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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-10-08 - AGENDA REPORTS - REVIEW COUNCIL NORMA PROCEDURE (2)CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval Item to be presented by: Ken Pulskamii /vim CONSENT CALENDAR DATE: October 8, 2002 SUBJECT: REVIEW OF COUNCIL NORMS AND PROCEDURES DEPARTMENT: City Manager RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council review and reaffirm Resolution 00-134, Council Norms and Procedures for Council meetings and related functions and activities. BACKGROUND On October 24, 2000, the City Council adopted Resolution # 00-134 establishing Council norms and procedures for Council meetings and related functions and activities. The Council established these norms after thorough research, review, and discussion. The purpose of the resolution was to establish norms and procedures for City officials, staff, and members of the public. The Council norms and procedures have been practiced effectively; however, section XIII of the norms and procedures provides for review of the Council Norms and Procedures every two years. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS Other direction as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT None. ATTACHMENT Resolution 00-134 KP:EG:srl CCAGENDA\10/08/02\Call Norms and Pm edures.doc Agenda Item: Continued To: �� -2(N3 RESOLUTION NO. 00-134 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING COUNCIL NORMS AND PROCEDURES FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS AND RELATED FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES WHEREAS, it is the intent and desire of the City Council to conduct its business in an orderly and fair manner; and WHEREAS, there are certain basic rights of due process and opportunity to address issues with equity, fairness, and equal protection of the law, and WHEREAS, certain parliamentary procedures have been found to be useful in order to assure that the communication and process of government are fair, reasonable, and just; and WHEREAS, the City has a duty to proceed with the business of government in an efficient and orderly fashion; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to establish uniform norms and procedures in order to accomplish these goals. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. Act in the Public Interest A. City Council and staff shall recognize that stewardship of the public interest must be the primary concern. B. City Council will work for the common good of the people of Santa Clarita. C. City Council will assure fair and equal treatment of all persons, claims and transactions coming before the City Council and Commissions. SECTION II. Advocacy A. Council shall represent the official policies or positions of the City Council when designated as delegates for this purpose. B. When representing their individual opinions and positions, Council shall explicitly state they do not represent the City Council of the City, nor will they allow the inference that they do. SECTION III. hole of the Mayor A. Authority of the Chair 1. The Mayor, subject to the appeal of the full Council, shall have the authority to streamline the business of the Council by either seeking clarification of motions which appear to be out of order or by ruling any such motions out of order. In so ruling, the Mayor shall be courteous and fair and should presume that the moving party is acting in good faith. 2. The Mayor's position is as a leader among equals; the City Manager goes to the Mayor, as the representative leader of the Council. B. Mayor to Facilitate Council Meetings 1. The Mayor is the presiding officer at all City Council meetings. In the Mayor's absence, the Mayor Pro Tem shall be the presiding officer. 2. All questions and remarks shall be addressed to the Mayor. 3. The Mayor shall decide all questions of order, subject however, to an appeal to the Council. 4. The Mayor shall recognize the Council members, staff, and citizens desiring to speak. 5. The Mayor will allow other Council members to speak first on items before the Council and then will state his/her summary. 6. The Mayor shall not permit unauthorized remarks from the audience including applause, stamping of feet, whistles, yells or shouting, and/or similar demonstrations. 7. The Mayor shall designate a time limit for public comment. Upon expiration of that time, the Mayor shall inform the citizen that his or her time has expired and promptly move on to the next speaker or issue on the agenda. In the event a speaker is given additional time to conclude remarks, the Mayor shall specify the. amount of additional time given and the yielding of time from one member of the public to another shall not exceed six (6) minutes. 8. The Mayor may call for a short recess in a Council meeting when deemed necessary. If a speaker becomes abusive, boisterous, or discourteous an immediate declaration may be made by the Mayor that the Council is in recess. Upon reconvening the meeting, if the prior speaker attempts to resume he or she can either be informed that his or her three (3) minute speaking opportunity has expired or be allowed to complete the balance of the three (3) minute speaking opportunity. 9. The Mayor shall manage the agenda in a manner that adheres to the City Council Adjournment Policy, all City Council meetings should adjourn by 11:00 p.m. 10. The Mayor will represent the City and the majority opinion of the Council on all actions/positions taken by the Council. SECTION IV. hole of the City Council A. Council Conduct in General 1. Council members shall treat everyone with courtesy. 2. Inappropriate behavior is derogatory and damages the perception of the City. 3. While the Council is in session the Council members and City staff shall preserve strict order and decorum. No Council member shall delay or interrupt the proceedings of the Council or interrupt any member while speaking. 4. Council members should give a signal to the Mayor to indicate they want to speak, Mayor will acknowledge them before they begin speaking. 5. Any Council member shall have the right to express dissent from, or protest to, or comment upon, any action of the Council and have the option to enter the reason into the minutes, such as, "I would like the minutes to show that I am opposed to this action for the following reasons..." 6. Once a vote is taken on an issue, Council members will support the law made by the Council. If a Council member wants it to be reconsidered he/she will inform the Council. When possible, the Council should attempt to reach consensus on an issue. When this is not possible, the majority vote shall prevail. However, the Council shall respect the opinion of the minority. 7. Council shall publicly share substantive information, which they may have received from sources outside the public decision-making process, that is relevant to a matter under consideration by the Council and commissions. 8. When a rumor is involved, it is that Council member's responsibility to not validate the rumor or repeat it to others. Assess the rumor by addressing the person the rumor involves. If a rumor affects the City then the issue should be brought to the attention of the Mayor and the City Manager. 9. Allow for everyone's opinion to be heard and respected, even if they do not win the vote or prevail on the issue. Strive for a win-win situation by respecting diverse opinions. 10. Council members will allow room for dialogue. When discussing an agenda item, Council will allow the opportunity to dialogue with each other to build consensus on an item. 11. Any member of the Council may move to require the Mayor to enforce the rules and an affirmative vote of a majority of Council members present shall be required to do so. B. Council Conduct with One Another 1. Council will value each other's time. 2. All Council members have the opportunity to speak and agree to disagree. 3. Council will avoid negative comments that could offend other Council members during public meetings, in the press, or any other time. 4. Council will practice civility and decorum in discussions and debate. 5. Council will honor the role of the Mayor in maintaining order. C. Council Conduct with Staff 1. Council members should always feel free to speak directly with the City Manager on matters of interest or concern to them. 2. Council shall respect and adhere to the City's form of government, which is a general -law City operating under a Council -Manager form of government, with the City Council acting as the legislative body of the City. Council is the visionary policy maker, staff is responsible for implementation of Council policies. 3. Council directs the City Manager to implement Council policy decisions through the administrative functions of the City. 4. City Council shall treat staff professionally. 5. City Council shall not publicly criticize an individual employee. 6. City Council shall not get involved in administrative functions. 7. When possible, Council shall seek answers to questions on an item on the agenda, from the City Manager or Department Head prior to the meeting. 8. Council members will not get involved in personnel issues except during a closed session where personnel issues may be discussed. This includes hiring, firing, promoting, disciplining, and all other forms of personnel matters. 9. If a Council member is unhappy about a department or an employee he/she may discuss the situation with the City Manager or Assistant City Manager, not the Department Head. D. Council Conduct with the Public 1. Council will make the public feel welcome. 2. Council shall not be partial, prejudiced or disrespectful toward the public. 3. Council should not make snappy, sarcastic comments to the public or to each other. 4. Council shall treat members of the public equally i.e. refer to citizens by surnames. 5. Council members shall make no promises to the public on behalf of the City Council. 6. Council shall not debate issues with members of the public. 7. Council shall listen courteously and attentively to all public comments before the Council. E. Council Conduct with Other Agencies 1. Council shall be clear about representing the City or personal interests to members of other agencies. 2. Council shall project a positive image of the City when dealing with other agencies. 3. Individual Council members can lobby or discuss with other legislators, government officials or developers issues that have been adopted by the Council or are Council policy; they should not represent themselves as the City if it is only an individual issue. 4. City Council shall show tolerance and respect for other agencies' opinions and issues and agree to disagree with them when necessary. F. Council Conduct with Commissions 1. The Mayor works through the commission chairs. 2. Council shall treat all members of the Commissions with appreciation and respect. G. Council Conduct with the Media 1. Council shall never go "off the record", discuss inside information pertaining to closed session, personnel, litigation and acquisition of property items, when dealing with the media. Providing background information is acceptable. H. Obtaining the Floor 1. Any member of the Council wishing to speak must fust obtain the floor by being recognized by the Mayor. The Mayor must recognize any Council member who seeks the floor when appropriately entitled to do so. 2. With the concurrence of the Mayor, a Council member holding the floor may address a question to another Council member and that Council member may respond while the floor is still held by the Council member asking the question. A Council member may opt not to answer a question while another Council member has the floor. 3. Once recognized by the Mayor, a Council member shall not be interrupted while speaking, unless called to order by the Mayor, or unless another Council member raises a point of order or personal privilege. If a Council member, while speaking, is called to order, they shall cease speaking until the question of order is determined and, if determined to be in order, may proceed. SECTION V. Role of City Staff A. City staff will provide written analysis and information on all agenda items prior to the meetings. Additionally, a copy of the materials, including technical reports will be available to the public. B. Staff will be available to answer questions of the Council prior to and during Council meetings. C. Staff will respond to questions from the public during City Council meetings when requested to do so by the Mayor, City Council, and City Manager. D. Staff will not debate issues with the public or the Council. E. During City Council meetings, staff shall turn off or switch any electronic equipment such as pagers and cellular telephones to a silent mode. F. Council members and staff who participate in meetings with outsiders should be apprised of any follow-up correspondence to that party, particularly if there is some controversy; City Manager and all Council members should get copied on all correspondence. G. Staff will remain objective on issues. Staff should not be an advocate for issues unless so directed by Council. Rather, they should promote or assist the efforts of Council. H. Staff will inform Council as soon as possible of upcoming issues particularly issues that will impact the City significantly and may be coming before Council on short notice. I. If only one or two Council members feel something is controversial or a "hot" issue and it may be coming before the Council, the City Manager will inform the Mayor on the issue. It is up to the, Mayor to inform other members of the Council or provide direction to the City Manager. J. City Manager will advise management to become more aware of and sensitive to potentially political or controversial issues coming before the Council. K. City staff will implement all Council policies as directed by the City Manager; staff will not implement any actions for the City without prior approval of City Council and City Manager. SECTION VI. Role of the Public A. Members of the public attending the Council meetings shall observe the same rules and decorum applicable to the Council and staff. B. Members of the public wishing to speak during the public participation portion of the City Council meeting shall prepare a presentation of not more than three (3) minutes. Public participation speaker's slips must be submitted to the City Clerk before this portion of the meeting begins. Members of the public wishing to address an item on the agenda during a City Council meeting, should fill out a speaker's slip and submit it to the City Clerk before the Mayor announces the item. Each person addressing the City Council is given three (3) minutes to speak indicated by a colored light system on the Council dais; a green light appears when the speaker begins; a yellow light appears when 30 seconds remain and a red light appears when time has expired. Comments should be complete at this time. A speaker is allowed the yielding of time only once, not to exceed a total of six (6) minutes. C. All speakers must approach the podium when recognized by the Mayor. Members of the public shall only speak from the podium. Applause, stamping of feet, whistles, yells or shouting, and/or similar demonstrations are unacceptable public behavior. D. Members of the public shall not make any impertinent and slanderous remarks, or become boisterous while addressing the Council or while attending the Council meeting in a manner that impedes the City Council to conduct an orderly meeting. E. Members of the public shall turn off or switch any electronic equipment such as pagers and cellular telephones to a silent mode while attending a City Council meeting. F. Members of the public shall not approach individual City Council members while the meeting is in progress. G. If a member of the public desires to provide written correspondence (10 copies recommended) to the Council, all such materials shall be given directly to the City Clerk. At no time shall the public provide the materials directly to members of the Council. SECTION VII. Council Requests A. All Council requests dealing with policy issues and those requests which may be construed as direction, go through the City Manager, except for general inquiries or questions in which case Council may go to the Department Heads or key staff in the City Manager's Office. Council should not direct employees. B. Any request from City Council requiring financing must go through the City Manager. The City Manager will respond in a timely manner. SECTION VIII. Presentations and Events A. Council member presentations during a Council meeting are limited to the item or issue being deliberated. To insure that the appropriate presentation equipment is available, Council members must provide the City Clerk advance notice of the intent to make a presentation. B. When there is an accomplishment by one or two Council members, it is appropriate for them to be at the opening, groundbreaking, ribbon cutting, etc., to accept the recognition and acknowledgment along with the City staff that worked on the project. All Council members will be informed of events, activities, groundbreakings, etc., and given the opportunity to attend; if it is a major event and if it is a Citywide accomplishment, particularly those that are positive and acknowledge the City's efforts, all Council members will be invited to be present. C. When invitations to openings are printed and City accomplishments are announced on the invitation, all Council members will have the opportunity to review the invitations before printing to insure all accomplishments are included. D. The Mayor, City Manager, and each Council member may present a segment of the City's Annual State of the City address, taking 4-5 minutes each; the presentations will be in their own style - Power Point, lecture, etc. E. During public presentations, the Mayor will be the person representing the City; however, all Council members will be consulted prior to the presentation. SECTION IX. Council Agenda A. Any Council member or the Mayor can put items on the agenda. B. Either staff or Council can present agenda topics. C. The City Manager will try to research ahead of time any controversial agenda item, what the issues might be, and try to avoid any "surprise" conflicts. In a democratic process it should be recognized that sometimes this is unavoidable. D. Council will be given sufficient lead and preparation time for reviewing agendas. SECTION X. Public Correspondence A. City letterhead with all Council member names will be used for responses to policy issues. B. City letterhead with City seal only, will be utilized by individual Council members for responses to constituent letters, so long as it is not a policy issue, or as long as the Council member indicates it is his/her opinion, not the policy of the Council. C. Council members should respond to an e-mail inquiry if they are comfortable with the Council's policy and stand on the issue; if not, refer it to the City Manager. D. Council members will forward e-mails, correspondence, and phone calls and their responses to the Council secretary who will monitor responses and track the request, suggestion, issue, etc. SECTION XI. Closed Session Confidentiality A. All proper matters discussed during Closed Sessions shall be private and confidential, and the disclosure by any person of the topics or details of such matters is expressly prohibited. B. If a Council member feels it is necessary, then preliminary notes should be taken which should not be kept as the Council members permanent records. All Closed Session information, verbal or written, is confidential and private. SECTION XII. Compliance and Enforcement A. Council members have the primary responsibility to assure that ethical standards are understood and met by the Council, and that the public can continue to have full confidence in the integrity of government. B. The Mayor and the Council have the responsibility to intervene when actions of members are in violation of the standard norms and procedures. SECTION XIII. Administration A. The Council will review and revise the City Council norms and procedures as needed or every two -(2) years. ' B. During City Council discussions, deliberations, and proceedings, the Mayor has been designated with the primary responsibility to insure that the City Council, staff and members of the public adhere to the Council's norms and procedures. SECTION XIV. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 24th day of October, 2000. ATTEST: CITY CLERK STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss CITY OF SANTA CLARITA ) C�kIAYOR I, Sharon L. Dawson, CMC, City Clerk of the City of Santa Clarita, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Santa Clarita at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 24th day of October, 2000 by the following vote of Council: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Ferry, Kellar, Weste, Darcy NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Smyth 10_24�-00\Resolution-Nm .dss CITY CLERK