The cellphones can be turned back on.
City Council members again will be able to use their electronic devices during meetings after President Greg Anderson laid out a policy this week on how texting public business should be handled.
He banned cellphones for members while meetings were in session after issues arose following last-minute budget changes in late September.
Several members were lobbied on the floor via text messages to change their votes on a funding issue between public safety and drainage money. A lawsuit alleging Sunshine Law violations followed, naming nine council members.
Anderson’s policy closely follows a bill that recently was pulled by the council Rules Committee.
Anderson said he wanted the chance to determine the policy instead of continuing toward the path of having a locked-in ordinance.
The three-part policy essentially states that council members are discouraged from sending or receiving text messages from registered lobbyists, union members or representatives during committee and council meetings when it’s related to public business on the agenda.
Replying to any text message from the same group is forbidden. And any text messages received from the same group must be filed — much like ex parte communications — with the Legislative Services Division within 48 hours of receipt.
“This is a better way to go,” said Anderson about the policy. “If there is a change needed based on circumstances, we can do it quickly rather than changing the ordinance.”
Changing ordinance code generally takes weeks.
At least one council member said he has some questions.
John Crescimbeni said Wednesday he might bring up the issue Tuesday during the next full council meeting.
While registered lobbyists with the city are taken care of under the policy, he wants to know about unregistered lobbyists, such as mayor’s office staff and others who lobby council members on issues.
With the policy in place, Anderson’s attention now turns to how council members can more easily retain their text messages.
Each is responsible for keeping his or her own messages, but Anderson is looking into ways it can be done automatically.
He met with Vice President Lori Boyer this week to talk about options, one of which includes a system that automatically tags numbers and stores all text messages. That option, Anderson said, costs on a per-device basis.
Another option would be for council members to upload and backup their text messages to city servers, with which the city’s Information Technology Division can assist.
(904) 356-2466