County Public School Board during a meeting at the Marion County Public School Board in Ocala, Fla. on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

On Jan. 25, Marion County School Board member Don Browning stated during a regular meeting that he believes the board needed to be more transparent going forward.

As an example of activities that were not transparent, Browning likened agenda items that are placed on the consent agenda to sweeping something under the carpet or tossed into a dumpster.

The other four school board members contend that there is no need to tie up time for staff at board meetings for items that can be clarified with a five-minute phone call to staff the week before board meetings. And when a consent item is deemed significant, board members can pull them from the agenda and highlight significant items.

Browning sees it differently. He thinks the consent agenda should be used for bulk purchases of mundane things like “shoelaces,” not multi-million-dollar grants and other funding sources.

Is he correct? How does an agenda item go from conception to consent?

Read on to discover how the city, the county and the school board answered the Gazette’s request to explain how they chose what goes on a consent agenda.

Marion County School Board

Kevin Christian, director of public relations for Marion County Public Schools, said that a typical consent agenda item would be a normal day-to-day expense inherent to running a school district.

“It’s not something that would typically be pulled for discussion because it is something that’s pretty normal, pretty routine,” said Christian.

Using the example of purchasing fuel for school buses, Christian said that an agenda item regarding bus fuel would come through the transportation department, who is working with the purchase department to secure the contract. After that, the item is put on the agenda for approval for the board.

This occurs every three to six months, added Christian.

“It’s a process that’s been around for a long time,” he said, “and it allows the school board to be productive. Their work sessions can be pretty lengthy and very detailed. That’s where much of this information is presented, quite honestly.”

School board agendas and work sessions are always on the MCPS website. In fact, the dates of the meetings and work sessions are approved as much as a year in advance, according to Christian, who said, from his standpoint, he doesn’t know how the process could be more open.

“The transparency is built into the process. It is the process,” he said.

Browning said in a Jan. 28 interview that there is no intended criticism of MCPS staff, his fellow board members or of his district in regards to his Jan. 25 comments. He isn’t trying to start “a big deal here,” he said, but simply to “lay a track” for the citizens of Marion County to follow.

“I do not want to be insulted,” said Browning, “nor do I want to insult anyone. I just want to see the process be done as cleanly as possible. We have Sunshine Law—just open the door some more. The process should be as open as possible.”

Marion County Board of County Commissioners

County Administration Executive Staff Manager Dawn Phelps said that most agenda items take weeks, sometimes months, before they are ready to be voted on or discussed at a county board meeting—including consent agenda items.

“It’s definitely a longer timeframe than just the week before,” said Phelps. “Behind the scenes, a lot of eyes are on each item, reviewing it, making sure that we’ve got all the information we need and that the process went smoothly. And, for the public, it’s clear and concise, easy to understand. It’s why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Basically, there’s no magical agenda item that just flies through the process, she said. Each item must be reviewed and reviewed again, bouncing around from department to department, checked and rechecked by director and administrative staff, before eventually arriving at the County Administrator for final approval to be published as part of some future board meeting.

Public transparency, said Phelps, is the name of the game.

“We want the public to understand, why is this here?” she said. “Why is this coming before the board? What’s the history? What did they do before? Even with a new agreement or an amendment to an agreement, we want the previous agreement attached. We want to show everything we can.”

According to Phelps, often times consent agenda items pertain to issues that have been previously discussed at prior board meetings that are now being formalized by the board for approval—but require no further discussion unless one of the commissioners decides to pull the agenda item for discussion.

Phelps said that all agenda items include background information and supporting documentation. Any new agreement, modification, amendment or other document requiring the signature of the county commission chairman will also be reviewed by the Office of the County Attorney prior to being presented to the county commission.

Due to Sunshine Law, county commissioners cannot meet each other to talk about county business outside of scheduled regular board meetings, but department directors can meet with each commissioner and discuss possible agenda items prior to them making the agenda.

Typically, the Monday before the regularly scheduled board meeting, the county administrator will have his final one-on-ones with each commissioner and go through the final agenda, item by item.

“At that point, if there’s more discussion, more concerns, we may pull an item at the beginning of the meeting,” said Phelps, adding that another reason to pull an item from the agenda could be public comment or public concern.

Ocala City Council

The city defines the consent agenda as items deemed to be routine business, not requiring discussion and are approved by roll call vote. By using a consent agenda, the city council members have consented to the consideration of certain items as a group under one motion.

Pam Omichinski, deputy city clerk for the City of Ocala, said via email that the draft agenda review, including the Consent Agenda, is sent to the City Manager, the Assistant City Manager’s Budget Director, the Planning Director, the Contracting Officer and the city’s Strategic & Legislative Affairs Administrator.

“They review the placement of each agenda item, as well as review grammar for clarity,” said Omichinski. “There are definitely times when an item may be moved between sections, where it would be better placed. The City Manager has the final sign-off on the draft agenda as a whole, however any of the people I’ve mentioned can and will suggest changes.”

At a council meeting, Omichinski explained, any person—council, city staff or the general public—can request an item be removed from the consent agenda for further discussion and a separate vote.

Most often it is an item in General Business or an ordinance introduction that needs to be placed in Public Hearing, but sometimes, she added, items are moved from Consent to General Business.

“The latter occurs usually due to the item being over the allowed dollar value for a consent item,” she said.

In general, any non-controversial (as defined by the City Manager or City Council) and routine city business with monies less than $100,000 can be placed in the consent agenda.

Any amounts greater than $100K are placed in the General Business section of the agenda, including City Attorney invoices, easements/abrogation, licenses (second-hand dealers, etc.), minutes, contracts valued at less than $100K (as authorized by Resolution 2009-47 approved on June 2, 2009) and employment contracts.

The consent agenda can also be home to resolutions, which are opinions, intentions or decisions made by an official body or assembly, bids and other financial matters, if less than $100K.

To read a commentary on the above story from the Gazette Editorial Board, click here.