HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/01/1988, 1-2 - DISCUSSION OF CITY COUNCIL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MEETING DATE:
AF" city of San Luis OBIspo June 1, 1988
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT nE"IJ
FROM:
John Dunn, City Administrative
SUBJECT:
Discussion of City Council policies and procedures
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
Review and revise or establish procedures
BACKGROUND:
Following the workshop in February, the Council requested a study session
to continue discussion of procedures. In March the City Clerk and City
Administrative Officer distributed a memo outlining the possible topics
for the study session. That memo, along with the Council's responses to
It, are basis for the agenda of this meeting.
The agenda is divided into three parts: suggested revisions to Resolution
55882; procedures not covered in Resolution 55882; and the Advisory Body
Handbook. Resolution 15882 has been prepared as a legislative draft and
specific sections have been highlighted in the agenda. The other
procedures are addressed by several attachments. The draft revisions to
the Advisory Body Handbook will be available at the study session but we
do not expect the Council to get to them at this meeting.
Attachments: Resolution 55882 as amended
Suggested Procedures
April 11 memo from John Dunn
April 1 memo from Ron Dunin
April 20 memo from John Dunn
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MEETING AGENDA
DATE ITEM #
SECTION 1
COUNCIL PROCEDURES, CONDUCT, DUTIES
CHAPTER 1.04 COUNCIL GUIDELINES, COMPENSATION A TRAVEL
1.04.010 Resolution 5882 adopted 01/21/86
I . MEETING SCHEDULE
A. REGULAR MEETINGS
1. Regular meetings shall be held the first and third Tuesday
of each month.
a. Meeting schedule may be altered only upon agreement of
the majority of the City Council.
b. Study Sessions may be held on the second and fourth
Tuesday evening as the Council work load dictates.
2. Regular meetings shall be held in the Council Chambers.
3. Regular meetings shall be between the hours of 7:00 - 11:00
p.m. SXdd�/S¢ �Xd�I /�DI�XY/16¢/1d�X�6¢¢If/iM¢/ii�df�/�Y/7t00/f
0100/010/ It shall be the policy of the City Council to
complete meetings, including closed sessions, by 11:00 p.m.
Following the mid-meeting break (around 9:00 p.m. ) the Mayor
with assistance from the CAO will review the balance of the
agenda with Council to discuss how it can be handled in the
allowed time. If it is necessary to continue any items,
that will be announced at this time.
Council will adjourn upon completion of the item under discussion
at the adjournment hour. Upon consensus, Council may elect to
continue past the adjournment hour.
B. NOOK STUDY SESSIONS (open to the public)
1. The purpose of these meetings shall be for informal
discussions between staff, advisory bodies or consultants
and the City Council regarding specific programs, projects
or policies.
2. XOOA Study Sessions shall be between the hours of 12:00
noon and 2:00 p.m. : 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 - 9:00
p.m. Council shall determine by consensus the specific
schedule within those hours.
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¢! 3. The participation of the public shall be at the
discretion of the Presiding Officer, upon consensus of the
Council.
C. SPECIAL MEETINGS (as defined by State law)
'1. Special meetings may be called by the Mayor or three members
of the City Council. (Ord. 677 -176 Series)
2. Written notice must be given to the City Council and to the
media 24 hours prior to each meeting.
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3. A supplemental telephone call shall be made if necessary to
notify each Councilmember.
4. No business other than that announced shall be discussed.
5. Any special meeting held at a place other than City Hall
shall be open to the public. Notice requirements of the
Brown Act shall be complied with for any such meetings; .
regular minutes shall be taken by the City Clerk and shall
be available for public inspection.
D. CLOSED SESSIONS (closed to the public)
1. Closed Sessions are regulated pursuant to the Brown Act.
2. No member of the Council, employee of the City, or anyone
else present shall disclose to any person the content or
substance of any discussion which takes place in a closed
session unless authorized by a four-fifths vote of the
Council.
II. AGENDA
A. Any Councilmember may submit an item for the agenda. Staff will
prepare a staff report on behalf of the Councilmember if formal
Council action is required. Action in support of or opposition
to legislation at another government level, or of a specific
cause, shall be considered only if the subject issue directly
affects or is within the purview or control of the City of San
Luis Obispo. (See also 1.04.080)
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td$�iXtddl/�/dzaPP/fd�bdfz,!/d�16�`b�bdd/��/z}id/Kd�dXdXd:Cfd�CX�bd/OPPXddfl
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A member of the public may request, through a Council member or
the staff, that a matter be placed on the agenda. If it is an
appropriate item for the agenda a staff report will be prepared
by staff and approved by the C.A.O.
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�CNd/dgddda(!//Kd/dafdt��¢�f¢�/X�Cdd/Xd/de�PXefdd/dd/6tid/bP/a1r(/da�kfgdd�E$
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Emergency items may be placed on the agenda only in accordance
with state law. Generally, only those matters affecting public
health or safety may be considered emergency in nature. A 4/5
vote of Council is necessary to add an emergency item.
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D. Reconsideration of an item shall be allowed in accordance with
Roberts' Rules of Order and established Council practice.
8l E. ORDER OF BUSINESS shall be as follows:
1. Call to Order
2. Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call
4. Consent Agenda
5. Special Presentations
01 8. Public Comment (Immediately following mid-agenda break)
71 6. Public Hearings
7. Mid-Agenda Break (approximately 9:00 p.m. )
91 9. Business Items
0l 10. Communications
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6l F. CONSENT ITEMS - first items on agenda (items familiar to Council;
routine; already have support; or items to be later set for public
hearing) .
1. Any item may be pulled by a Councilmember.
2. Public may request a Councilmember to pull an item.
3. Pulled items shall be heard at the close of the session unless
majority of the Council deems otherwise.
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��d�fdt/�tt¢dd�l
H/ G. ORDINANCES
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Zl//dti$/26d�ffiYaif�f)Sff/H��/ffe)d�BX/�/�difYtE/Hf�(fid�/f�f/f if�i/ffddid�l
8l/ dYY/pSOtf�(xi�Xllf/fdrfZfd�d�f�idY/iZf�SB/�iXX/Ibf/16xdffd/�(�/�dtfi6Iif
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1. The consideration and adoption of ordinances shall be in accordance
with the Charter and relevant state law. Ordinances not leLyally
required to have a public hearing shall be set for a public hearing if
the subject matter is controversial or of a special nature. Any
Councilmember, of course, may prior to the time required for notice
and publication, request the C.A.O. to set a public hearing on an
ordinance.
2. No ordinance, resolution or motion shall be passed or become effective
without receiving the affirmative vote of at least three members of
the Council.
xl R. COMMUNICATIONS
x/ DQdf/z�/¢�f6ffd/fififfd/dirfxiff8l//S�(fM/�dlbj¢ft/YialiXfd/Xd/g/afi�(dX��
df/f6nti�[dfd/t6/Hfk:C/aif fZi�[g/��/�/fe�gdXdf/16�S�i�If��/iz¢�l
Zl/ d�f�/¢ddtfEXX�eag6ff/�f/iN�/2ii1t/ddafi�fi�CfnXi�b¢/0ffif¢f/W
i�iPdfddXX�/x(�d�if/6f/i�(f0fa�/;CM!/6it�/20►idEYX/df/�rfiXX¢�f/�f/�fdX
EO�ti�Ii��zidd8/mid/d�lf/tdf/�Ed�af��Ii/�(�1/df/di��tt��i6�[l/6fH�fdX
¢ddXiddfH/x�/zllf/�ff�ff/ff$dX�f/aiffiidf/dt/dld0r(/6d��[fix/Edd���l�d�l
dEti6�Il/i�fEYddit(g/ditr�EZid�/t0/49Aff l/ddb/bf/tallff�(/iaf�d¢di�(1C¢Xiil
1. The purpose of this time is to allow staff or Council to provide
an update or share information regarding a particular matter.
Examples of appropriate communications would be reports from
Council subcommittees, information of general interest received
from outside agencies, and comments or inquiries received from
individuals or from the public.
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2. If possible, written material connected with a particular
communication item should be provided to the C.A.O. sufficiently
in advance of the meeting to be distributed with the regular
agenda materials.
3. State law provides (generally) that Council only can take action
on matters which have been properly noticed at least three days in
advance of the meeting. As a general rule, formal action or
approval on a communication item is not preferred and such an item
should be continued to the next regular meeting.
4. The communications period should not exceed fifteen minutes and
any particular itme should be limited to five minutes.
III. MEETING PROCEDURES
A. PRESIDING OFFICER
1. Duties:
a. The Mayor is the Presiding Officer pursuant to City Charter
Section 407 and acts as chairman at the meetings.
b. In the absence or incapacity of the Mayor, the Vice-Mayor will
act as Presiding Officer.
2. Seating arrangement of the Council:
a. The Mayor Pro-Tempore (Vice-Mayor) shall always be seated
immediately next to the Mayor.
b. The Mayor with approval of individual Councilmembers shall
establish other seating arrangements for regular Council
meetings.
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�d��tiddd/M��6f/16�¢�{/e�ffi�d/dt/d¢f fdt¢all
¢l/ ?M�/Pf��idi�ig/0ffif�f/afaf�/��fbIifY�/¢�E�x�i�(/ilk¢/¢ff�EfY/0f/tM¢
�i�f¢/fdf/11de�/�(ddi��fE¢/6f/afd�/diffEf/d/af¢���f/df/X)ld/�fdf f/iCd
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4l 3. Signing of City documents:
The Mayor, unless unavailable, shall sign all ordinances,
resolutions, contracts and other documents which have been adopted
by the City Council and require an official signature. In the
event the Mayor is unavailable, the Mayor Pro-Tempore's
(Vice-Mayor) signature may be used.
B. DISCUSSION RULES
1. Getting the floor:
a. A member of the City Council or staff shall first address the
Presiding Officer and gain recognition.
b. Comments to questions under debate should be limited and
personality conflicts and discourteous language avoided.
c. Cross-exchange between Councilmembers and public as well as
between individual Councilmembers should be avoided.
2. Questions to Staff:
A Councilmember shall, after recognition by the Presiding Officer,
address questions to the designated staff member.
3. Interruptions:
a. A Councilmember once recognized, shall not be interrupted
while speaking except to make a point of order or personal
privilege (Robert's Rules) .
b. If a Councilmember while speaking is called to order, the
individual shall cease speaking until the question of order is
determined (Robert's Rules) .
c. Members of staff, after being recognized by the Presiding
Officer, shall hold the floor until completion of their
remarks or until recognition is withdrawn by the Presiding
Officer.
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4. Limitation on Discussion:
No Councilmember shall speak more than once on a particular
subject until every other Councilmember has had the opportunity to
speak.
S. Tabling Procedure:
Immediately stop discussion and vote (Robert's Rules) .
6. Right of Protest:
A Councilmember is never required to state reasons for dissent.
7. Rules of Order:
Those rules in effect according to the City Council policy (State
law and Robert's Rules) .
C. ADDRESSING THE CITY COUNCIL
1. Individuals shall:
a. address the Council from the podium after giving name and city
of residence;
b. comment on the specific matter before the Council with reasons
for the position taken. Written comments are encouraged and
should be submitted before the public hearing is closed on
that item;
c. limit comment to three minutes until others have had
opportunity to address the Council. The Presiding Officer may
after all others have spoken allow additional brief comment
from speakers who have already commented on the same agenda
Item.
2. Group or applicant representatives shall:
a. address the Council from the podium after giving name of the
group, its purpose if necessary, and the representative's name
and city of residence;
b. be permitted up to ten minutes to speak in either support or
opposition to an agenda item. Prior written comments are
welcome and encouraged.
3. After the public hearing is closed, no member of the public shall
be permitted to address the Council or the staff from the
audience, except at the discretion of the Presiding Officer.
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D. PROTOCOL
1. Councilmembers and staff shall:
a. work earnestly to preserve appropriate order and decorum
during all meetings. Side conversations, disruptions,
interruptions or delaying efforts are discouraged;
b. inform the Presiding Officer when departing a meeting.
2. Persons demonstrating rude, boisterous, or profane behavior will
be called to order by the Presiding Officer. If such conduct
continues, the Presiding Officer may request the removal of the
person(s) from the Council Chamber or take such other appropriate
action as permitted in the Brown Act.
3. Only the City Council, staff, and those authorized by the
Presiding Officer shall be permitted to sit at the Council or
staff tables.
4. Enforcement of order:
a. The Police Chief or his designee shall act as the
Sergeant-at-Arms.
b. Any Councilmember may request the Presiding Officer to
enforce the rules of protocol. Upon motion and majority
vote, the Presiding Officer shall be required to do so.
E. VOTING PROCEDURES
1. All Councilmembers when present shall vote. Failure of a seated
Councilmember to vote will be construed as an affirmative vote.
2. Three affirmative votes are necessary to decide an action.
3. Conflict of interest shall be declared whenever appropriate and
in compliance with State law.
4. A vote may be changed by a Councilmember only immediately after
vote announcement by the Clerk and prior to the introduction of
the next agenda item.
5. The Clerk shall restate the motion prior to the vote.
6. Consensus or voice vote shall be taken whenever possible in order
to streamline meetings.
7. Following the vote the City Clerk shall announce whether the
questions have been carried or defeated.
8. The Presiding Officer may publicly explain the effect of the vote
for the audience or may direct a member of the staff to do so.
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