def METHOD_NAME(self, item, prev_item=None):
    """Parse start datetime as a naive datetime object."""
    date_el_text = item.css("td:first-child").extract_first()
    date_text = date_el_text[4:-5]
    date_str, time_str = [x.strip() for x in date_text.split("<br>")]
    # A.M. and AM formats are used inconsistently, remove periods
    time_str = time_str.replace(".", "")
    if re.match(r"\d{1,2}:\d{2} (AM|PM)", time_str):
        return datetime.strptime(date_str + time_str, "%m/%d/%Y%I:%M %p")
    # "Immediately after" specific meeting used frequently, return the
    # start time of the previous meeting
    elif prev_item is not None:
        return self.METHOD_NAME(prev_item)