This Peoria City Council has become accustomed to deferring several agenda topics in each meeting. This can be frustrating to the people affected by the decisions and to Council members working on the proposals.
Some are questioning if part of the problem could be during the first reading process, where topics are not being discussed in depth. City Council Member Chuck Weaver says quickly deferring a topic does not help clarify things for those council members with questions.
“The one thing I’d like to see us do more often is have discussion on an item before we go to a deferral. Once a motion, and a second is put on the floor for a deferral, you can not talk about the topic. And as a result, you might have 5 or 6 ideas around the horseshoe that you would like to get on the table about the item. So when it comes back, it comes back in a more ripe fashion.”
Weaver says Council members also need to communicate more to understand the business proposals coming up for a vote so there’s less need to defer proposals.