Title
Rules and Communications Committee Meeting Highlights of September 29, 2011
Body
CITY OF SAN LEANDRO
CITY COUNCIL RULES AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
September 29, 2011
4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
San Leandro City Hall
835 East l4th Street
San Leandro, California
(Sister Cities Gallery)
HIGHLIGHTS
Committee Members
present: Mayor Stephen Cassidy, Councilmembers Jim Prola and Ursula Reed
City Staff present: Jacqui Diaz, Interim Assistant City Manager; Rayan Fowler, Information Services Manager; Marian Handa, City Clerk; Kenton Jang, Assistant Information Services Manager; Lianne Marshall, Interim City Manager; Kathy Ornelas, Community Relations Representative
Public present: Debbie Wong, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, San Leandro Unified School District
Mayor Cassidy called the meeting to order at 4:33 p.m. He announced that this is the first City Council Committee meeting to be digitally-recorded as part of a pilot program, which will include recording the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustments meetings in the near future.
1. Discussion Regarding Changing City Council Meeting Day from Monday to Tuesday
Ms. Marshall reported that this subject was raised during a Council discussion regarding the City Council's need for more time to review their agenda materials. To help address this need, City staff has begun preparing and delivering the Council's agenda packets two days earlier.
Councilmembers Prola and Reed agreed that, now that they receive the agenda packet sooner, they are fine leaving the meeting date as is.
Mayor Cassidy advocated for moving the meeting date to Tuesday, and posting the full agenda packet online by the end of the day on Tuesday. He commented that he felt the quality of decision-making could improve with the additional day of preparation.
Public Comments:
Debbie Wong, San Leandro Unified School District, commented that the School Board meets on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in the City Council Chamber. Moving the Council meeting days to Tuesdays would force the School Board to change its meeting days, and require School District staff to make changes to its agenda preparation schedule.
There was no consensus by the Committee to recommend a change to the City Council meeting day.
2. Discussion Regarding Paperless Council and Committee Agenda Packets
This item was referred by the City Council at the request of Councilmember Reed. Ms. Marshall commented that the implementation of the new Legistar automated agenda management system can facilitate the transition to a paperless agenda packet.
Ms. Fowler reviewed the proposal to transition to paperless agenda packets, and the benefits, drawbacks and costs.
Mayor Cassidy asked questions about the cost figures, and of WiFi versus 3G connectivity. He expressed concern regarding the ongoing cost of 3G service for both cell phones and iPads.
Councilmember Prola indicated that he would like the move to paperless agendas to be voluntary.
Councilmember Reed commented that if the City wants to move toward a paperless environment, then it makes sense for both the City Council and City staff to be included in the conversion. She suggested that staff look into the use of the Council's Technology Reimbursement to cover the added 3G service costs.
The Committee discussed the options of full implementation versus a pilot program, and WiFi versus 3G. The Committee requested the item be continued to the October meeting.
3. Discussion Regarding Providing Press Releases to Online News Wires
Ms. Ornelas reported that she found a free service called PRLog that would allow the City to post press releases on the Internet. She noted that the drawbacks of using PRLog are no guaranteed prioritization of search results; and a non-guaranteed 24-hour turnaround.
Mayor Cassidy commented that this is an ideal service for the City's needs.
4. Review and Prioritization of Future Agenda Items
The Committee reviewed and scheduled the pending items on its list. Due to the upcoming holidays, it was suggested that the Committee's November and December meetings be combined, and scheduled sometime in late November or early December.
5. Public Comments
None.
6. Committee Member Comments
None.
7. Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 5:29 p.m.