Item 25 - Streamlining City Council Meetings

Home Browse Search

Streamline City Council Meetings November 2, 2021 Page 2 survey included the following suggestions to streamline their meetings: (1) limit public comment during high attendance meetings; (2) limit councilmember discussion; (3) limit repetition of praise and agreement between councilmembers; (4) adhere to the agenda order; (5) establish time limits for agenda items; (6) limit presentation/ceremonies at the beginning of meetings; (7) publish agendas and estimated times for each item at least a week in advance; and (8) meet more frequently than their then -once -a -week schedule of regular City Council meetings. In response to the community survey and discussion at their City Council meetings, the Long Beach City Council adopted an ordinance to implement procedures that they believed would shorten the duration of (or "streamline") their meetings. Examples of some of the procedural changes imposed by the ordinance include the following: (1) reducing individual public comment from three minutes to 90 seconds if ten or more people request to speak on the same topic; (2) requiring individuals requesting to speak during public comment to sign up to speak before an agenda item is called for discussion; (3) imposing a five-minute speaking limit for individual council members while they're discussing items; (4) updating the order of business for the City Council meeting agenda; and (5) limiting the number of ceremonial presentations. Long Beach isn't the only city to have conducted such studies or imposed procedures to streamline their City Council meetings. The Cities of Anaheim, Downey, and Los Angeles, for example, have all recently enacted changes to their City Council meeting procedures to respond to the increase in duration of their City Council meetings. Existing Policies that Establish Procedures for City Council Meetings In addition to general rules set forth in the City Charter and the Santa Ana Municipal Code relating to conduct of the City Council at public meetings, there are three specific guidance documents that set forth rules and procedures for City Council meetings: (1) Resolution No. 2013-2019 amending the City Council rules and procedures for calling special meetings, altering the agenda format to provide for reports from the City Council, and changing the day of regular City Council meetings; (2) Robert's Rules of Order; and (3) the City Council Handbook. Resolution No. 2013-019, also referred to as the "City Council Rules and Procedures Resolution", sets forth procedures that encompass the time and place of City Council meetings, the City Council meeting agenda, and decorum. Robert's Rules of Order is a manual of parliamentary procedure that governs the meetings of organizations that have adopted it as their parliamentary authority. The City Council Rules and Procedures Resolution incorporates Robert's Rules of Order as the parliamentary authority that governs City Council meetings and City Council committee meetings. The City Council Handbook is a guidance document that incorporates written procedures from both the City Council Rules and Procedures Resolution and Robert's Rules of Order. Separately, there exists a City Council Recognition Policy, and administrative policy that was approved by the City Council in June 2018. This policy sets parameters for members