Agenda Item Title:
Title
City Council Office recommending the City Council adopt the 2018 annual meeting schedule.
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Presenter:
Mike Applegarth, Executive Director
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Description/Background:
State law requires a public body to publish its annual meeting schedule and to include the date, time, and location of each meeting. The City Council office has evaluated the 2018 calendar against known events and holidays that conflict with the Council's traditional Tuesday evening meetings. Adopting the schedule now and eliminating the known Tuesday night conflicts provides a better meeting planning platform and reduces the need to create multiple, individual meeting cancellation resolutions. Despite the publication of this annual meeting schedule, the City Council may still amend its schedule as needed from time to time by resolution.
Furthermore, the Council Office strongly recommends that the City Council begin alternating Tuesday meetings between Work Sessions and Council Meetings. For example, the first Tuesday of the month would include only Work Session items. These items would include only information briefing that don't require a Council vote, as well as a discussion of each item coming up the following week on the Council Meeting agenda that will require a vote. The next week in Council Meeting the City Council will have been fully briefed on the items scheduled for vote, and staff will have had time to thoroughly address questions that arose during the previous week's Work Session discussion of each item.
Currently, there is no qualitative difference between agenda items scheduled as Work Session or Council Meeting, except that the Council generally does not vote on Work Session items. However, if a Work Session item "trails" to the end of Council Meeting, it is heard has a Council item regardless of how it was initially noticed on the agenda. The arbitrary constraint of the Work Session time, namely between 5:15 PM and 7:00 PM does not lend itself well to adequate discussion of Work Session items. The Council and staff is often rushed to beat the 7:00 PM Council Meeting deadline, despite the relative importance of the items that follow in the 7:00 PM time slot. The Council Office believes that segregating the Work Session and Council Meeting items across separate weeks will be a more efficient use of time for the Council, staff, and public.
Should the Council desire to separate the Work Session from Council Meeting on different weeks, it also has the flexibility to start the Council Meetings earlier than 7:00 PM. If a new time is established, Resolution 18-01C should be amended to reflect the alternating schedule and adopted meeting start times.
Given the events and public hearing items already scheduled in January, the Council Office believes a full transition to this alternating schedule would be feasible in February 2018.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
Further action to be taken:
The Council Office and City Recorder's Office will publish the annual meeting schedule in accordance with state law.
Recommended Action and/or Suggested Motion:
Recommendation
Motion to adopt Resolution 18-01C.