Evanston City Council meetings could become more efficient after members voted Monday to alter its schedule and restructure a key aldermanic committee.

All nine aldermen will now serve on the Planning and Development Committee. The committee previously had five members, but other aldermen sometimes appeared at its meetings to discuss issues in their wards.

Aldermen also decided to change the council’s Monday night schedule, with the Administration and Public Works Committee meetings beginning at 5:30 p.m, followed by the development committee at 6:30 p.m. and the full council at 8:30 p.m.

The council and the committees meet every other Monday. Previously the administration committee meetings were held at the same time as the development committee, at 7 p.m.

Because the two committees met at the same time, some aldermen said they were uninformed about matters discussed in the other committee.

“As a member of A&PW, I do my best to keep up with what P&D does but the real truth is I can’t do it justice as I would as a P&D member,” Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said. “When you go to a meeting and see how people are responding, it makes a big difference.”

But Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said in the mid-1990s, committees composed of all aldermen were painful to watch.

“I found a real lack of productivity and creativity on the council,” she said. “It bothered me so much I just wanted to shake people.”

Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) also said concentrating on specific committees would allow aldermen to “build up an expertise” on their respective issues.

The changes were made at the meeting of the Rules Committee, composed of all aldermen. The changes must now be approved at a full council meeting.

The Rules Committee also appointed three new aldermen — Alds. Cheryl Wollin (1st), Delores Holmes (5th) and Anjana Hansen (9th) — to the Administration and Public Works Committee. They will serve there with Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd).

— GREG HAFKIN