The current City Council Code of Conduct states that the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, in consultation with the City Manager, shall determine agenda items for City Council meetings. It also states that individual City Council Members may submit requests to the Mayor for items to be placed onto the agendas of future meetings. If there is a dispute regarding a requested agenda item, then, at a public meeting, a City Council Member may request the support of the majority of the City Council for that item to be placed onto the agenda of a future meeting.
In early 2015, at both a Study Session and a Goal Setting Workshop, the City Council discussed revising the City Council Code of Conduct to allow agenda items to be scheduled based on the support of at least two City Council Members, rather than based on support by the majority of the Council. The Council concurred; however, such a revision to the City Council Code of Conduct has never been formally adopted.
Staff proposes that the City Council Code of Conduct be revised to allow an item to be placed on the agenda of a future meeting at the request of at least two City Council Members at a public meeting.
Should this revision be adopted, the agenda section titled “Council Member Reports” will be revised to “Council Member Reports/Requests” for all future City Council study session agendas. A City Council Member will be able to request that an item be agendized for a future meeting, and the City Council will be able to have a short discussion on the request (but not on the substance of the item).
Current Policy:
The applicable provision of the City Council Code of Conduct currently reads:
The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tern, in consultation with the City Manager, shall determine agenda items for the City Council meeting. Individual Council Members should submit requests, preferably written, for agenda Items to the Mayor for consideration. In the case of a dispute a Council Member may, at a public meeting, request the support of the majority of the Council to place an item on the agenda.
Amended Policy:
Staff recommends that this provision be revised to read as follows:
The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, in consultation with the City Manager, shall determine agenda items for City Council Meetings. However, to ensure all Council Member views are represented, study session agendas contain a section titled “Council Member Reports/Requests”. In addition to their reports, this portion of the meeting allows any Council Member to request an agenda item for a future meeting, and allows the City Council to have a short discussion on the request (but not on the substance of the item). Any request must include an explanation of the issue and the goal of the proposed Council discussion. If at least one other Council Member indicates support for the request at that time, then the item shall be placed on a future agenda. Upon support for the request, the Council will provide direction to staff on information that is desired to be presented when the item is placed on a future agenda. Additionally, with the advice of the City Manager and City Attorney, the Council will provide direction to staff on the type of meeting (regular or special) and the type of session (closed, study, or general) at which the item will be considered. The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem shall schedule the item no later than 45 days following the request, unless the Council Member who requested the item consents to it being placed on the agenda of a later meeting. |