Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: PROCLAMATION SCHEDULE FOR 2026
Date: December 9, 2025
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council have an initial discussion, and if ready, adopt a motion approving the public awareness process and the proclamation schedule for 2026.
Background
On July 25, 2023 the City Council adopted a recognition and flag policy. At that time, the City Council also adopted an initial schedule of proclamations. Since then, the Council has annually updated this proclamations table for the upcoming year. The most recent table, for 2025, is attached.
Analysis/Discussion
As is often the case, other proclamations may come up that are not on the schedule but can be added as needed. The intent of the schedule of proclamations is to forecast recurring proclamations and assist with planning. Proclamations are published in the agenda packet for the meeting at which they will be read.
Currently, the full text of all proclamations are posted on the City website “headlines” following the City Council meeting. However, it is recommended by staff that the following changes to this process be adopted to raise public awareness on topics of interest to the City:
• If the City Council or Staff are indicated as the “organizing lead”, the full text of proclamations will continue to be posted on the City website “headlines”, but the photo of the proclamation recipient with the City Council will also be posted on the City social media accounts.
• Other proclamations that are requested by outside groups would not be posted on the website or social media, unless specifically requested by the City Council on a case-by-case basis.
Financial Considerations
Proclamations, if there is a template provided, typically do not take more than 1-2 hours of staff time to agendize and coordinate with the receiving party. This can get significantly more time consuming if template materials are not provided, sensitivity of the subject matter, or desire for ceremonies/events following the proclamation.
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.