McCalpin’s Unofficial Guide to Richardson City Council Meetings
by William "Bill" McCalpin

Part 1
Types of Meetings

In general, there are two types of regularly scheduled Council Meetings:
• City Council Meetings
• City Council Worksessions (or Workshops)

City Council Meetings are formal meetings of the City Council in which the people’s business is conducted by means of a formal agenda: published items are discussed in front of the public, City Council members are able to ask City staff members and sometimes citizens for additional information, and the City Council members vote on whether to approve certain actions.

City Council Meetings are held in the City Council chambers at Richardson City Hall, which is at 411 W. Arapaho, Richardson, TX 75080. The City Council Meetings generally begin at 7:30 p.m. The hour is not fixed by statute; rather, the hour must be announced at least 72 hours in advance (see next section), and by custom is set to be 7:30 p.m..

City Council Worksessions are less formal. In these meetings, the City Council members are often briefed on items of ongoing or future interest to the Council, or on agenda items from the next formal City Council Meeting, giving the Council a chance to ask more detailed questions on an agenda item. Generally, the City Council does not take formal votes in the Workshop, but sometimes the Mayor will ask for a consensus of the City Council to give the City staff direction.

City Council Workshops are held in the Richardson Room at Richardson City Hall, which is at 411 W. Arapaho, Richardson, TX 75080. The City Council Workshops generally begin at 6:00 p.m. Note that City Council members are served dinner starting at 5:30 p.m.; hence some or all City Council members are present from 5:30 p.m. onwards, although there is no formal discussion until 6:00 p.m. when the Workshop officially is called to order by the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem.


Editorial Note: McCalpin's Unofficial Guide expresses no opinion on issues or candidates – it is purely information for all residents. All of the information expressed in McCalpin's Unofficial Guide is purely the opinion of the author. The Richardson Echo publishes this as a service but does not endorse nor refute its contents.