Title
Staff Report for a Resolution Approving the 2017 Council Members’ Handbook
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The City Council Handbook was recently amended to include updates, format changes, clean-ups, and suggested amendments by the Rules Committee since the last handbook update in 2010.
BACKGROUND
The first City of San Leandro Council Members’ Handbook was adopted by the City Council in 1998, and revised in 2002 and 2010. Staff revisited handbook amendments to include changes such as the dissolution of the Redevelopment Agency, creation of the Arts Commission, and reformatting the handbook for easier use and reference by Council Members.
Organization was the major amendment to the current revision of the handbook. Some sections of the Handbook were merged for uniformity. For example, Section I of the 2010 Handbook included general council member information, Section II contained general information about the Mayor and Section V provided general information about the presiding Officer (Mayor). These three sections were merged for consistency and ease of reference. While there were substantial formatting changes, no significant information was removed from the handbook. A redline version of the handbook is attached as well as a draft copy the current version. Significant edits are noted below. Additions are underlined. Deletions are stricken. There were no changes to the Appendices.
Section I: City Council
• Merged with Section II and renamed Mayor and City Council
Section II: Mayor
• Merged with Section I and renamed Meetings
Section III: Meetings
• Merged with Section IV and renamed Agenda
• Added Dais Tips
• Reordered Agenda to move Public Comments before Presentations
Section IV: Agenda
• Merged with Section III and renamed Conflicts, Liability & Decorum
• Added Political Reform Act, Ex Parte Communications, Ethics Training and Sexual Harassment Training
Section V: Presiding Officer
• Merged with Section II and renamed Administration
• Added Council Support, Email and Voicemail, Mail, and Council Office
Section VI: Rules, Decorum and Order
• Merged with Section IV and renamed Conflicts, Liability & Decorum
• Additions noted under Section IV
Section VII: Administration
• Renumbered as Section V
• Additions noted under Section V
Section VIII: Addressing the Council
• Renumbered as Section VI and renamed Communications
Section IX: Motions
• Merged with Section II: Meetings
Section X: Voting Procedure
• Merged with Section II: Meetings
Section XI: Resolutions, Ordinances and Minute Orders
• Renumbered to Section VII
• Removed Traffic Code, per Rules Committee direction
Section XII: Work Sessions
• Merged with Section II: Meetings
Section XIII: Closed Sessions
• Merged with Section II: Meetings
Section XIV: Council Committees
• Renumbered to Section VIII
Section XV: Boards and Commissions
• Renumbered to Section IX
• Added Arts Commission
Section XVI: Boards, Commissions and Committee Profiles
• Renumbered to Section X
• Added Arts Commission Profile
• Added East Bay Community Energy
Previous Actions
On October 19, 1998, the Council adopted the original City Council Members’ Handbook, by Minute Order No. 98-66. Pursuant to the last full update of the Handbook in October 2010, the following Council actions have been taken:
• Resolution 2012-14, adopted on February 6, 2012, added guidelines Regarding the Use of City Electronic Communications
• Resolution 2013-023, adopted on February 19, 2013 amended “Requests by Members of the Council to Schedule Agenda items” to clarify the process by which council members can request the scheduling of agenda items
• Resolution 2013-125, amended the Handbook to allow the addition of a Youth Member to the Library-Historical Commission
• Resolution 2014- adopted on April 7, 2014, amended the Handbook to add “Vice-Mayor Selection”
• Resolution 2015-030, adopted on February 17, 2015 amended Appendix E to update guidelines for citizen appointments to airport research groups, advisory committees and forums
• Resolution 2017-003, adopted on January 3, 2017 amended the Handbook to allow Public Comments to come before Presentations on the Council Agenda
Committee Review and Actions
The City Council Rules Committee reviewed Handbook revisions on May 23, 2016; July 19, 2016; September 26, 2016; November 28, 2016; March 27, 2017, and October 23, 2017. Only two significant changes resulted from the Rules Committee’s review: (1) updating the order of the City Council Agenda to allow Public Comments before Presentations, and (2) Remove “Traffic Code” from the Handbook. The other changes were comprised of formatting or clean-up.
ATTACHMENTS
• Redline Version of the 2010 Handbook
• Draft 2017 Council Members Handbook
PREPARED BY: Tamika Greenwood, City Clerk