CITY COUNCIL: HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
AS A TEAM
Above all else, we are a leadership TEAM working together for the good of our community.
Each council member brings a unique set of values, perspectives, and strengths - and when these are collectively aimed toward the common purpose of strengthening our city, then we become a healthy leadership team that models to the rest of our community what it means to thrive.
As we work together as a city leadership team, let’s commit to another, our city staff, and our community the following key behaviors:
Working Together
1. Focus on issues that transcend personal agendas. Set goals and make decisions that are in the best interest of our entire community.
2. Reserve comments for the discussion period that will take place before we vote.
Use the Chair as a valuable resource to facilitate an orderly and healthy conversation.
3. When it’s your turn to speak, you’re invited to articulate your decision and rationale clearly, candidly, and respectfully.
4. As your fellow Council members state their opinions, ideas, and positions, deeply listen to them. Resist the urge to interrupt them. Keep an open heart and mind.
5. Avoid unnecessarily disruptive or divisive comments.
6. Create an environment where your colleagues and staff feel psychologically safe - as though they can express their ideas without fear of being ridiculed or shamed.
7. Embrace the reality that change can be uncomfortable, but it’s also perfectly natural and healthy. Also, remember change is not an indictment of the past.
8. As a team, our votes do not need to be unanimous.
9. Once votes have been taken, let’s move on. Don’t let the voting outcome disrupt the focus and purpose of our team.
ATTACHMENT 3
DRAFT-REVISED
Professionalism
1. Demonstrate genuine respect and friendliness to your Council colleagues. Do not personalize votes, issues, or disagreements. Be hard on the issue, not the person who raises it.
2. Seek to keep your interactions among Council members positive.
3. It’s OK to disagree - Just keep disagreements civil. Civility is remaining polite and courteous through mutual empathy, mutual respect, and mutual purpose.
4. Do not make comments outside meetings to the public or the press that could be seen as attacking, demeaning, or undermining to another Council colleague.
5. Avoid re-opening items that have already been voted on. This can create uncertainty for our community, the Council, and our staff.
6. Be keenly aware of those who might seek to divide our Council. We might be divided on issues, but we must always remain unified as a team.
Communication and Transparency
1. The City of Burbank is committed to the greatest transparency possible.
2. Both the law and good governance occasionally require information to be kept confidential. Do not share information that has been provided to you confidentially.
3. Make a good faith effort to share any relevant information and documents you receive from the public or others with the City Manager’s Office as soon as possible. This way information can be appropriately redistributed to the entire Council.
4. During the Council Comments section of the meeting, disclose any meetings and other communications with the public, work trips and attendance at conferences.
5. If participating in a Council subcommittee or serving as a liaison, report back to the full Council on a regular basis during the Council Comments section.
6. Strive to talk to each other before, during and after meetings, but make sure not to discuss matters in a way that creates serial deliberations or decisions in violation of California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act.
CITY COUNCIL: HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
Overall, remember that we are each working for the good of this community – that is why we are involved.
Working Together
1. Consider issues and how they affect the community as a whole. It’s about the community as a whole, not you personally.
2. Keep your focus on the issues and established Council goals.
3. Hold comments until the discussion period before the vote, working through the Chair to facilitate orderly discussion. Healthy deliberation and openness to all ideas is part of the process.
4. When it’s your turn to comment, state your opinions clearly. Articulate the reasoning behind your decision so colleagues can better understand your thinking.
5. Give your fellow Council members the opportunity to state their opinions and positions without interruption, remaining open-minded.
6. Avoid unnecessarily disruptive or divisive comments.
7. Council is a team – a group of individuals working collaboratively toward a common goal of improving the community. This does not mean all votes need to be unanimous.
8. Promote an environment where you, your colleagues and staff can share ideas and consider solutions without fear of ridicule or criticism.
9. Accept that change is not necessarily bad or an indictment of the past.
10. Once votes have been taken, move on and don’t let the outcome be disruptive.
Communication and Transparency
1. The City of Burbank is committed to the greatest transparency possible.
2. Both the law and good govern ance occasionally require information to be kept confidential. Do not share information that has been provided to you confidentially.
3. Make a good faith effort to share any relevant information and documents you receive from the public or others with the City Manager’s Office as soon as possible so information can be redistributed as appropriate to the entire Council.
4. Disclose meetings and other communications with the public, as well as work trips and attendance at conferences, during the Council Comments section of the meeting.
5. If participating in a Council subcommittee or serving as a liaison, report back to the full Council on a regular basis during the Council Comments section.
Adopted January 27, 2021
6. Strive to talk to each other before, during and after meetings, but make sure not to discuss matters in a way that creates serial deliberations or decisions in violation of California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act.
Professionalism
1. Demonstrate genuine respect and friendliness to your Council colleague. Do not personalize votes, issues or disagreements. Be hard on the issue, not the person who raises it.
2. Keep in mind how you can contribute to making interactions among Council members more positive.
3. Be sensitive to each other. Treat each other with respect. Always disagree respectfully.
4. Be aware that re -opening items that have already been voted on creates uncertainty for the community, the Council and the staff.
5. Be wary of those who want to see the Council divided. The Council may be divided on issues but should be unified as a team.
6. Do not make comments outside meetings to the public or the press that could be seen as attacking a colleague.