Luttrull, who began his first term on the council last spring and serves as chairman of a committee reviewing the city charter, said the City Council has more meetings than some multi-billion dollar corporations have.

The council meets every other week and in the off weeks meets as the Public Works and Finance Committees.

Those committee meetings are where proposals generally are introduced to the council — a policy on installing speed bumps, zoning regulations for adult-oriented businesses or changing the water meter reading system.

Some of the proposals come from committees such as the Parks and Recreation Board or the Airport Board. Those boards frequently have one or more council members serving on them, along with a group of citizens.

Others come from recommendations by department heads.

When the Public Works and Finance Committee recommends approval of a measure, it moves on to the council agenda for the following Monday night.

If an item is passed unanimously by Public Works and Finance, it is placed on the Consent Agenda portion of the Council Agenda, former Mayor Wren Stratton explained at a council meeting in March.

“Had there been dissension at that meeting, they would not have been placed on the consent agenda but on the regular agenda,” she said.

Even if an item is on the consent agenda, council members may ask at the regular meeting that an item be removed from that agenda and placed on the regular agenda, re-opening the item for discussion.

“We have some people that believe that they have one more opportunity to disagree (with discussion at council meeting),” Luttrull said. “They’ve already lost it once, but they’re going to bring it up again.”

Buckley, who took the reins as city manager in March, said that from what he has been told, the council members have a healthy relationship with one another.

They are open to discussion and dialogue on the issues, he said. While they may disagree on a particular topic, those differences are not a personal attack, and they leave them behind as they move to another issue.

“I don’t see a personal agenda carried out to the detriment of moving the community forward,” he said.

Luttrull agreed.

“I think the people we have involved in the City Council are genuinely trying to do what is best for the city of Muskogee,” he said.