GREENFIELD — A proposal encouraging city councilors to read and sign the city’s Code of Civility and a section of the 1876 guide to political decorum “Robert’s Rules of Order” has been withdrawn from City Council’s August meeting agenda after Committee Chairs members agreed that the policy would be difficult to enforce without political overreach.

The Appointments and Ordinances Committee had voted last month to recommend that councilors “read and voluntarily sign on to the Code of Civility at the next meeting, and if not present, the next one they’re present to.” The motion also recommended that councilors read a particular section of “Robert’s Rules of Order” to become more familiar with the possibility of enforcement.

However, during opening discussions on the matter at Tuesday’s Committee Chairs meeting, City Council President John Bottomley said he had spoken with the city’s retired Parliamentarian Wilson Roberts, who suggested the council simply use “Robert’s Rules of Order” to enforce rude or uncivil behavior.

“It doesn’t really feel like it’s totally voluntary when we asked people to voluntarily sign something, and it also felt like it wasn’t necessary,” Bottomley said. “I was in agreement with [Roberts] that we have the tools from ‘Robert’s Rules’ to enforce uncivil behavior, so I don’t really want to take that approach as president, to make people sign that, even though the request was to make them sign it voluntarily.”

At-Large Councilor Michael Terounzo said he agreed with Bottomley’s opinion, adding that governing something as subjective as a councilor’s behavior can be challenging, as individuals have different means of communication and different sensitivity levels.

Terounzo, too, questioned how a Code of Civility could be enforced aside from a public recall vote in extreme circumstances or measures associated with “Robert’s Rules of Order.”

“Throughout the years, I’ve seen a lot of city councils. I’ve see a lot of change of the folks in there, and there have been a lot of people who are politely rude in the way that they say things. So, civility, at that point becomes a subjective term,” Terounzo said. “I have a more abrasive front to me. ... I try to be polite while I’m making my point, and then there are a lot of people who I know who have kind of more goofy language to what they’re doing, but they’re actually a little bit more vindictive when it really comes down to it.”

The idea to create a new Code of Conduct, Precinct 5 Councilor Marianne Bullock explained Tuesday evening, has resurfaced multiple times since it was put on the table in 2022 after an incident in which a city councilor publicly disparaged her in a letter to the editor. Bullock said although she believes the council is currently in its “civil era,” she has noticed some rude behavior among councilors in the last few months that she believes could be mitigated if councilors were held accountable to a signed document or by increased enforcement of “Robert’s Rules of Order.”

“When I sign my name to something, it means that there’s some level of respect [for it] and adherence to it,” Bullock said. “I am going to try to be really intentional moving forward of using ‘Robert’s Rules’ so that if a councilor is aggressively and rudely questioning a city employee and raising their voice at them and cutting them off … we can rely on ‘Robert’s Rules.’”

In response to Precinct 6 Councilor Sheila Gilmour’s request that the proposal be sent back to Appointments and Ordinances for further discussion, Bullock suggested that Committee Chairs drop the matter, noting that regardless of which board or committee it is sent to, the proposal’s success will ultimately be up to Bottomley’s discretion.

After Bottomley reminded Bullock that the issue could resurface in the future, Bullock expressed gratitude to the council for formally censuring the former councilor for his behavior in 2022.

“When I experienced what I experienced from another councilor a couple years ago, I felt supported in that the council had a formal act against that person’s actions,” Bullock said. “When there are egregious things like that, it’s important for the council to take a stand, and I do believe, hope and trust that we’re in our civil era.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com.