Erie City Council’s code of conduct rules will remain unchanged for now.
City Council on Aug. 5 voted 4-3 against adopting new rules for its members, proposed in the wake of Councilman Ed Brzezinski misgendering council’s president and fellow Democrat Tyler Titus at a June 9 meeting.
Besides Brzezinski, council members Andre Horton, Marilyn Pol and Maurice Troop voted against giving first-reading approval to amendments of an existing ordinance regarding council’s rules of conduct.
Titus and colleagues Jasmine Flores and Kathy Schaaf voted in favor of the amendments, which stated, among other things, that council members at all public meetings should “observe the rules of decorum” and refrain from “abusive, threatening, intimidating or demeaning” conduct towards any fellow council member or member of the public.
Previous coverage: In wake of misgendering, Erie City Council weighs new conduct rules
Under the proposed amendments, council members who violate those rules could have been required to make public apologies; face formal censure; by fellow councilmembers; and/or had their speaking privileges suspended during meetings.
The new rules would not have suspended/limited a member’s right to vote. One of the proposed amendments also would have reduced the maximum time for citizen comment at meetings from five minutes to three minutes.
Council could reintroduce the proposed code of conduct amendments on a later agenda, as long as the proposal has a sponsor and/or a second to bring it to a vote.
‘Perfunctory things’
Horton, in council’s pre-meeting caucus, made it clear that he did not support the ordinance. He said Robert’s Rules of Order, the parliamentary procedure rules which guide City Council and many other governmental bodies nationwide, should be sufficient in terms of decorum and conduct during public meetings.
Horton also said he was not interested in doing “perfunctory things, not when we have a $12 million deficit.”
At a special meeting June 9 regarding Erie Events’ proposed $14 million bayfront market house project, Brzezinski at one point referred to Titus — who is openly transgender and uses they/them pronouns — as “ma’am.”
Titus later made it clear on social media that they believed Brzezinski “intentionally chose disrespect.”
Titus said previously that the code of conduct amendments were proposed in part because “both members of council and the public deserve a transparent, consistent framework that supports respectful, orderly meetings.”
Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at@ETNflowers.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie City Council rejects proposed new code of conduct rules