DATE: April 16, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dominic Lazzaretto, City Manager
By: Justine Bruno, Deputy City Manager
SUBJECT: REPORT, DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION REGARDING POTENTIAL
MODIFICATIONS TO THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE
CEQA: Not a Project
Recommendation: Amend Summer Meeting Schedule
SUMMARY
Within the limits of the Arcadia City Charter, the City Council meeting schedule is intended to meet the workload and scheduling needs of the elected body. Regular Meetings are held on the first and third Tuesday of each month. For the past three years, the City Council has been operating under an amended schedule in the months of January, July, and August, where the first meeting of those months is skipped. While this modified schedule has worked, it would be more effective and efficient to hold both meetings in August and instead skip the first meeting in September, which is typically the day after the Labor Day holiday. It is recommended that the City Council modify the existing meeting schedule to skip the first meeting in the months of January, July, and September.
DISCUSSION
Within the limits of the City Charter, regular City Council meetings shall occur at least twice a month, unless otherwise cancelled, and no more than four regular meetings shall be cancelled in a fiscal year.
The City Council hosts its Regular Meetings on the first and third Tuesday of each month.
For many years, the City Council had opted to cancel the first meeting in January each year to accommodate a slower time over the winter holidays. In addition, the City Council’s meeting schedule was modified in October 2021, where it was determined that the Regular Meeting on the first Tuesday in July and August would be also cancelled. The impetus for cancelling the first Regular Meeting during these months was to officially recognize the cancellations that had already been occurring due to holiday and summer travel conflicts. The official cancellation of these three meetings was undertaken to recognize a practice that was already occurring and provide a better mechanism to plan for the business of the City Council.
City Council Meeting Schedule
May 7, 2024
In October 2021, City Council agreed that having a set meeting schedule with known cancellations provided for a level of certainty and pre-planning they desired. Additionally, the Mayor, or three members of the City Council, can call a Special Meeting at any time, providing the flexibility to continue meeting business needs. Since this change was formalized in October 2021, the new meeting schedule has been effective in allowing the City Council and staff to plan their workload and time away from the office, accordingly.
After several years operating under the new format, it appears that shifting the schedule slightly would be more effective. The first City Council meeting in September typically occurs the day after the Labor Day Holiday. City Council Meetings held immediately following a national holiday tend to yield lower attendance, a light meeting agenda, and, most often, a scheduling conflict among the City Council or staff. In addition, it is very common for staff and the public to take their summer vacations the week before Labor Day in order to get one additional day. This leads to difficulty in writing staff reports and getting information from consultants and contractors in the time leading up to a meeting date. In addition, cancelling meetings in consecutive months creates scheduling complexities with appeals hearings. Finally, cancelling consecutive monthly meetings near the start of the Fiscal Year also makes it difficult to establish contracts that are needed to begin implementing the adopted City budgetary programs and projects.
Due to these circumstances, it is recommended that City Council consider modifying the meeting schedule by moving the cancellation of the August meeting to the first meeting of September. The proposed change will keep City Council meetings from occurring the day after the national holiday and would create a longer spread between cancelled meetings. To maintain the balance of the existing workload needs, adding another cancellation to the current Regular Meeting schedule is not recommended. Should the City Council agree to adjusting the meeting schedule, it would go into effect this summer.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
The proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), as it can be seen with certainty that it will have no impact on the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact resulting from the proposed change to the City Council meeting schedule.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council find that the proposed action does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”); and modify the existing meeting schedule to skip the first meeting in the months of January, July, and September.