One reason some members of the Albert Lea City Council say they wouldn&8217;t get rid of the Thursday night preagenda meetings is that they like having a few days of preparation before the Monday night regular meetings.

The fact is, if the city abolished the Thursday night preagenda meetings, they would have more time to prepare, not less. They would have two weeks, not four days.

The present system allows the city staff to more or less surprise the council members. After the city staff presents items at the preagenda meetings, council members only have two business days to scramble and find feedback from constituents before a vote happens. The City Council presently votes on &8220;New Business&8221; items.

If the city got rid of the preagenda meetings, this is how the new &8220;citizens first&8221; regular meetings would work, as they do in most cities:

When a new item comes up, the mayor would place it on the agenda under &8220;New Business.&8221; Though packets go out with printed information ahead of time, city staff members usually would explain the item to the council members before the audience and before anyone watching at home on cable television.

This is a crucial &8220;aha!&8221; moment for everyone: the council members, citizens, reporters, invested parties, visitors, even other city staff members. We all get to hear an explanation about the item at the same time &8212; not at some poorly attended Thursday meeting that has no minutes and no cameras.

The council members then discuss the item with city staff and sometimes with citizens connected to the item. After discussion ends, no vote is taken.

The item then comes back at the next regular council meeting as &8220;Old Business&8221; (some cities prefer &8220;Action Items&8221;). A council member makes a motion, another seconds it and further discussion is had, if warranted. Amendments sometimes are made, and then a vote is taken. Sometimes items are approved, sometimes they are rejected and sometimes they are tabled. Sometimes items or amendments die for lack of a second.

The new system allows at least two weeks for council members to find feedback from constituents. It allows more time for citizens to become aware of pending issues. It allows for all the cards to be on the table in front of the highest number of the citizens who elected the council members. Truly, a system like this is best for everyone involved.

If the City Council is interested in modernizing the way it conducts business, it would discard the Thursday preagenda meetings and adopt a &8220;New Business&8221; and &8220;Old Business&8221; model for the Monday regular meetings.