In the 10 years I have covered the Fishers town and city councils, I have witnessed many a debate about taxes, development and other major issues facing the city. But Monday night I saw something I have never seen before covering news here – a sharp difference of opinion over the meeting minutes – you read that correctly, the meeting minutes.
It all began when Councilor Jocelyn Vare pointed out that the most recent meeting minutes up for approval were not written in the detail that she had seen in previous minutes. For example, when there was a discussion among council members, the minutes only noted the discussion, not a summary of what was discussed.
Pete Peterson responded that the city provides a live stream and recorded video of each council session for the public. Vare said residents should not need to sort through a long video to find a particular discussion.
Peterson then referred to Vare’s recent announcement of her intention to run for the District 31 State Senate seat.
“We’re not running a campaign here,” Peterson said. Vare argued she was pushing for transparency, but Peterson said the city has been very transparent.
“This grandstanding stuff needs to stop with me,” said Councilor Peterson. “I’m not going to tolerate it, it wastes our time.”
Council President Selina Stoller says she has spoken with City Clerk Jennifer Kehl and sometimes council members forget to turn their microphones on and cannot be heard clearly. There are also instances, according to Stoller, when councilors lean back in their chairs even when the microphones are working and cannot be clearly heard. This can also an extra burden on Clerk Kehl’s staff.
Council member Crystal Neuman supported Vare’s position on the minutes as an educator, saying people consume information in different ways and adding discussion summaries should not be “a huge deal.”
Clerk Kehl then said she had asked her employee filling-in for her at council meetings when Kehl must be away to “be a little more thorough in taking the minutes.”
The proposal by Vare was defeated by a vote of 7-2, with Vare and Neumann, the only Democrats on the council, voting to amend the minutes. Therefore, the meeting minutes remain as originally submitted.