Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Recognition and Flag Policy
Date: June 27, 2023
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution approving an official policy on recognitions and ceremonial flags and separately adopt a motion directing staff on the annual calendar of desired proclamations, including ceremonial flags and flag raising ceremonies.
Background
Historically, the City has provided “thank you” letters to outgoing City Council members or Planning Commissioners. In some cases, the City Council also adopted resolutions of appreciation for exceptional service to the community by an outgoing City Council member.
Proclamations are generally requested by an outside group, and if approved for agenda through the normal process defined by the City Council Rules, the proclamation is brought forward to recognize the individual or group. However, in all cases, these processes are not defined by a City Council policy.
Prior to 2023, over at least the past 15 years, the City has rarely flown any ceremonial flags, so there is no defined process to manage these requests.
Analysis/Discussion
The current City Council has expressed a strong desire to recognize groups or causes through proclamations, ceremonial flags and potentially flag raising ceremonies. Therefore, staff reviewed similar policies in other California jurisdictions and tailored these policies into a draft for consideration that would fit Cotati’s size and resources.
Of note is the policy that would provide minimum service time guidelines for City Council members and Planning Commissioners to receive different types of recognition. However, recognition would generally also be subject to the discretion of the City Council through the Mayor using the established process in the City Council Rules.
For reference, below is a table of proclamations issued over the past 5 years:
Proclamation Title Timing/Frequency Flag Flag
Ceremony
One-Time
SRJC 100th Anniversary 1x
Community Voice 25th Anniversary 1x
Oliver's Market Day Proclamation 1x
United In Kindness Proclamation 1x
American Red Cross Month Proclamation March/Annual
January
-
February
-
March
National Surveyor's Week Begins 3rd Sunday
Annual
April
Sexual Assault Awareness Month Annual
WOTYC Proclamation
(Week of the Young Child)
1st or 2nd week
Annual
NPST Week
(National Public Safety
Telecommunicators Week)
Annual
MOVES Proclamation
(Children's Memorial Day)
4th Friday
Annual
X
National Library Week Proclamation Late April
Annual
May
Bike Month Proclamation Annual
National Public Works Week
Mid-May
Annual
June
Pride Month Annual X X
Juneteenth Proclamation June 19
Annual
X X
Community Resilience Challenge Climate Challenge in
2019, discontinued.
July
Zero Waste Week Proclamation Last Week of July
Annual
August
Women's Equality Day Proclamation August 26
Annual
September
Creek Week Begins 3rd Monday
Proclamation Title Timing/Frequency Flag Flag
Ceremony
Annual
October
Bullying Prevention Month Proclamation Annual
Children's Environmental Health Day 2nd Thursday
Annual
November
-
December
-
Other
Monarch Butterfly Proclamation Requires annual renewal, including specific actions
and reporting
Motions approving a slate of proclamations should also include an affirmative vote of the City Council on ceremonial flags and flag raising ceremonies, as applicable. This is expected to become an annual process to reserve requested durations for flags and dates for ceremonies.
Additional proclamations without flags or ceremonies, if any, can be added as desired at any time during the year.
Financial Considerations
Prior to hearing this item, City staff have already made upgrades to the City Hall flagpole to allow for a third flag to avoid taking down the California flag to fly a ceremonial flag. Other pending improvements include locking the lanyard on the flagpole to discourage vandalism or theft of flags.
Unless the City Council directs staff to purchase materials/supplies for a certain flag raising ceremony, additional direct costs are limited to the cost of purchasing a flag, which typically runs approximately $100 each. Staff support is expected to take 2-4 staff hours per ceremony, or approximately 24-48 staff hours per year if there are 12 ceremonies each year.
Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.