In my service to several organizations, I am blessed to attend a lot of council meetings in different communities, and, as a governance guy, am always on the lookout for the good, the bad, and the ugly. This year, in Palmdale, California (ICMA’s Past President Dave Childs is city manager there), I was fortunate to witness an example of excellence.

The early part of the agenda was like many. There was a special ceremony, including Cub Scouts and their little sisters, offering the pledge, which was so cute. The council also honored a major business for a national honor it had received as well as a local athlete from the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks for giving back to the community.

Palmdale’s Mayor Jim Ledford was likeable, articulate, and genuine, and the council was fully engaged in these enjoyable ceremonial duties. While clearly not governance-related, these activities demonstrated a truly welcoming atmosphere, which was impressive.

Genuine Decorum

Under the ubiquitous “Hear Citizens” item, several folks had signed up to address the council on a matter that, while clearly out of the council’s jurisdiction, was of great concern to a neighborhood. In most situations, this challenge might have devolved into numerous repetitive speakers with each getting successively angrier as the council superficially listened, because councilmembers knew they couldn’t do anything.

In Palmdale, though, the mayor again weighed in immediately after the first speaker. Politely and believably, he shared with the large and largely restive crowd that he and the council were aware of the concerns.

He pointed out that the council was without power in the situation and even so, offered to meet personally and in any venue with those concerned to more fully understand the issue and to work out a process for their concerns to be appropriately aired to the responsible body.

Finally, he thanked them for engaging in democracy and let them know how much he and the council appreciated them for coming.

Again this was done with such genuineness that a collective sigh of relief went up from the neighborhood and, in unity, group members profusely thanked the mayor and council and went on their way to more productive evening pursuits, saving everyone a large chunk of time and emotion.

Not easily impressed, by now even I was becoming an admirer and the best was yet to come.

Courteous and Collegial

After my item on the council’s agenda had been addressed, the really gnarly issue of the evening began. It was controversial and involved the council itself, as some of the members served as official representatives to an outside agency.

The council advocate stated his case and rationale, but it became immediately apparent that there was not a consensus on the council. Indeed, significant disagreement surfaced and in the process of the debate, personal—and even closely held feelings—were aired.

In the midst of this situation, I was pleased to see that clear rules of decorum were preserved, active listening was used, probing questions were asked to genuinely ascertain information—not just to make a point—and professional and personal courtesy was continuously extended.

Even when the arguments started sliding into repetitiveness and a consensus against the motion became clear, the council and its individual members remained collegial. Only after everyone had their say and posteriors were getting tired did the mayor wind down the discussion and call the question. The result was not unanimous, the advocate did not prevail, and while feelings were high, behaviors were respectful and honoring.

The mayor wisely called a recess and then instead of everyone retreating into a back room or breaking up in small like-minded clusters, most of the councilmembers came down off the dais to speak personally to the remaining members of the audience. Calm tones and smiles were the order of the day, even after the emotions of the past hour.

When I left that council meeting, I jotted down these notes:

• Excellence in governance is fun to observe.
• Being genuine matters.
• Trust is worth building and preserving.
• Difficult debate can be held without grudges or hard feelings.
• Having a prescribed process provides expectations, predictability, and safety.
• Democracy can indeed be delivered to the doorstep

Oh, and did I mention this council only meets once a month? Truly excellent.