Give everyone a chance to voice views.

One of my favorite installments of the late Jeff McNelly's comic strip has the character Shoe standing before a huge American flag. He's wearing a helmet and holding a riding crop, just as George C. Scott did in the opening scene of the movie Patton.

Before him sits the disheveled and depressed editorial writer Cosmo Fishhawk.

"I hate Editorial Board meetings," Cosmo declares.

One of the things we've tried to do at the Sun-Sentinel is establish an editorial board meeting atmosphere quite different from that portrayed by McNelly. The last thing a newspaper needs is a publisher, editor, or editorial page editor pontificating on the issues of the day to frustrated board members who feel they have been shut out of the decision-making process.

Sure, there are times when it's necessary for someone to pull rank and declare the newspaper will take a certain position on an issue.

But it's important that all editorial board members have the opportunity to voice their views. Anything less amounts to a lack of respect for skilled professionals that can devastate morale.

On Mondays, the Sun-Sentinel editorial board holds its main meeting of the week. Present are editorial writers Tom Sander, Doug Lyons, Deborah Ramirez, and Tim Dodson; senior copy editors Victoria Preuss and Ann Carter; cartoonist Chan Lowe; and myself. Editor Earl Maucker participates in the meeting, as does publisher Bob Gremillion when his busy schedule permits.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, we meet again, minus the editor and the publisher. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I meet individually with members of my staff and discuss their ideas with them.

I lead the meetings, and try not to be like Shoe. I may start by bringing up an obvious topic in the news that requires immediate commentary, like the death of a prominent newsmaker, but I want to quickly get the other board members to put issues on the table they believe are important.

Board members are allowed to bring up a maximum of three subjects each for discussion. We proceed alphabetically and usually have time to get to everyone.

Some topics require substantial debate, but most do not. Editorial boards operate within the context of what was said before. If we've already stated our position on an issue, there's no need for another lengthy debate when a new development puts it in the news again.

The following meeting, we move up the alphabet. For instance, if Deborah Remirez goes first at Monday's meeting, Tom Sander will go first on Wednesday. On Friday, it's back to the beginning of the alphabet with Ann Carter leading off.

The copy editors and cartoonist aren't expected to write editorials, but they are members of the editorial board, and it's important for them to have the opportunity to bring up what they think is important. The dialogue allows the entire staff to understand what issues are on the minds of their colleagues, and everyone brings different insights to the discussions. Sometimes the debates will ignite Lowe's imagination, and he'll translate an insight into a cartoon.

It's important to keep the meeting moving swiftly. There's no room for long-winded discussions when deadlines loom and there's a newspaper to produce. I'm a firm believer that no souls are saved after an hour at church, and that nothing of substance comes out of an editorial board meeting that lasts more than 60 minutes.

NCEW member Kingsley Guy is editorial page editor of the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.