Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 10/03/2011 4.B A Items , S AL a .„A( /850 DATE: October 3, 2011 TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council FROM: John C. Brown, City Manager ' SUBJECT: Discussion and Possible Action on Changing Order of Agenda by Moving Public and Council Comment to End of City Council Meetings. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council provide direction to staff on the order of business for City Council agendas. BACKGROUND On January 28, 2002, the Petaluma City Council adopted Rules, Policies & Procedures which define and outline the specifics of Council meetings, including items such as agenda setting, meeting decorum, an d public participation at meetings. These Rules, Policies & Procedures have been amended three times, the most recent being October 18, 2004. • The City Council previously held an afternoon meeting session beginning at 3:00 PM and recessed for dinner;, reconvening at 7:00 PM for an evening session. The 3 :00 PM session contained routine items of business such as found on the consent calendar. Items that were less ' routine in nature, or that could be expected to generate a higher level of public participation or attendance were left for the evening session. The Public Comment period for non- agenda items was included for both sessions, and as remains the case today, speakers could request the opportunity to ,speak to .specific items on the agenda at each meeting. In recent years, as the economy slowed' and budget reductions were sought, the afternoon session was combined with the evening session as a cost and time savings effort. DISCUSSION In the belief that it would promote more efficient use of available time, it has been suggested to move public comment, Council comment, and City Manager comment to the end of the meeting. ,Doing; so would allow paid professionals, ;staff, and interested members of the community an opportunity to participate in the business items scheduled on the Agenda at an earlier hour of the eyening. The Council authorized a..one- meeting -only experiment for the September 19, 2011 Council - meeting, which allowed Council some evaluation of such a change in the ordering of the Agenda Review: City Attorney Finance Director City Manage • • I agenda. Whether the Council: could or did draw any conclusion from that experiment is a matter of question, to be discussed as part of your consideration of this agenda item. The City Council's Rules, Policies and Procedures spell out specific rules and procedures in an effort to ''better govern the conduct of meetings. Attachment 1 provides excerpts from the Council's rules that appear to best address agenda management and public comment. It, does not appear that the headings in Section II were intended to dictate sequence, but rather content. The Council's practice has been to consider Agenda. Changes and Deletions, Approval of the Proposed Agenda, and Adjourning to, and Report Out of, Closed Session early in the meeting, rather than in the sequence shown on the Section II list of agenda contents. Accordingly, if the C ouncil'wishes to change the order when Public Comment appears on the agenda, it does not appear °necessary to modify the Council's rules. Further, Section III, which follows the language of the Brown Act, provides the Public the .right to address the Council on any action item on the agenda before such action is taken, but does not dictate or restrict when general Public Comment appears in the agenda order. General Public comment is reserved for items which are not on the Agenda but are within the Council's subject matter jurisdiction. These items, pursuant to Section III A of the Rules, may not be acted upon by the Council. As such it appears that "Genera pp l Public Comment for items that are not on the agenda, can be as. readily taken up at the end of the meeting as at the beginning. FINANCIAL IMPACTS. The City, as well as project applicants and opponents, frequently pays professional consultants (architects, engineers, attorneys, etc.) to appear and offer expert testimony or comment on projects, appeals, etc. As well, while some City staff members attending meetings are exempt from overtime provision, others . are not and must be paid overtime. Allowing all pending City business to be heard earlier in the Council meeting will reduce consultant costs for the City, project proponents and opponents, and will reduce the overtime cost associated with City staff attendance at meetings. ATTACHMENTS 1. Excerpted City Council Rules, Policies & Procedures, as amended October 18, 2004 • ATTACHMENT 1 EXCERPT FROM PETALUMA CITY COUNCIL RULES, POLICIES & PROCEDURES, As 'amended October 18, 2004 II. AGENDA. C. Agenda Contents: The final agenda shall specify the time and location of the meeting: The agenda shall contain, when required by law or when appropriate, the following headings: 1. Roll Call of Members. 2. Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Moment of Silence. 4. Proclamations. 5. Public Comment. 6. Correspondence. 7. Council Comments and Liaison Reports. 8. Agenda Changes, Additions, and Deletions. 9. Special Orders of the Day. 10. Consent Calendar. 11. Public Hearings. 12. Unfinished Business. 13. New Business. 14. Adjourn; to Closed Session. 15. Report Out of Closed Session. 16. Approval of Proposed Agenda. 17. Adjourn. III. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT COUNCIL MEETINGS.. A. Public Comment: Every agenda for a .regular meeting shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on ° any item of interest to the public before or during the legislative body's - consideration of the item, that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body, provided that no action shall be taken on any item not appearing on the agenda unless the action is otherwise authorized by Section II(E) herein. Every notice for a special meeting shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body concerning any item that has been.descrbed in the notice for the meeting before or during consideration of the item. No person will be recognized to address the Council during the public comment portion of the agenda unless he /she is permitted by the Presiding Officer or, if a member of Council requests the Presiding Officer to permit such person to address the Council. If a member of the Council requests the Presiding Officer to allow a person to address the, Council during public comment, the Presiding Officer shall permit such person to address the Council. B Permission Required/Speaker Card: No person other than a member of the Council or a city official will be permitted to address the Council unless he /she is introduced or permitted by the Presiding Officer, or a member of the Council requests the Presiding Officer to permit such person to address the Council. Persons addressing; the Council shall furnish the City Clerk with their names and addresses by way of completing a speaker card. C. Time Limitations: 1. General Public Comment: Persons wishing to speak under general public comment on non - agendized matters shall be limited to three (3) minutes. 2. Public Comment on Agendized Items: Persons who address the Council under specific, agenda items will be limited to not less than three (3) minutes. The primary spokesperson for a group supporting or opposing an agenda item will be limited to Ten (10) minutes. Extensions to these time limits' may be approved by the presiding officer or three Council members. Up to two members of the public may elect to cede their time to a third member of the public, such that a member of the public may have up to nine (9) minutes to speak, provided that any member of the public wishing to cede time to another member of the public under this section must be present at the meeting and shall state for the record that he or she is ceding his or her time. D. Manner of Addressing Council: Any person desiring to address the Council shall stand and wait to be recognized by the Presiding Officer. After being recognized, he /she shall approach the podium, state his/her name and city of residence or, if not a resident of .'a city, the county of residence, for the record, and proceed to address the Council. All remarks and questions shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any member thereof. No question ;shall be asked a Council member or a member of the City staff without first obtaining permission of the Presiding Officer. IV. DEBATE &.DECORUM. E. Decorum and. Order Council and City Staff While the Council is in session, the Council members and City staff shall preserve order and decorum. A member shall neither, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings, or ,the peace of the Council, nor disturb any member while speaking or refuse to , obey the directives of the Presiding Officer. F. Decorum' and Order - Audience: Public members attending Council meetings shall observe the same rules of order and decorum applicable to the .Council and staff. Any person making disrespectful, impertinent or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing the Council or while attending the Council meeting, shall be removed from the room if the Sergeant -at -Arms is so directed by the Presiding Officer. Such person may be barred from further audience before the Council during that meeting: Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of feet, whistles, yells, and similar demonstrations shall not be permitted by the Presiding Officer, who shall direct the Sergeant -at -Arms' to remove such offenders from the room. jk G. Enforcement of Ord er and Decorum; The Chief of Police, or such member of the Police' Department as he /she may designate, shall be Sergeant -at -Arms at the City Council meetings, and 'he/She shall ;attend meetings when requested by the Presiding Officer or City Manager. He /She shall be .available to respond to all meetings immediately upon call. He /She shall carry out :all orders given by the Presiding Officer' of Council for the purpose' of maintaining order and decorum at the Council meetirigs...Any Council member may move to require the Presiding Officer to enforce the. rules, and the affirmative vote of majority of the Council members present, shall require him/her to do `so. IX. MISCELLANEOUS. A. Inconsistencies:, The Petaluma City Charter, the Brown Act or other controlling state;, law shall prevail over any provisions in these rules or procedures which are inconsistent. B. Temporary Change of Rules: Any provision of the rules not governed by the Petaluma City Charter or controlling state law may be temporarily changed at any meeting,, and only for the meeting, by'`the:. Council with a four - fifths vote of the members present. The, vote on any such changes shall be taken by roll call and entered upon the record. C. A Norf- observance: :of Rule: These Rules are adopted :to expedite and facilitate the, transaction of the business of the City Council in an orderly fashion and shall be deemed to be .procedural only, and the failure to strictly observe any such Rules shalt not affect the jurisdiction of, orinvalidate any action taken by the Council. D. Non- exclusive Rules: Rules set forth are not `exclusive' and do not limit the inherent power and general legal authority of the Council, or of its Presiding Officer, to govern the conduct of City Council meetings as may be considered appropriate and not consistent with these Rules from time to time 'or in particular circumstances for purposes of orderly and effective conduct of the affairs of the City. 1.71`8354.1