Much to the surprise of many citizens and friends of Middleburg, the men and women who serve on our Town Council meet not once a month, but twice . . . and, arguably more.

In fact, much of the work of Council gets done in meetings held the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Though they are full meetings of Council, they are still called "work sessions" out of long-standing tradition.

They are actually much more: very real and very important meetings of Town Council.

They are less formal in tone, and often tend to focus on issues that require detailed review of documents and reports, with extensive and fairly free-wheeling discussion.

Council decisions made in them, however, can be as binding as any made in the Council's "regular monthly meetings."

They are open to the public and often serve as venues for required formal "public hearings" on a variety of topics.

The agendas for these meetings differ little from those of the "regular monthly meetings," held on the second Thursday of each month.

The only major difference, in fact, is the omission of any "work session" time regularly assigned for "public comment."

According to the Mayor, and every member of Town Council and Town Staff we consulted, these sessions are some of the most productive uses of both staff and Council time.

Despite our absolute commitment to having as many citizens speak to Council as often as possible on as many issues as possible . . . we absolutely agree. We also firmly believe more voters, friends, neighbors and people under the voting age of 18 should know about these sessions and, if possible, attend them.

In the past Council members virtually lived in meetings. In addition to regular meetings, and the "work" sessions, each member was assigned to special committees that met separately, and reported back to Council, more or less effectively, each month.

The old procedure was a time sink . . . which made it difficult to find the time to serve effectively on Council, more difficult for town staff, and . . . for citizens and the press . . . almost impossible to keep up with what was going on much less report on it.

Council's current approach, fewer committees, and effectively, two Council meetings a month changed all that.

Efficiency and effectiveness have been, by all accounts, more than significantly improved . . . and Council, Staff members and the public are better informed than ever.

We believe that everyone who is truly interested in how their local government works, should periodically attend either a regular Council meeting or one of its "work sessions" . . . and take young people in the family along.

Why?

To paraphrase one of our longest serving Council members: "Local government affects us more than most people realize. . . . If being a citizen means anything in our form of democracy, getting involved in Town government should be higher on most peoples' list. . . . When people do not engage, they are open to disappointment and surprise, when for example they do not understand that council does not have authority to stop, prevent or change some things. . . . The Town truly does more (and more comprehensive) work now . . . and [everyone] is certainly welcome and encouraged to attend."

We could not agree more.