A little over three miles from where the Minnesota Vikings recently met their Waterloo—Lincoln Financial Field—the first Committee of the Whole gathered at Congress Hall in Philadelphia in 1789, the same place where the United States Bill of Rights was ratified two years later (mentions nothing about the “right to tackle!”).
Forgive me; I’m digressing… the long history of the Committee of the Whole didn’t originate in the United States. It originated, according to American journalist and historian De Alva S. Alexander, “…in the time of the Stuarts [monarchs who had an obnoxious habit of losing their heads], when taxation arrayed the Crown against the [House of] Commons, and suspicion made the Speaker a tale-bearer to the King. To avoid the Chair’s espionage, the Commons met in secret, elected a chairman in whom it had confidence, and without fear of the King freely exchanged its views. The informality of its procedure survived the occasion for secrecy, but to this day the House of Commons keeps up the fiction of concealment, the Speaker withdrawing from the hall when the Committee convenes, and the chairman occupying the clerk’s desk.”
So why the need for a Committee of the Whole when we, as a small county, aren’t contending with English royalty and the punctilious restraining influence of parliamentary procedure?
Perhaps a bit of further explanation is in order.
The purpose of a Committee of the Whole is to relax the usual limits on discussion and allow for a more open exchange of views without the urgency of a final vote. Commissioners sit in a deliberative rather than a legislative capacity, for informal debate and preliminary consideration of matters awaiting legislative action. Debates in a committee of the whole may be recorded, but are often excluded from the assembly’s minutes. Cook County videotapes the proceedings and posts them on the county’s website for public viewing at the public’s convenience.
Cook County commissioners first introduced Committee of the Whole meetings in 2017 with a change in 2018 as to when these meetings will take place. The board elected to move the Committee of the Whole meetings from 1 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month, to 5 p.m. The change in time is in response to comments voiced by members of the community who expressed interest in attending, however, were not able to do so given their work schedules.
As a commissioner, I believed introducing a Committee of the Whole would be beneficial and encouraged its establishment. Here’s why: Too often commissioners would act on agenda items, during regular board meetings, of which we had little background— let alone in-depth discussion. The Committee of the Whole enables this “casual” and inclusive— other parties may participate and contribute— dialogue; contributing to commissioners making more informed decisions on behalf of the citizens we represent.
When the Board of Commissioners resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole, they do so by reconvening, not from their arched hardwood pedestals—as seen during regular board meetings—rather, to commonplace chairs gathered around tables in the Commissioners’ Room. Far from the rituals, as described by Judy Schneider, a specialist on the Congress, that mark the transformation at the House of Representatives “where the mace—a column of ebony rods which sits on a green marble pedestal to the right of the Speaker on the podium—is moved to a white marble pedestal positioned lower on the podium. The mace represents the authority of the sergeant of arms to maintain order in the House. When it is removed from the higher position on the podium, it signals the House is no longer meeting as the House of Representatives in regular session, but in the Committee of the Whole.”
Be assured, I am not suggesting we invest in ebony rods and marble pedestals…
During the recent January Committee of the Whole meeting, a member of the community who attended and participated commented, “I think this is a wonderful first step in being more transparent in getting information out to people.”
Former Cook County Commissioner Garry Gamble is writing this ongoing column about the various ways government works.
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