Discussion on City
Council Meeting
Policies and
Procedures
City Council
August 13, 2024
CITY MANAGER’S
OFFICE
Burbank Council Meetings
The Ralph M. Brown Act
CA Government Code 54950
• Ensures that local government agencies
conduct business openly and publicly
• Requirements include advance posting of
agendas, availability of meeting materials,
allowing public participation and more.
Burbank Resolution 17 -28,970 (2017)
• Provides guidelines for meeting format,
order of business, and how the public
addresses Council.
2 Burbank Public Comment
• Public Comment Offered:
General Public Comment
Comments accepted on agenda items and non-agenda items.
Agenda Item Public Comment
Takes place at the time of consideration of an agenda item. Closed Session, Public Hearing, and Study Session Public Comment
SPEAKING TIME IS CURRENTLY LIMITED TO UP TO THREE (3) MINUTES
PER INDIVIDUAL FOR ALL PUBLIC COMMENT PERIODS, UNLESS
ADJUSTED BY THE PRESIDING OFFICER.
3 MANAGING PUBLIC COMMENT:
• Limited speaking times allotted per individual.
West Hollywood: Public comments are limited to two minutes per speaker unless another time is announced by the presiding chair.
• Publicized scaling system to determine speaker limits. Berkeley: Public comments are limited to two minutes per speaker for five or fewer speakers. For six to ten speakers, public comments are limited to one minute per speaker. • Limited overall length of public comment periods.
Glendale: First public comment period is limited to a total of 15-minutes.
SURVEY OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS
4 MANAGING PUBLIC COMMENT:
SURVEY OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS
• Reduced number of public comment periods.
Carson: One public comment period for agenda items and one for non-agenda items. • Establishing deadlines for submission of speaker cards. Huntington Beach: Accept sign-ups for public speaking until the commencement of the public comment period.
5 MANAGING PUBLIC COMMENT:
SURVEY OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS
• Designated speaker for large groups.
Garden Grove: When any group wishes to address the Council on the same subject matter, the Mayor may request a spokesperson to be chosen to represent the group and avoid unnecessary repetition.
• Prioritizing order of comments.
Mission Viejo: General public comment is for non-agendized items only for a maximum of 30 minutes.
6 ADDITIONAL MEETING MANAGEMENT
TOOLS
• Meeting Start Time
Common practice: 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Large metropolitan cities tended to have earlier or more varied meeting start times:
Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose
• Meeting End Time
Common practice – listing a designated end time, with certain rules and guidelines provided for going past the designated end time. • Discussion of Agenda Items
Time management tool that establishes time limits for Council questions, discussion and/or deliberation.
7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION:
• Speaking times allotted per individual:
Time period of up to two minutes or one minute per speaker for General Public Comment. Time period of up to two minutes per speaker for other public comment periods. Implement not-to-exceed limitations of 75 minutes for General Public Comment and 20 minutes for all other periods.
• Meeting start/end time:
Adjust meeting start time to 5:00 p.m.
Adjust meeting end time with language that requires Council to confer with the City Manager to review the status of the remaining agenda items and determine how best to proceed.
8 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNCIL
CONSIDERATION:
• Telephonic public comment:
Continue to allow telephonic comments with a time period consistent with General Public Comment (two minutes or one minute) and add a caveat that additional callers will not be accepted in the queue once the telephonic public comment period begins. • Consider Rules of Decorum for Council discussion/deliberation:
Consider establishing time limits for Council questions, discussion, and deliberation. 9 CONCLUSION
• Council meeting policies and procedures are unique to each jurisdiction.
• Key factors for Burbank
High level of public participation and community
engagement.
Robust meetings agendas focused on furthering
Council goals and addressing emerging issues or
community concerns.
• Should Council decide to recommend adjustments,
staff will implement adjustments and return to Council
with an assessment of new policies.
10 Cathryn LaBrado
Assistant to the City Manager
[email protected]
818-238-5820
Contact
Kylene Aquino
Administrative Analyst I
[email protected]
818-238-5806
11