Wagga councillors have backed a meeting practice that some admit discourages discussion and debate while making important decisions for the city behind closed doors.
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Cr Tim Koschel said it is a "fair call to say" there has been a lot of communication happening that the community has not been privy to.
His comments come on the back of a number of brief council meetings and amid a call from some of the city's elected representatives to have monthly gatherings instead of fortnightly catch-ups.
Wagga City Council meetings have been held twice a month since May 2018. Prior to that they were held on a monthly basis.
The most recent meeting, on October 8, finished just shy of a half an hour. The quickest meeting so far this year wrapped up in about 13 minutes, according to the council's publicly-available online live-stream.
It is common practice for the city's councillors to bulk approve motions through a process called en globo, meaning as a whole. Such a practice allows a decision to be made without discussion in the council chambers.
However, Cr Koschel said it was not necessarily bad to bulk approve motions.
"We could talk about it more (during ordinary meetings), but it is not a bad thing because (the councillors) have the same line of thinking," he said.
"The majority of the motions are straightforward and the more complex ones will be pulled out to discuss."
Cr Koschel said a "short and sharp" meeting was a positive outcome and fortnightly meetings, as well as the bulk approval of motions, could allow this to happen.
"The agenda has been small recently, but it's not always the case. And when it was a monthly meeting we were there sometimes after midnight and the mind does start to wander at those hours," he said.
Although the average meeting length is an hour and 22 minutes in the past year, it tends to blow out during the public question forum. The length of meetings is also drawn out when a contentious notice of motion is up for debate, such as the climate emergency discussions on July 8 and 22.
The public forum and notices of motion precede the staff reports, the majority of which have recommendations approved without discussion.
Deputy mayor Dallas Tout encouraged community members with an interest in a specific agenda item to talk to a councillor, who could pull the report out of en globo and have it discussed publicly.
"With those high profile, complex, contentious items, I would encourage the community with concerns to contact councillors who will raise it at the meeting," he said.
Cr Tout has continued his support for fortnightly meetings, regardless of councillors powering through the agenda.
"I am aware that periodically some meetings are short, but there is more benefit to that. It is increases our ability to get business through faster and shortens the turnaround time," he said.
In other news:
Although Crs Dan Hayes and Vanessa Keenan are in favour of the en globo approach, they do not endorse bimonthly meetings.
Cr Hayes said fortnightly meetings have reduced his capacity to deliberate, consult with the community and seek clarification from staff.
"This (capacity) has significantly diminished, especially for those who work," he said.
However, the opinion has not been echoed in the council chambers. Mayor Greg Conkey and Crs Kerry Pascoe and Paul Funnell endorse the bi-monthly meet-ups.
Cr Pascoe said there was not enough discussion during its monthly meetings, especially when it dragged well into the night.
"The bulk approval is an excellent way to go. It helps out staff if we approve at the start so, then they can leave," he said. "If you can get (meetings) over in a reasonable time, it is good for all matters put before the council in my view."
Meanwhile, Cr Conkey said bulk approval of motions saves time and effort as many motions are straightforward with no objections.
Crs Yvonne Braid and Rod Kendall have been contacted for comment.