1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 8, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Kimberley Clark, City Clerk
SUBJECT: First Step Report to Review City Council Expectations of Board, Commission, and Committee Members
RECOMMENDATION
1. Note and file; or
2. Provide direction to s taff on proposed changes to the City Council Expectations of Board, Commission, and Committee Members (Council Expectations) document.
BACKGROUND
At the February 4, 2025, City Council (Council) Meeting, suggestions were made by both Council and staff to strengthen Council Expectations, including a suggestion by Council Member Anthony to add dress code language and a directive to staff regarding disruptive behavior. At the March 11, 2025, Council Meeting, Council Member Mullins requested a review and potential update of the Council Expectations concerning speaking time and regulation of public comments by Board, Commission, and Committee Members (Members).
DISCUSSION
In 2018, staff adopted a code of conduct for all Board, Commission, and Committee (BCC) Members. This document, titled “City Council Expectations of Board, Commission, and Committee Members” was most recently updated in December of 2022 (Attachment 1).
This document is part of the BCC Handbook and is provided to new members when they take the oath of office. T he redlined proposed changes are included for Council discussion and further guidance (Attachment 2) and cover the following:
• Dress code guidance.
• Expectations related to agenda topics aligning with City Council goals.
CITY CLERK’S
OFFICE
2 • Guidance for BCC members on how to provide non- agenda comments in alignment with the Brown Act.
• Expectations of staff related to conveying City Council goals to BCCs as appropriate.
Council may also wish to establish consistent time limits for public comments across all the City’s BCCs, as established for Council meetings in Resolution No. 24- 29,551 (Attachment 3).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity involves review of a City document and has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. As such, it is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378).
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
CONCLUSION
Staff is seeking direction from Council on the proposed changes to improve the functioning of the City’s Boards, Commissions, and Committees.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Current Council Expectations
Attachment 2 – Redlined Council Expectations
Attachment 3 – Resolution No. 24-29,551