Mayor Stanckiewitz's First Full Meeting:

Mayor Stanckiewitz new on the job as mayor demonstrated a more public friendly approach to the Public Comment portion of the agenda. He did not interrupt the speaker to announce they had 15 seconds to finish their statement each time the warning beep sounded. Most if not all speakers finished up and the flow of the meeting went along quite nicely. There may have been a few speakers who heard the final beep but upon hearing it, they finished their sentence and stepped away from the podium.

During the first meeting Mayor and Council allowed a short extension to allow the speaker to finish a rather long concluding sentence but this too was done in a quick and unobtrusive way as to not be disruptive of the speakers train of thought or points that were being presented to the council and the public.

Let's hope this new climate of the city council meetings continues.

Mayor Stanckiewitz also allowed each and every council member to fully express their views and concerns on the topic. He neither rushed to a motion, or bullied his point or view. By allowing all the council members to continue to consider the issue and situation before them they were able to reach a decision. Then they were able to agree upon the process to carry out that decision.

How that decision will turn out, who knows for sure. However we can see he is not an impediment to the process of council discussion and finding consensus.

City Manager Betsy Adams should also be noted for providing information without a hint of "Telling" the council how they should act. This is a giant step forward to an improve government for this city. Let's all work hard to try to keep GT afloat while the damage done is repaired. It will take time. But, things are looking better than they have in a long time.