A council taking votes over items not placed on the agenda. Motions to enter executive session without any given reason. An altercation breaking out between a disgruntled resident and a councilmember accused of not residing inside the municipality — followed by a mayor picking fights with the newspaper reporter in attendance.
These were only some of the catastrophes featured in the “Council of Errors,” a mock public meeting that took place during Hometown Legislative Action Day. The gathering, presided over by Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts, included Municipal Association staff filling in for the various other officials who found new ways to violate state law or breach every rule of civility and decorum.
Municipal Association Director of Advocacy and Communications Scott Slatton led a group discussion following every particularly bad error to discuss with the audience of elected officials and municipal staff what the mock council should have done with the issues it faced. Although Slatton opened the session by expressing his hope that his audience knew the laws of conducting meetings and therefore “none of you will learn anything” from the legal and ethical mistakes on display, the session did offer an engaging way to review some of the basics of running a meeting.
The session frequently referred to many of the Association’s more detailed resources that can help with conducting public meetings correctly. Here are some of those available through the Association’s website:
Handbook for Municipal Officials in South Carolina
This handbook covers the basics of how city and town councils, departments, boards and commissions operate. It explains issues such as local government finance, human resources, elections, ordinances, public utility operations, planning and annexation, among others.
How to Conduct Effective Meetings handbook
This handbook offers guidance on adopting rules of procedures; how the presiding officer and other members of the governing body should act, make motions and handle voting; how to set an agenda; how to schedule and publicize the meeting lawfully; and how to follow the law when entering into executive session. It also provides a model rules of order document, which includes procedures recommended by the Municipal Association as well as actions required by law.
Forms and Powers of Municipal Government handbook
This resource explains each of the three forms of government available to South Carolina municipalities: the council form, the mayor-council form and the council-manager form. It explains the roles and powers of the full council, the mayor, and the administrator or manager, if any, in the different forms.
Public Official's Guide to Compliance with the S.C. Freedom of Information Act
This guide is a publication of the SC Press Association. It contains the full text of the state’s FOIA law, along with explanations of all of the provisions, as well as a discussion of how to respond to FOIA requests. It includes a flowchart on how to handle different circumstances where a council seeks to amend the agenda for a public meeting.