HomeMy WebLinkAbout(2017, 08/08) - A-1 - Amended (incorporating A-3, A-6, A-8, A-10, A-11, A-13, A-15, A-16, and A-20, renaming to “City Council”)CITY COUNCIL
Open Meeting Policies
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The Newport Beach City Council is required to comply with the Ralph M. Brown Act
(Brown Act). Unless an exception applies, the Brown Act requires public entities to
deliberate and take action, in open session. The City Council has adopted these rules to
ensure compliance with the Brown Act and to promote full citizen participation in the
discussions and decisions of their elected and appointed representatives.
A. Regular Meetings. The City Council shall hold regular meetings as allowed by the
City Charter and the Ralph M. Brown Act. The regular meeting shall begin at 4:00
p.m., or as otherwise scheduled due to the demand of business, for Study Session,
Closed Session to follow immediately thereafter, recess after Closed Session, and
reconvene at 7:00 p.m. or as otherwise scheduled due to the demand of business.
The City Council may hold a regular meeting, special meeting, or adjourned
regular or special meeting at any location authorized by the City Charter and the
Brown Act. When the day for any regular meeting falls on a legal holiday, no
meeting shall be held on such holiday, but a regular meeting shall be held at the
same hours on the following business day.
B. All regular, special and adjourned meetings of the City Council shall be called,
noticed and conducted in compliance with the Brown Act.
C. Placing an Item(s) on the City Council Agenda. A member of the City Council may
place an item(s) on the City Council agenda for discussion by submitting a title or
topic sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Brown Act on or before 5:00 p.m.
on the Tuesday preceding the meeting at which the item is to be discussed. When
requested, the City Attorney shall assist a City Council Member with the drafting
of an agenda title or topic to ensure consistency with the Brown Act. These items
will appear under the section of the agenda titled, "Matters which Council
Members have asked to be placed on a Future Agenda." At the Council meeting,
if three (3) members of the City Council wish to examine the issue, staff will
prepare an appropriate report and return the item to the City Council with greater
detail for discussion and/or action. Additionally, the Mayor or City Manager may
place an item(s) on the agenda in their discretion.
D. It is the intent of the City Council that no item will be introduced on a City Council
agenda after the hour of 11:00 p.m. Furthermore, it is the City Council's intent that
if an item introduced and being discussed by 11:00 p.m. is not concluded by 12:00
a.m., the City Council should adjourn the meeting to another date. The intent and
purpose of this policy is to encourage a reasonable hour in which the City Council
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business is discussed and to protect against fatigue in discussing and deciding
important City issues.
Order of Business
The agenda for regular meetings of the City Council shall contain the following items in
the order listed:
Study Session
Current Business
• Clarification of Items on the Consent Calendar
• Presentations (will be placed on the Regular Meeting agenda if no Study
Session is scheduled)
• Study Session Items
Public Comments, including public comments about items on the Closed Session
agenda.
Closed Session - After Study Session - Council Chambers Conference Room
Recess
Reconvene at 7:00 p.m. for Regular Meeting
Roll Call
Closed Session Report
Invocation
Pledge of Allegiance
Notice to the Public
City Council Announcements (non -discussion item)
Matters which Council Members have asked to be placed on a Future Agenda
Public Comments on Consent Calendar
Consent Calendar:
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A. Reading of Minutes and Ordinances
B. Ordinances for Introduction
C. Ordinances for Adoption
D. Resolutions for Adoption
E. Contracts and Agreements
F. Miscellaneous (for example: Planning Commission Agendas, budget
amendments, and permit applications)
Items Removed from the Consent Calendar
Public Comments on Non -Agenda Items
Oral Reports from City Council on Committee Activities
Public Hearings
Continued Business
Current Business
Motions for Reconsideration
Continued Closed Session, if necessary (report if applicable)
Adjournment
The Mayor shall have the discretion to change the order of business. Council Members
may change the order of business by majority vote of the City Council.
Rules of Order for City Council Proceedings
A. Rules of Order. Except as provided in this Policy, the City Charter, other rules or
practices followed by the City Council, or applicable provisions of State law, the
procedures of the Council shall be guided by the latest revised edition of Robert's
Rules of Order.
1. Failure to Observe Rules of Order. Rules adopted to expedite the
transaction of the business of the Council in an orderly fashion are deemed
to be procedural only and the failure to strictly observe such rules shall not
affect the jurisdiction of the Council or invalidate any action taken at a
meeting that is otherwise held in conformity with law.
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B. Public Input. Members of the general public have the right to address the City
Council on any item on the agenda, as well as any item under the subject
jurisdiction of the body.
1. Agendized Matters and Consent Calendar. Speakers on agenda items,
including, but not limited to, Consent Calendar items, shall limit their
comments to three (3) minutes and shall step down from the lectern
immediately after their time has elapsed unless the presiding officer has
granted the speaker's request for additional time. The presiding officer
may grant the speaker additional time if the speaker is addressing the
Council on a complicated or complex matter or if the speaker represents a
group of individuals whose individual testimony would exceed the total
time allotted to the speaker. Speakers shall limit their comments to matters
relevant to the item on the agenda.
2. Non-agendized Matters. The agenda shall contain a public comment
section during which any member of the public may address the Council
on any non -agenda item generally considered to be a municipal affair and
within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council. To ensure that all
members of the public have an opportunity to address the Council during
public comments, each speaker shall be limited to three (3) minutes and
shall immediately step down from the lectern upon expiration of the
allotted time unless the presiding officer has granted the speaker's request
for additional time. Staff and/or members of the City Council may briefly
respond to each speaker who testifies during public comments. Responses
shall be limited to the specific issue(s) raised by the speaker and shall
generally be limited to information helpful to the public's understanding of
the issue(s) raised by the speaker. The City Council shall not take action
relative to any public comment unless an action would be authorized by
Section 54954.2(b) of the Government Code, or any successor statute.
3. Consent Calendar. A Consent Calendar item may be pulled by the Mayor
or a member of the City Council. If a Consent Calendar item is pulled,
members of the public may speak on each pulled item for up to three (3)
minutes, unless the presiding officer has granted the speaker's request for
additional time.
Officers
A. Presiding Officer. The Mayor shall be the Presiding Officer at all meetings of the
City Council. In the absence of the Mayor, or at the Mayor's request, the Mayor
Pro Tempore shall preside. In the absence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore,
the City Clerk shall call the City Council to order, whereupon a temporary
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Presiding Officer shall be elected by the City Council Members present to serve
until the arrival of the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tempore.
1. Powers and Duties of Presiding Officer.
a. Participation. The Presiding Officer may move, debate and vote
from the Chair.
b. Question to be Stated. The Presiding Officer shall state (or
announce) the motion prior to opening any subject to debate. The
Presiding Officer or such member of the City staff as he or she may
designate shall verbally restate each question immediately prior to
calling for the vote.
C. Signing of Documents. The Presiding Officer shall sign all
ordinances, resolutions, contracts and other documents necessitating
his or her signature which were adopted in his or her presence,
unless he or she is unavailable, in which case the signature of an
alternate Presiding Officer may be used.
d. Sworn Testimony. The Presiding Officer may require any person
addressing the City Council to be sworn as a witness and to testify
under oath, and the Presiding Officer shall so require if directed to
do so by a majority vote of the Council.
B. Parliamentarian. The City Clerk shall be designated as Parliamentarian for the
City Council proceedings to advise the Presiding Officer. Within the limitations
imposed by Robert's Rules of Order, the Presiding Officer has the authority to
determine proper parliamentary procedure.
Conduct of City Council Business
A. Rules of Debate.
1. Getting the Floor. Every Council Member desiring to speak shall first
address the Presiding Officer, gain recognition by the Presiding Officer, and
shall confine himself or herself to the question under debate, avoiding
personalities and indecorous language.
2. Opening Debate. The following three steps are necessary prior to opening
debate on any subject except as noted.
a. Motions. Before any subject is open to debate, a motion must be
made. The motion is a proposal in that it sets forth something the
person making the motion favors.
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b. Motions - Second Required. A motion by any member of the
Council, including the Presiding Officer, may not be open to debate
without a second. Such action does not mean that the seconder
endorses the motion, but only that he/she wishes to have the motion
considered.
C. Stating of Motion. The motion must be stated (or announced) by the
Presiding Officer prior to opening the subject to debate.
Exceptions:
Oral Presentations. Oral presentations may be made by staff,
or someone designated by staff, prior to a motion being made
and debated upon.
ii. Questions to Staff. At any time during the proceedings, every
Council Member desiring to question the City staff shall, after
recognition by the Presiding Officer, address the questions to
the City Manager, the City Clerk or the City Attorney, who
shall be entitled either to answer the inquiry himself or herself
or to designate a member of his/her staff for that purpose.
iii. Public Hearings. For matters that are the subject of a public
hearing, the procedures for opening debate are suspended
until after the public hearing is closed.
3. Addressing the Council
a. Manner of Addressing Council. Each person desiring to address the
Council shall step up to the microphone, may state his/her name and
address for the record, state the subject he/she wishes to discuss,
may state whom he/she is representing if he/she represents an
organization or other persons and, unless further time is granted by
the Mayor, and shall limit his/her remarks to three (3) minutes. All
remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any
member thereof or to the audience. No question shall be asked a
Council Member or a member of the City staff without the
permission of the Presiding Officer.
Exception:
The City Council may preside over administrative hearings or designate a hearing
officer to take evidence and submit proposed findings and recommendations. In
the event the City Council conducts any hearing that is quasi-judicial or
administrative in nature, the following procedure shall be followed:
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The presiding officer may ask the City Manager to summarize
the nature of the hearing and the issues to be resolved by the
City Council.
ii. The presiding officer shall invite the person or entity that filed
the application for permit, license or other entitlement
(applicant) to make a presentation. The applicant shall have
a reasonable amount of time to present evidence or testimony
relevant to any issue before the City Council. The City
Council, City Manager or City Attorney may ask questions of
the applicant or any witness presented by the applicant.
iii. In the event the matter is pending before the City Council by
virtue of an appeal, the presiding officer shall invite the
appellant to make a presentation. The appellant shall have a
reasonable amount of time to present evidence or testimony
relevant to any issue before the City Council. The City
Council, City Manager or City Attorney may ask questions of
the appellant or any witness presented by the appellant.
iv. Upon conclusion of the presentations by the applicant and the
appellant, if any, the presiding officer shall invite testimony
from members of the audience.
V. Prior to closing the hearing, the presiding officer shall give the
applicant the opportunity to comment on the evidence with
the right to comment limited to no more than five (5) minutes.
vi. The presiding officer shall have the discretion to require the
applicant, the appellant and their respective witnesses, to
present testimony under oath.
vii. The presiding officer shall have the right to exclude testimony
or evidence which is not relevant to any issue before the City
Council.
b. Spokesman for Group of Persons. To expedite matters and to avoid
repetitious presentations, whenever any group of persons wishes to
address the City Council on the same subject matter, it shall be
proper for the Presiding Officer to request that a spokesman be
chosen by the group to address the City Council and, in case
additional matters are to be presented by any other member of said
group, to limit the number of such persons addressing the City
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Council, subject to the right of all members of the public to speak on
any item on the agenda pursuant to the Brown Act.
4. After Motion. After a motion has been made or a public hearing has been
closed, no member of the public shall address the City Council from the
audience on the matter under consideration without first securing
permission to do so by a majority vote of the City Council.
5. Interruptions. A Council Member, once recognized, shall not be
interrupted when speaking unless called to order by the Presiding Officer,
unless a point of order or personal privilege is raised by another Council
Member, or unless the speaker chooses to yield to a question by another
Council Member. If a Council Member, while speaking, is called to order,
he or she shall cease speaking until the question of order is determined and,
if determined to be in order, he or she may proceed. Members of the City
staff after recognition by the Presiding Officer shall hold the floor until
completion of their remarks or until recognition is withdrawn by the
Presiding Officer.
6. Points of Order. The Presiding Officer shall determine all points of order
subject to the right of any Council Member to appeal to the Council. If an
appeal is taken, the question shall be "Shall the decision of the Presiding
Officer be sustained?" A majority vote shall conclusively determine such
question of order.
7. Point of Personal Privilege. The right of a Council Member to address the
Council on a question of personal privilege shall be limited to cases in
which the integrity, character or motives are questioned or where the
welfare of the Council is concerned. A Council Member raising a point of
personal privilege may interrupt another Council Member who has the
floor only if the Presiding Officer recognizes the privilege.
8. Reserved.
9. Limitation of Debate. No Council Member shall be allowed to speak more
than once upon any particular subject until every other Council Member
desiring to do so shall have spoken.
10. Protest Against Council Action. Any Council Member shall have the right
to have the reasons for his or her dissent from, or his or her protest against,
any action of the Council entered in the minutes. Such dissent or protest to
be entered into the minutes may be made in the following manner: "I would
like the minutes to show that I am opposed to this action for the following
reasons...."
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11. Remarks of Council Member and Synopsis of Debate. A Council Member
may request through the Presiding Officer the privilege of having an
abstract of his or her statement on any subject under consideration by the
Council entered in the minutes. If the Council consents thereto, such
statement shall be entered in the minutes.
S. Rules of Decorum.
1. Council Members. While the City Council is in session, the members must
preserve order and decorum. Each Council Member shall conduct himself
or herself with decorum and shall neither, by conversation or otherwise,
delay nor interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the City Council, nor
disturb any member while speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the
Presiding Officer.
a. Each Council Member has the duty to:
i. Respect and adhere to the American ideals of government,
rule of law, principles of public administration and high
ethical conduct in the performance of public duties.
ii. Represent and work for the common good of the City and not
for any private interest.
iii. Refuse to accept gifts of favors or promises of future benefits
which might compromise or tend to impair independent
judgment or action.
iv. Provide fair and equal treatment for all persons and matters
coming before the City Council.
V. Learn and study the background and purpose of important
items of business before voting.
vi. Faithfully perform all duties of office.
vii. Refrain from disclosing any information received during any
closed session of the City Council held pursuant to state law.
viii. Decline any employment incompatible with public duty.
ix. Refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges or verbal
attacks upon the character, motives, ethics or morals of other
members of the City Council, City commission, committee or
board, City staff, or the public, or other personal comments
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not germane to the issues before the City Council. Members
are to be tolerant of all views expressed at public meetings.
X. Listen courteously and attentively to all public discussions at
City Council meetings and avoid interrupting other speakers,
including other members except as permitted by established
Rules of Order.
xi. Maintain the highest standards of public conduct by refusing
to condone breaches of public trust or improper attempts to
influence legislation.
2. Decorum of Speakers. Speakers shall not engage in willful conduct which
interrupts the meeting or interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Any speaker engaging in such conduct shall be called to order by the
presiding officer and, if the conduct continues, the presiding officer may
order the speaker barred from speaking and/or attending the meeting. No
person shall be declared out of order, prevented from speaking or barred
from attendance at any meeting because of any disagreement with the
speaker's position or view on any matter, because of the speaker's identity
or because of any disagreement with the content of relevant testimony.
3. Members of the Audience. No member of the audience shall willfully
interrupt the orderly conduct at the meeting. The presiding officer shall
direct the removal of any individual whose willful interruption renders
infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting. In the event the removal of
the individual or individuals willfully interrupting the meeting does not
restore order, the presiding officer may order the meeting room cleared and
continue in session. Media representatives shall be allowed to remain at
the meeting except those representatives of whose willful conduct
interrupted the meeting.
4. Persons Authorized to Approach the City Council Dais. No person except
members of the City Council and the City staff shall enter the area between
the public speakers' podiums and the City Council Dais without the
consent of the Presiding Officer.
5. Enforcement of Decorum. The Chief of Police, or such member or members
of the Police Department as he or she may designate, shall be Sergeant -at -
Arms of the City Council and shall carry out all orders given by the
Presiding Officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the
Council meetings. Any Council Member may move to require the
Presiding Officer to enforce the rules upon affirmative vote of a majority of
the City Council.
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Ex Parte Communications
Members of the City Council, and City employees, agents and representatives shall not
engage in any ex parte communication with any member of a Board, Commission or
Committee regarding any quasi-judicial matter pending, or reasonably expected to come,
before that member's Board, Commission, or Committee.
For purposes of this policy, the term Ex Parte communication shall mean any oral or
written communication directed to a member which is intended, or is reasonably
calculated, to influence the member's decision on any quasi-judicial matter but does not
include communications between members during deliberations preliminary to decision
or communications where all interested parties or their representatives are present. The
term quasi-judicial matter shall mean the appeal of any discipline imposed on any City
employee, the appeal of any grievance filed by a City employee or employee association,
or a proceeding to revoke any license, permit or approval granted by the City Council,
any Board, Commission, or Committee, or any City employee and which is pending, or
is reasonably expected to come, before any City Board, Commission, or Committee.
The provisions of this policy do not apply to Ex Parte communications between City
employees and any member of a Board, Commission, or Committee regarding a quasi-
judicial matter which has been submitted to, or can reasonably be expected to be heard
by, the Board, Commission, or Committee when the ex parte communication is initiated
by the member and requests only background information available to members of the
general public.
City Council Voting Procedures
A. Voting Procedure. Any vote of the City Council, including a roll call vote, may be
registered by the members by answering "Yes" for an affirmative vote, "Abstain"
for an abstention, or "No" for a negative vote upon the member's name being
called by the City Clerk, or by the Presiding Officer. Following the vote, the City
Clerk shall audibly announce the results of the vote by name indicating whether
the question carried or was defeated. The same shall be recorded in the minutes
as the vote. The Presiding Officer in his or her discretion may publicly explain the
effect of a vote for the audience, or he or she may direct a member of the City Staff
to do so, before proceeding to the next item of business.
B. Disqualification for Conflict of Interest. Any Council Member who is disqualified
from voting on a particular matter by reason of a conflict of interest shall publicly
state the nature of such disqualification in an open meeting. Where no clearly
disqualifying conflict of interest appears, the matter of disqualification may, at the
request of the Council Member affected, be decided by the other Council Members.
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A Council Member who is disqualified by reason of a conflict of interest in any
matter shall not remain in his or her seat during the debate and vote on such
matter, but shall request and be given the permission of the Presiding Officer to
step down from the Council table. If the conflict involves a matter on the Consent
Calendar the Council Member must announce the nature of the conflict, refrain
from participating on the item, but may remain present at the City Council Dais.
A Council Member stating such disqualification shall not be counted as a part of a
quorum and shall be considered absent for the purpose of determining the
outcome of any vote on such matter.
C. Failure to Vote. Every Council Member should vote unless disqualified by reason
of a conflict of interest. The vote of Council Member who abstains absent a
disqualifying conflict of interest shall be counted with the majority vote of the
quorum on the question vote upon.
D. Tie Vote. Tie votes shall be lost motions and may be reconsidered by any Council
Member.
E. Changing Vote. A Council Member may change his or her vote only if s/he makes
a timely request to do so immediately following the announcement of the vote by
the City Clerk and prior to the time that the next item of business is taken up.
F. Reconsideration. A motion to reconsider the vote on any action taken by the City
Council at either this meeting or the previous meeting may be made only by one
of the Council Members who voted with the prevailing side.
Closed Session Agenda
The closed session agenda shall be prepared by the City Attorney. The closed session
agenda shall strictly conform to the format specified in the Brown Act. The City Attorney
shall prepare a written report, or give an oral report, of any action taken in closed session
that is required to be reported in open session by the Brown Act.
Selection of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem
Section 404 of the City Charter provides for the selection of the Mayor and the Mayor Pro
Tem by the City Council. This section provides that a Mayor and a Mayor Pro Tem shall
be selected at least as often as Councilmanic elections are held and that the Mayor and
Mayor Pro Tem shall serve at the pleasure of the City Council.
Effective with the selection of the Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tem during November of
1984, it is the policy of the City Council that the Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tem election
shall occur every year thereafter. The election shall take place pursuant to Section 404 of
the City Charter.
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Seating Arrangement for City Council
Following each Councilmanic election, members of the City Council shall be seated at the
City Council table with senior Council Members having first choice of seats. The Mayor,
however, shall be seated in the center of the City Council table and the Mayor Pro
Tempore shall always be seated immediately next to and to the right of the Mayor. In the
event of equal seniority among members of the City Council, selection of City Council
seats shall be made by the Council Member who received the highest margin of victory
percentage in the most recent election.
City Council Correspondence
The City Clerk is authorized to open and examine all mail or other written
communications addressed to the City Council and to immediately give a copy to the
City Manager. The City Manager shall give immediate attention to administrative
business referred to in the communication that does not require City Council action and
may be promptly concluded or shall prepare a staff report for the next available City
Council meeting. Except as otherwise permitted by law, all mail or written
communications from the public, residents, or applicants shall be submitted to the City
Council by 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately prior to the meeting at which the City
Council will consider the item that is the subject of the mail or written communications
to allow time for the City Council to adequately consider the mail or written
communications.
Ordinances, Resolutions and Contracts
A. Ordinances, Resolutions and Contracts. All ordinances, resolutions and contracts
shall be prepared by the City Attorney. No ordinance shall be prepared for
presentation to the Council unless ordered by a majority vote of the Council, or
requested by the Mayor, or City Manager, or prepared by the City Attorney on his
or her own initiative. The Planning Commission may initiate zoning and planning
ordinances.
B. Prior Review by Administration Staff. All ordinances, resolutions and contract
documents shall, before presentation to the City Council be reviewed by the City
Manager or his/her designee.
C. Reading of Ordinances. If a motion to waive reading of all ordinances has been
adopted at the beginning of the Council meeting, the City Clerk will read the
ordinances by title only. If any Council Member so requests, the ordinance shall
be read in full.
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Preparation and Reading of Minutes
The City Clerk shall have the exclusive responsibility for preparation of the minutes, and
any directions for changes in the minutes shall be made only by majority action of the
City Council.
Unless the reading of the minutes of a City Council meeting is ordered by a majority vote
of the City Council, such minutes may be approved without reading if the City Clerk
previously furnished each City Council Member and the public binder and website with
a copy.
Recording of Open Meetings
A. All regular meetings of the City Council shall be recorded.
B. Any person attending an open and public meeting of the City Council shall have
the right to record the proceedings with an audio or video tape recorder or a still
or motion picture camera unless the City Council determines, based upon
evidence in findings made by the Mayor, that continued recording would create
noise, illumination, or view obstruction problems that are disrupting or would
disrupt the proceedings. The Mayor may impose conditions on any recordation,
which in the absence of the conditions, would disrupt the proceedings.
C. Any audio tape or video record of any open and public meeting made by or at the
direction of the City of Newport Beach shall be subject to inspection pursuant to
the California Public Records Act (Sections 6250 et seq. of the Government Code).
If a City Council meeting has simultaneously recorded audio and video, the audio
recording may be destroyed after the City Council meeting minutes for that
meeting have been approved by the City Council and the video recording has been
uploaded to the document imaging system. Any person may inspect a video or
audio recording without charge on a recorder made available by the City of
Newport Beach.
City Council Member Requests for Research or Information
The City of Newport Beach is a City Council -City Manager form of government. The
City Council appoints a City Manager to implement policy, to ensure laws are enforced,
to direct the daily operations of City government, and to prepare and monitor the
municipal budget. Because Council Policy is implemented on a daily basis through City
staff, it is critical that the relationship between the City Council and City staff be well
understood by all parties so that policies and programs may be implemented
successfully.
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The purpose of this policy is to further guide the implementation of Charter Section 406
(Interference in Administrative Service) so that the long tradition of positive relationships
between members of the City Council and City staff is maintained.
A. General Interactions with City Staff:
1. The City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk are appointed directly by
the City Council to provide executive, administrative and legal services. In
many cases, the City Manager encourages direct contact with department
directors within this Policy's guidelines, thus enabling the Council Member
to get appropriate information quickly and easily.
2. If a Council Member's request is expected to take more than thirty (30)
minutes (or in the case of a request from the Mayor, two (2) hours) to
research, gather information, report on or otherwise respond to any
inquiry, the City Manager, City Attorney, or City Clerk shall ask that the
Council Member or Mayor place the request on the agenda for formal
Council action before staff spends time or resources on the request.
B. Requests for Information or Research:
1. For new issues, actions, or research proposed by a Council Member that
require approval by the City Council, Council Members will follow the
procedure provided in this policy to place an item on the City Council
agenda.
2. For issues or actions that have been previously approved by the City
Council, or which do not require City Council approval, Council Members
will, depending on the nature of the request, route the request for
information or research through the City Manager, City Attorney, or City
Clerk. It shall be the responsibility of the City Manager, City Attorney, or
City Clerk to promptly respond as to their recommended disposition of the
request. Upon authorization by the City Manager, City Attorney, or City
Clerk, the Council Member may communicate directly with other city staff
members (such as department directors) or City consultants.
3. Council Members' contact with City staff or City consultants, other than
City Council appointees, is limited to asking questions and obtaining
information and not giving direction or assignments.
Expressions of Official City Position or Policy
If a member of the City Council desires that a particular official City position or policy be
established or expressed on a given issue, the Council Member shall submit his/her
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recommendations on said position or policy to the entire City Council as provided in this
policy, for evaluation and disposition as the City Council sees fit.
Any City Council Member who wishes to make a statement or opinion regarding a matter
which the City Council has not taken an official position on shall ensure that said
statement or opinion cannot be construed by the public as being an official position or
policy of the City of Newport Beach. The City Council finds this policy furthers an
important public purpose by ensuring the public does not confuse personal opinions
expressed by City Council Members with official expressions of City policy.
Use of City Stationery
Members of the City Council, and staff are authorized to use City stationery when
corresponding on matters relating to official City business. Said correspondence shall
identify the author of the letter as such. Use of City stationery for private personal
matters is not permitted.
The style and content of City stationery utilized by individual City departments shall be
approved by the City Manager so as to minimize the number of styles and promote use
of a City-wide standard.
History
Adopted A-1 - 2-9-1959 ("Seconds to Motions")
Adopted A-3 - 8-30-1966 ("Seating of Councilmen")
Adopted A-6 -11-13-1967 ("Recording of Meetings")
Amended A-1 & A-3 -11-12-1968
Reaffirmed A-1, A-3 & A-6 - 3-9-1970
Reaffirmed A-1, A-3 & A-6 - 2-14-1972
Adopted A-3 - 5-8-1972 ("City Council Instructions to Staff")
Adopted A-10 - 8-21-1972 ("Procedural Rules for Council Meetings", incorporating
A-1 & A-3)
Amended A-10 -11-24-1975
Amended A-6 - 6-13-1977
Amended A-6 -10-25-1977
Amended A-10 -11-28-1977
Amended A-10 - 7-24-1978
Amended A-10 - 9-11-1978
Amended A-10 -11-27-1978
Adopted A-13 - 2-12-1979 ("Use of City Stationary")
Amended A-10 -10-23-1979
Amended A-10 -11-12-1979
Amended A-10 - 7-28-1980
Amended A-6 & A-10 - 2-9-1981
[Tel
A-1
Deleted A-3 - 2-9-1981
Amended A-1 -10-25-1982
Amended A-10 - 6-25-1984
Amended A-10 -10-22-1984
Adopted A-1-11-20-1984 ("Election of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem')
Amended A-10 - 6-24-1985
Amended A-10 3-24-1986
Amended A-10 -1-12-1987
Amended A-10 - 5-26-1987
Amended A-1011-28-1988
Amended A-10 -11-27-1989
Amended A-13 -1-8-1990
Amended A-10 - 8-13-1990
Amended A-10 -10-22-1990
Amended A-10 - 6-28-1993
Created A-11 -1-24-1994 (Recording of Council Meetings")
Amended A-6 -1-24-1994 (renamed to "Open Meetings")
Amended A-1 -1-24-1994
Amended A-13 -1-24-1994 (changed to A-8)
Amended A-6 & A-10 - 3-28-1994
Amended A-6 - 6-27-1994
Amended A-6 -12-12-1994
Amended A-11 - 2-27-1995
Amended A-10 -10-9-1995
Corrected A-1 & A -B- 2-26-1996
Amended A-10 - 2-26-1996
Amended A-6 - 2-26-1996
Adopted A-13 - 5-28-1996 ("Decorum and Order for BCC')
Amended A-6 -12-9-1996
Amended A-1 - 2-24-1997
Adopted A-15 -11-10-1997 ("Ex Parte Communication")
Amended A-6 - 5-26-1998
Adopted A-16 - 6-22-1998 ("Conflict of Interest Procedures")
Amended A-6 - 3-14-2000
Amended A-6 - 2-27-2001
Amended A-6 - 3-27-2001
Amended A-10 - 8-28-2001
Amended A-6 -1-27-2004
Amended A-6 - 3-9-2004
Amended A-6 - 3-28-2006
Amended A-6 - 2-26-2008
Amended A-6 -10-27-2009
Amended A-6 -12-6-2010
17
A-1
Amended A-6 & A-10 - 2-22-2011
Amended A-6 -11-27-2012
Amended A-6 & A-10 -1-8-2013
Amended A-6 - 5-14-2013
Adopted A-3 - 5-14-2013 ("Request for Research or Information")
Amended A-11 - 5-13-2014
Amended A-6 - 6-9-2015
Adopted A-20 - 7-14-2015 ("Expression of Official City Position")
Amended A-11 - 4-12-2016
Amended A-13 -1-24-2017
Amended A-1 - 08-08-2017 (incorporating A-3, A-6, A-8, A-10, A-11, A-13, A-15, A-16,
and A-20, renaming to "City Council")
M:3