9-Minute Meeting Sets Council Brevity Record

Meet some politicians who don’t talk too much.

Tuesday’s nine-minute City Council meeting was the shortest in city history, officials said.

The session, which lasted from 7:03 to 7:12 p.m., beat an 11-minute record set at a council meeting in 1994.

Before that, there was a 13-minute meeting in 1971, according to the city clerk’s office.

“We don’t mess around; we get the job done,” said Mayor John J. Collins, who presided over the two shortest meetings.

Meetings this short rarely take place in Fountain Valley or other Orange County cities, where officials go on for hours--often at odds--and set deadlines to finish their work by 11 p.m. or midnight.

Some argue that the public’s business should not be rushed.

Still, every now and then, there isn’t much to do. Tuesday was one of those times in Fountain Valley. Summers are often quiet and many councils don’t meet for a month due to the lack of business, but Fountain Valley keeps up its two meetings a month.

On Tuesday, after an opening prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, officials approved a consent calendar, which is routine business like paying employees and roadwork, and agreed to continue studying the environmental impact of a proposed auto dealership at 18240 Ward St., the site of the old City Yard.

The four council members present--James D. Petrikin was absent--then waived their usual council comments. A longer closed session followed, but the open portion set the record.

Though Fountain Valley officials are known as efficient, it isn’t always like this.

They often meet for long periods of time, although Collins said that officials are not overly concerned with making impressive speeches from the dais.

“We trip over each other every once in awhile, but our council is focused on getting the job done without a lot of extra talk,” he said.