Brittany Kelley
KYLE — Kyle City Council voted to create additional work sessions at its Feb. 17 meeting, opting to bring back the idea of separate subcommittees after budget season.
The subcommittee was initially discussed at a special meeting held Feb. 5, but was formally brought back for a vote.
The idea is that three separate committees — finance, development and infrastructure and agenda setting — would each consist of three council members and meet semi-regularly to have in-depth discussions on items that would appear at later council meetings. Council itself would choose who sits on which subcommittee.
The presentation noted that the structure would be advisory in nature to make recommendations to the rest of council and would be supported by staff with meetings held in accordance with the Open Meetings Act:
Finance subcommittee:
• Focused on understanding and reviewing fiscal items and policies
• Examines financial issues in detail
• Increases meeting efficiency by resolving detailed financial questions in advance
• Held as needed
Infrastructure and development subcommittee:
• Focused analysis of growth and infrastructure to improve long term planning
• Enhances coordination with staff communication and timing
• Reduces risk and cost escalation, while increasing council efficiency
• Held as needed
Agenda subcommittee:
• Helps sequence and prioritize current and future council business
• Ensures meetings are structured efficiently
• Helps balance meeting workload aligning council priorities with timing.
• Creates predictability and transparency, with item timelines and sequencing
• Meets regularly to review upcoming agendas
• Mayor has to sit on this, since she makes the agenda with the city manager
According to city manager Bryan Langley and assistant city manager Jesse Elizondo, the proposition stems from the elongated council discussions that have occurred, which often go to midnight and force items to be pushed to later dates. Langley also stated that there are several items on the executive agenda that need direction, but are being delayed, due to lengthy discussion.
Elizondo further explained that “while staff would still give a presentation [at the regular council meeting] and answer any questions, those council members [on the subcommittee] would also have a deeper dive and more of a subject matter expert knowledge. In that, the rest of the council can be confident that their colleagues have looked into this and have asked lots of questions, especially if all three are recommending it.”
If adopted, council would need to amend the Rules of Council.
City attorney Aimee Alcorn-Reed stated that these meetings do not break quorum because they are done in an open meeting setting.
Despite this, residents expressed concern at the proposal during public comment.
“In my opinion, this proposed plan appears to be a strategic maneuver to undermine citizens' participation and consolidate power in the hands of our city manager. It seems the plan structure would necessitate a significant time commitment from citizens, like myself, [and] potentially dominating my weekly schedule [by] attending multiple council committee meetings,” said Kyle resident Howard Connell.
Beginning discussion was council member Melisa Medina, who questioned how this will save time. She acknowledged that those on the subcommittee would have questions answered, but the other four wouldn’t, so the item could still turn into an hour-long discussion. In response, Elizondo stated that the intention is that the council members can guide the others and answer their questions.
“For me, being on council for six years now, I’m just curious to know, at this specific moment in time, why it’s being considered. Is it because we have a new council, a new dais [that needs] to get caught up on projects,” asked council member Michael Tobias.
The assistant city manager noted that its part of growth, as the items brought forward get more complex, they need more time and it’s becoming harder to do everything needed in regular meetings: “This meeting is a perfect example. I don’t think we’ve hit actual council action yet. We’ve hit some work sessions; we’ve hit consent, but this might be the first action item that we’ve pulled up and it’s 10:30 p.m.”
Council member Claudia Zapata was in immense favor of the idea, citing transparency as the reason to move forward with the subcommittees.
She explained that, currently, there are a lot of conversations that happen off of the dais and these extra meetings would force council “whether they like it or not to have these conversations in front of the public, with posted meeting agendas … I just want to be very clear that this gives our residents more opportunities to engage.”
Expressing the same sentiment were council members Lauralee Harris and Marc McKinney.
McKinney emphasized that council is failing its residents by not getting through agendas and that either these subcommittees get approved or they will need to begin meeting weekly to get through the necessary items.
Resident feedback was important to council member Courtney Goza, who shared that she has seen comments that state this will bring less transparency, as there will be less discussion on the dais, therefore, depriving residents of information.
Continuing with concerns was Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale.
First, she noted that council previously voted 7-0 to have a presentation come back for a finance/audit committee, so she’s not sure why a council-led option is being presented.
Second, she was apprehensive about the time commitment.
“This is huge. I’ve already committed probably 40-50 hours a week to the city, to the residents, to each other and so, what you guys are asking me to do is to commit additional time and this is going to be staff time, as well,” said Flores-Cale.
Tobias agreed, especially with budget season coming up and adding even more meetings to the calendar.
Additionally, she noted that she previously asked for a detailed presentation regarding financials and council voted against it. So, it begs the question of what changed — why did council not want the “nitty gritty, granular” information, but now, they want subcommittees to dig deeper, Flores-Cale said.
The mayor stated that instead, council should interact with residents more, as answering their questions often leads to further knowledge for herself.
“Transparency comes at a cost,” said Zapata, adding that other cities do this, as well, such as San Marcos and Round Rock. “Transparency and our want for it is going to cost us time and if that seems to be the goal of this council, is to prioritize that, this is a mechanism to do that.”
As a compromise, the mayor asked to bring back the subcommittee idea after budget season, but agreed to schedule the proposed work sessions, without amending the Rules of Council.
The work sessions, according to agenda documents, would “provide dedicated time for in-depth discussion of complex and emerging topics, as well as allowing the council to identify priorities, advance initiatives and provide clearer strategic direction.” These meetings would include informational presentations that, a lot of times, do not require votes, but do take up a significant amount of time.
The proposed dates are as follows, but could change, said Elizondo: March 19, April 16, May 14, June 25 and July 16.
Flores-Cale made a motion to create regularly-scheduled work sessions throughout budget season, without amending the Rules of Council. The item was seconded by Medina and passed 7-0.
“I hope everybody feels heard because I know we can get into our own feelings and our own ideas, but I do think this is a good medium for now,” concluded the mayor.
To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/3ORZm9K.
Kyle City Council will meet next March 3.
