HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-02-2015 C2 Mejia¢mz
Council Memorandum
Date: June 1, 2015
TO: City Council
FROM: Anthony Mejia, City Clerk
COUNCIL MEETING: 215
VIA: Katie Lichtig, City Manager @ 4-CA ITEM NO.:_(12- NIQ
SUBJECT: City Council Minutes
Below are responses to a series of questions submitted by a Council Member regarding minutes.
1. There is no general summary of Council Member comments prior to action taken. Is this
typical in Council minutes?
Yes, it is typical for action style minutes to not include a general summary of Council
Member comments. Action style minutes are intended to ensure that the Council speaks in
one voice, through actions taken and direction provided. Typically, if a Council Member
votes in opposition to an item and provides rationale as to his/her dissent, a brief synopsis
would be included in the minutes. Attached is a memorandum, dated November 16, 2009,
regarding the taking of minutes.
2. Should a Council Member request that our comments be "for the record" in order for them
to be recorded into the minutes?
It is a Council Member's prerogative to request that comment be recorded "for the record"
pursuant to Council Policies and Procedures Section 1.3.3.8. However, caution should be
used as to not use the minutes as a platform for an individual Council Member to monopolize
the minutes with his/her opinions. Typically, comments "for the record" are reserved for
Council Members in a minority position.
3. If a Council Member submits a written statement in addition to (or in place) oral comments
and wants them to be included "for the record," how would that be handled? As agenda
correspondence or incorporated into the minutes?
If a Council Member distributes a written statement during or after the meeting, it would be
treated as agenda correspondence. Agenda Correspondence is distributed to the City Council,
interested parties, posted online, and permanently retained with the original packet. I caution
against written comments being incorporated into the minutes. Minutes are "the official
written record of what transpires during a meeting. Minutes serve the important function of
being a permanent record of the subjects discussed, conclusions reached, actions taken and
assignments given."" For a submitted document to be wholly incorporated into the minutes,
it should be the consensus of Council to do so and related to an action taken by Council.
". Delores Dochterman, The Art of Taking Minutes (Snyder Publishing Company, 198 1) ix.
RED FILE
MEETING AGENDA
DATE d/-/ a ITEM # L O M
MEMORANDUM
November 16, 2009
To: Council Members
From: Elaina Cano, Interim City Clerk 41
Via: Ken Hampian, City Manager �v
Subject: Communication Item Regarding Minutes
Attached is an email from Council Member Carter alerting the Council to his planned Communication
Item tonight, whereby he shall ask that additional information be included in the Council meeting
minutes. If Council shares the concern, I shall be happy to "recalibrate" the length of minutes to strike
a more satisfactory acceptable balance — drafting minutes is more art than science, and no two Clerk's
will have exactly the same style. However, staff strongly wishes to retain our practice in recent years
of preparing "action minutes," and not return to summary minutes. Therefore, I though it would be
helpful to understand the rational behind taking action minutes.
First, action minutes are more efficient — which is important in an environment where staff has been
reduced, including in the City Clerk's Office. Action minutes also tend to avoid the phenomenon of
minutes progressively expanding to document the arguments leading to a decision — with pressures to
expand arguments to promote various individual positions. For these reasons, the City adopted a
practice of Council action minutes several years ago. In fact, back in January the City Clerk's office
conducted a training with Advisory Body Liaisons. One of the topics that were discussed and agreed
upon was the process of taking action minutes vs. summary minutes. It was the hope that this process
would be "streamlined" with all Commissions, Committees and Boards throughout the organization.
On the other hand, having an accurate record is of course vitally important. Because we are now
keeping DVD copies of the Council meetings permanently and because the DVD's are so readily
available, staff felt that the ability to trace back detailed arguments leading to a decision is preserved,
without the inefficiency and debate created by a practice of summary minutes. The recommendations
of advisory bodies are, of course, a part of the Council public record and easy to trace, too.
I have attached an email from Audrey explaining the gist of Action Minutes as well as the excerpts
from the "Guide to Effective Notices, Agendas and Minutes Preparation" that the Clerk's office
prepared and abides by when creating the minutes.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. i LZ I V, t —,
Thanks, NOV 17 2009
Elaina
SLO CITY CLE:R►
G.\301 -04 MinuteslMemo to Council - Action Minutes.DOC
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Attached is an email from Council Member Carter alerting the Council to his planned Communication
Item tonight, whereby he shall ask that additional information be included in the Council meeting
minutes. If Council shares the concern, I shall be happy to "recalibrate" the length of minutes to strike
a more satisfactory acceptable balance — drafting minutes is more art than science, and no two Clerk's
will have exactly the same style. However, staff strongly wishes to retain our practice in recent years
of preparing "action minutes," and not return to summary minutes. Therefore, I though it would be
helpful to understand the rational behind taking action minutes.
First, action minutes are more efficient — which is important in an environment where staff has been
reduced, including in the City Clerk's Office. Action minutes also tend to avoid the phenomenon of
minutes progressively expanding to document the arguments leading to a decision — with pressures to
expand arguments to promote various individual positions. For these reasons, the City adopted a
practice of Council action minutes several years ago. In fact, back in January the City Clerk's office
conducted a training with Advisory Body Liaisons. One of the topics that were discussed and agreed
upon was the process of taking action minutes vs. summary minutes. It was the hope that this process
would be "streamlined" with all Commissions, Committees and Boards throughout the organization.
On the other hand, having an accurate record is of course vitally important. Because we are now
keeping DVD copies of the Council meetings permanently and because the DVD's are so readily
available, staff felt that the ability to trace back detailed arguments leading to a decision is preserved,
without the inefficiency and debate created by a practice of summary minutes. The recommendations
of advisory bodies are, of course, a part of the Council public record and easy to trace, too.
I have attached an email from Audrey explaining the gist of Action Minutes as well as the excerpts
from the "Guide to Effective Notices, Agendas and Minutes Preparation" that the Clerk's office
prepared and abides by when creating the minutes.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. i LZ I V, t —,
Thanks, NOV 17 2009
Elaina
SLO CITY CLE:R►
G.\301 -04 MinuteslMemo to Council - Action Minutes.DOC
Page 1 of 1
Cano, Elaina
From: Carter, Andrew
Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 10:02 PM
To: Council ALL
Cc: Hampian, Ken; Lowell, Jonathan P; Cano, Elaina
Subject: Requested Minutes Changes
At our Council meeting on Tuesday, I will be requesting the following changes to the 10/20/09 minutes.
1) Page C1 -7, sentence following "end of public comments," change to read as follows: "Council discussion
ensued during which Council discussed the potential positives and negatives of the State relinquishing Highway
227 to the City."
I believe use of the current word "concerns" connotes that there are only negatives.
2) Page C1-8, at the current end of first paragraph, add: "Council Members Ashbaugh, Carter, and Marx felt that
the Council should follow through with its previously expressed desire for the State to relinquish Highway 227 to
the City. These Council Members also believe that City control will facilitate achievement of the South Broad
Street Plan."
It seems odd 'to include only the negative arguments here and none of the positives.
Andrew Carter
Council Member
City of San Luis Obispo
11/17/2009
Page 1 of 2
Hooper, Audrey
From: Hooper, Audrey
Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 4:59 PM
To: Combs, Ron; Davidson, Doug; Elke, Brigitte; Fitzgerald, Linda; Girvin, Tim; Gribben, Roz; Hatley, Carol;
Hook, Jeff; Irons, Monica; Kiser, Betsy; Lawson, Dee; Mandeville, Peggy; Murry, Kim; Pellemeier, Keith;
Ricci, Pam; Wallace, Christine; Webster, John
Cc: Walter, Jay; Mandeville, John; Stanwyck, Shelly; Lowell, Jonathan P; Dietrick, Christine; Hampian, Ken;
Betz, Ryan; Reynolds, Marti; Chippendale, Sue; Cano, Elaina; Bochum, Tim
Subject: Action Minutes
In 2006, during a training session with the City Attorney, I provided you with a manual that was entitled a "Guide to
Effective Notices, Agendas and Minutes Preparation" that my office prepared.
This Guide covered "summary" minutes, which is what I have been preparing for the City Council for the last few years.
However, after speaking with some of our liaisons and other staff, looking at the history of minutes in the Clerk's office,
and considering ways to streamline our processes, I believe it's time to update this Guide to include instructions for
preparing "action" minutes. I will be doing that within the next few weeks.
In the meantime, I would like to encourage each of you, if you are not already doing so, to prepare "action" minutes for
your advisory bodies instead of summary minutes. (I came across a document that our former City Clerk, Lee Price,
prepared sometime back about action minutes, in which she indicates that it is the "City's practice to prepare 'action'
minutes." I'm not sure how that practice was arrived at, but think I've seen a report or approval by Council somewhere
approving this type of minutes way back when - I'll be researching this further in the next few days.)
So, what are "action" minutes? The most important thing to know about action minutes is that they are meant to record
the actions taken by the advisory body and direction provided to staff, but they are not meant to be a "record of
discussion." A few basics:
• Always include the names of the speakers (their cities of residence or affiliations should be included, if known, but
not street addresses).
• If a member of the public speaks on a non - agenda item, summarize very briefly the matter of concern. ( "Mr. Smith
expressed concern that the City's water and sewer fees are too high. ")
• Indicate whether speakers support or oppose the recommendation or project. (If, because of the nature of the
subject, you feel strongly that a reason must be shown as to why they oppose a project —you do not need to do this if
they support it --then keep it very simple and concise: "Mr. Smith opposed the project because of traffic concerns. ")
• If a statement is read and submitted "for the record," your minutes should so note and indicate that the statement "is
on file in the xx office." (Avoid attaching documents to your minutes. We keep the ones submitted at Council
a date agenda packet.)
•� Indicate whether your advisory em ers spoke in support of or opposition to the recommendation. If they
support the recommendation, there is no reason to include commentary. If they oppose the recommendation, a very
brief statement should be made as to the reason why. (Again, Council Member Jones opposed the project because
it wi l,result in a loss of open spac
• _(bu,do -notA c u e your advisory body members' questions for me puonc s) or staff's responses.
If an advisory body member states that a comment is "for the record," you should include that verbatim (or as closely
to verbatim as possible).
• Motions should always be included (as closely to verbatim as possible).
• During the advisory body commenttreport period, a brief statement indicating that "Member Smith reported on his
attendance at the recent League of California Cities Conference" is usually adequate.
As mentioned, I will work on modifying the 2006 Guide and will send you a copy in the near future.
In the meantime, for those of you who are not doing action minutes already, I hope this quick summary is helpful and that
you'll commit to making a change in the near future.
If you have some questions, either give me a call or you can raise them when Elaina and I give our update at the
1/15/2009
Page 2 of 2
beginning of the training tomorrow afternoon.
See you there!
Audrey
1/15/2009
section 3. Requmeb meetinc, notices
• Must post a Notice of Adjournment within 24 hours after the meeting at or near the
door of the place where the meeting was held (Exhibit B).
• Must post a Notice of Adjournment within 24 hours due to lack of quorum at the time
the meeting was to have been held (also prepare an Affidavit of Posting) (Exhibit C).
• Must post a Notice of Continued Public Hearing within 24 hours after the meeting at
or near the door of the place where the meeting was held (Exhibit D).
• Must post and send a Notice of Special Meeting with Special Meeting agenda to
each member and to the press 24 -hours before the meeting (Exhibit E).
• Must keep copies of Notices and Affidavits of Posting on file in accordance with
Records Retention Schedule.
See reference materials for examples.
section 4. puBUc heaninc notices
Public hearing notices vary depending on the subject matter. Hearings may be State -
mandated (those having a financial or environmental impact on property or business
owners) and /or mandated by local law (Charter, adoption of the budget; ordinance,
situations involving a property right or other entitlement).
In 1990, Council adopted Resolution No. 6779 (Exhibit F) establishing notification
requirements for a variety of Council and Community Development hearings.
A word of caution! The attached notification requirements and guidelines are meant to
assist liaisons in preparing the proper public hearing notices. However, it is incumbent
on the staff liaison to be familiar with noticing requirements that may not be included in
these exhibits. Questions regarding public hearing notices should be directed to the
City Attorney or City Clerk.
section 5. the minutes
Keeping a complete and accurate record of City Council, advisory body and other
meetings of legislative committee proceedings is vital - minutes are the history and legal
record of the City. Minutes are a record of all actions and proceedings and document
that the City Council and advisory bodies have complied with the law or rules by which it
is governed. The information contained in the minutes, which comprise the official
record of the meeting, may be treated as evidence in a court of law. Original City
Council minutes are filed with the City Clerk. Advisory body and other minutes are kept
by the appropriate department. Minutes are part of the City's official permanent
records.
Guide to Effective Agenda & Minutes Preparation Page 4
City of San Luis Obispo
Form and Content of Meeting Minutes
Standard Format
Use of a standardized format is important for uniformity of minute entries and to save
time in composing the record. A template based on the agenda should be developed
for this purpose. (Exhibit G)
Jurisdictional Matters
At a minimum, minutes should contain the following information so it is clear what the
they pertain to:
1. Date, hour and place of meeting.
2. The type of meeting, i.e. regular, adjourned regular, special, adjourned special.
3. The names of Council, advisory body or other committee members in
attendance. If a member arrives late or departs before adjournment, the minutes
should reflect the time of arrival and /or departure at that point in the minutes. In
addition, the minutes should acknowledge staff members seated at the staff
table, making presentations or responding to questions /comments. (Other staff
members present at the meeting are not acknowledged in the minutes.)
4. If the meeting was a joint session with another agency, this fact is indicated in
the heading of the minutes, and the members in attendance noted.
Approval of Previous Minutes
Although there is no legal requirement that minutes be approved by the City Council,
advisory body or other legislative committee, the minutes will be placed on the agenda
for approval, since it lends further weight to the accuracy and completeness of the
record. Copies of the minutes will be provided in the agenda packet to allow for
sufficient time for review. When approved as written, or as amended, the minutes then
become the official record and are signed by the City Clerk or department
liaison /designee. The minutes of a joint session with another agency are also signed by
the appropriate person from each agency.
Content of the Record
The style of the minutes is referred to as "action" minutes, where the emphasis is on
recording formal actions (motions, seconds, and votes). Action minutes are meant to
be a record of the actions take by the advisory body and direction provided to staff.
They are not meant to be a record of the discussion.
Practice dictates that the following general guidelines be used in composing action
minutes:
1. Record the beginning and ending times of all recesses.
Guide to Effective Agenda & Minutes Preparation Page 5
City of San Luis Obispo
2. Record member absences from any portion of the meeting, including beginning
and ending times. Record in the roll call section arrival or departure time if a
member arrives after the meeting is called to order or is excused before
adjournment.
3. Motions and direction should always be included and should be stated as close
to verbatim as possible.
4. Aside from the record of formal actions (motions /direction), indicate whether
members spoke in support of or opposition to the recommendation. If they
support the recommendation, there is no reason to include commentary. If they
oppose the recommendation, a very brief statement as to why should be
included. (If the discussion is lengthy, the topics covered may be listed.)
5. If a member indicates that his /her remarks are "for the record," those comments
should be entered verbatim or as close to verbatim as is reasonable for clarity.
6. Public speakers are identified by name and either their City of residence or their
representation of an organization. If they are speaking on non - agenda items,
summarize in one sentence, if possible, their concerns, requests, or suggestions.
If they are speaking on agenda items, indicate whether they support or oppose
the recommendation. (In rare cases there may be a reason to include a very
concise statement as to why they oppose a project. Commentary should not be
included if they support the recommendation.) If a large number of individuals
testify and the testimony is largely redundant, the record may only contain the
names of the individuals, their city of residence or representation, and their
position in support of or opposition to the matter being discussed.
7. Acknowledge staff presenters by name and title. Similarly acknowledge
consultants, also including the name of their firm /company.
8. Questions and staffs responses do not need to be a part of the record. If they
result in member direction, it is the direction that should be recorded.
Public Hearings
Written evidence produced at hearings:
evidence in the form of statements,
correspondence, or other objects filed at
record. (Indicate, "On file in
Make appropriate reference to any
affidavits, reports, photographs,
the hearing, and included as part
office. ")
written
maps,
of the
Oral testimony: Identify by name all persons who testify and whether testimony was for
or against the hearing subject; again, include their city of residence or representation of
an organization or company.
Findings: Usually the findings made by the City Council or advisory body with respect
to public hearings are incorporated in a resolution (or ordinance) adopted as a result of
the hearing. When this is done, the minutes need not record these findings in the body
of the minutes, but shall refer to the resolution or ordinance voted upon by the City
Council or advisory body.
Guide to Effective Agenda & Minutes Preparation Page 6
City of San Luis Obispo