Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: APPROVAL OF AN EXTENDED COUNCILMEMBER LEAVE
OF ABSENCE
Date: September 23, 2025
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion approving the requested temporary leave of absence for Councilmember Sparks from January 26 – May 11, 2026.
Background
City Councilmember Sparks has an extended assignment teaching abroad and has requested a temporary leave of absence. Councilmember Sparks expected absence will be from January 26, 2026 through May 11, 2026.
California Government Code Section 36513(a) states the following regarding the absence of an elected City Council member, ”If a city councilmember is absent without permission from all regular city council meetings for 60 days consecutively from the last regular meeting he or she attended, his or her office becomes vacant and shall be filled as any other vacancy.” Analysis/Discussion
While the state code establishes the timeframe for an absence, it does not define what constitutes "permission" for an absence. It is up to individual cities to establish, through their own ordinances, resolutions or policies, the process for a council member to obtain an excused absence. Currently, there is no process previously adopted in the City municipal code or the City Council Rules.
With any City Councilmember absence or recusal, there is the possibility of a tie (2-2) vote preventing a decision on a proposed action. The other, more remote possibility, is if there is a 4/5 votes required, which would effectively need to be unanimous. This could come up in the case of an Urgency Ordinance (4/5 vote required) or if there is an immediate need to add an item to a regular meeting with less than 72 hours (2/3 vote required). Each of these instances are rare, but would require a unanimous vote of the remaining 4 City Councilmembers if they came up.
Obviously, if another City Councilmember was absent or had to recuse for some reason, it would prevent action from being taken on the item. However, for most items, only a simple majority (3) is needed to take action.
The City Council can choose to adopt a policy, such adding a new section to the City Council Rules, if there is interest in creating a general policy on vacancies. Alternatively, the City Council can take action by motion or resolution on this specific request and simply handle these requests individually on the infrequent occasions when they come up.
If the City Council is concerned about the vacancy, the alternative is the councilmember stepping down from the City Council and the City filling the seat for the remainder of the term through an appointment process or special election. However, in this case, filling the vacancy by appointment would likely take most of the term of the planned vacancy by Councilmember Sparks. Holding a special election would take longer than the term of the planned vacancy and be a significant cost to the City to hold the election.
Financial Considerations
There is no financial impact from granting an extended period of leave to Councilmember Sparks. If a special election is held, based on past estimates, it would cost approximately $30,000 to hold the election. This would be funded by the General Fund.
Environmental Issues
Where it can be determined with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA review.
This general rule can be applied to activities which could be subject to the CEQA process, but which logic dictates should not be subject to CEQA review. Therefore, based on the information provided above, the proposed resolution is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 14.03.021 of the CEQA Guidelines in that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant impact on the environment.