The Richardson City Council, adding to its long history of misjudgment, has just elected Ken Hutchenrider as Mayor Pro Tem. One of the main duties of Mayor Pro Tem is to chair council meetings in the Mayor's absence. What can go wrong? Richardson City Council meetings have never been a shining example of parliamentary procedure. Often things are confused, and sometimes just plain wrong.
Council Member Arefin highlighted Hutchenrider's "experience" and "ability to run business" as reasons for his vote for Hutchenrider. Council Member Dan Barrios also highlighted Hutchenrider's "personal experience on the council." Finally, Council Member Curtis Dorian said he was "looking at seniority" and saw that Hutchenrider "has been on the council for six years." Six years. So you might think that Hutchenrider would have mastered basic parliamentary procedure by now. You might think the council would be in safe hands if the Mayor is out of town and the Mayor Pro Tem has to wield the gavel. Think again.
One example of Robert's Rules of Disorder happened in July of 2024. At the time, it was Mayor Bob Dubey in the chair. Council Member Hutchenrider botched Robert's Rules of Order, and Mayor Dubey let him get away with it. Dubey probably didn't even know it. And it was Council Member Barrios who suffered because of it. He had his attempt to amend a motion get steamrolled by Hutchenrider's misunderstanding of Robert's Rules of Order. Barrios didn't object, probably because he didn't have confidence in his own understanding of what Hutchenrider was getting wrong, or maybe just because he is in the habit of submitting to Hutchenrider's bullying tactics.
One council member, just one, Council Member Jennifer Justice, did know Hutchenrider was wrong, and wasn't intimidated by Hutchenrider's bullying tactics. Twice she tried to gently correct him, but Hutchenrider was having none of it. Mayor Dubey didn't step in to settle it with his own superior knowledge of parliamentary procedure, because, because, ...are you kidding me? So, Hutchenrider got his way, Barrios didn't get his amendment even considered to say nothing of voted on, and perhaps, perhaps, the lesson Arefin and Dorian and Barrios drew from the incident was that they are no match for Hutchenrider's "experience" on Council. They mistook Hitchenrider's bullying for superior knowledge. They mistook Dubey's silence as knowledge.
Read the (annotated) transcript yourself in The Wheel's coverage of the incident here: Robert's Rules of Disorder.
Aside to new Mayor Amir Omar: Please take a crash course in parliamentary procedure to keep your new Mayor Pro Tem from bullying his way through meetings. His assertiveness combined with the Dunning-Kruger effect (a cognitive bias where individuals with low ability at a task overestimate their ability, because they lack the self-awareness to recognize their own incompetence) is a recipe for getting rolled yourself. Oh, and please stay healthy.
"Accidental win,
Or cunning bullying move?
Procedure adrift."
—h/t ChatGPT
1 comment:
Richardson cannot afford a councilman whose position as CEO of Methodist Hospital creates an undeniable conflict of interest. This isn’t just a red flag, it’s a siren. Even worse is his repeated pattern of bullying to push personal agendas. And what has the City Council done? Nothing. Their silence is complicity. It’s time for the Council to stop cowering, find a backbone, and start leading with the integrity our city deserves.
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