CITY OF CULVER CITY
COUNCIL POLICY STATEMENT Policy Number 3203
General Subject: City Council and Administration Date Issued 1/23/95
Specific Subject: Relationship Between Effective Date 1/24/95 Councilmembers and Employees
Resolution No. 95-R005
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PURPOSE:
To establish policy regarding relationships between individual members of the City Council and appointed employees of the City.
BACKGROUND:
The following relationship between the Council as a whole and the Chief Administrative Officer is set forth in Section 2-20 of the Culver City Municipal Code under duties of the Chief Administrative Officer:
"To exercise direction and control over all divisions and departments of the City as the administrative head of its government, subject to the direction of the City Council and applicable municipal law and regulation."
Nowhere in the City Charter or the Culver City Municipal Code, however, is there any guideline outlining the desired relationship between individual Councilmembers and City employees.
It is desirable that the City Council maintain free, informal contacts with all employees.
At the same time, difficulties sometimes arise when individual Councilmembers give specific direction to City employees on potentially time-consuming matters which have not been requested by a majority of the City Council. In that situation the employee is placed in the awkward position of:
1. Possibly receiving conflicting directions from Councilmembers;
2. Possibly receiving conflicting directions from a Councilmember and the Chief Administrative Officer or Department Head responsible for the employee's performance; or
3. Exposing the employee to criticism by the majority of the Council for research involving substantial cost without Council, Chief Administrative Officer or Department Head approval.
A Councilmember could be placed in the awkward position of making statements or taking actions based on information from one department which is not balanced with information on related subjects from other departments of the City.
STATEMENT OF POLICY:
In light of the above considerations, the following policy is adopted:
1. Individual Council members should feel free to give staff information and to request routine facts and figures which currently exist from a City employee at any time.
2. Information concerning general or specific plans for future or partially developed City programs, developments and policies should be obtained through the office of the Chief Administrative Officer. This will ensure receipt of balanced information from all affected departments.
3. Individual Council members shall refrain from directing tasks to be performed by any City employee, including Department Heads.
4. Where a task, study or report is desired by an individual Council member, it shall be addressed to the attention of the Chief Administrative Officer who may refer it to the appropriate department or departments. Any such report shall be forwarded through the Chief Administrative Officer for his/her comments and copies shall be given to each Councilmember.
5. When, in the opinion of the Chief Administrative Officer, such task, study or report is appreciably time-consuming, costly or entails a subject of City-wide importance, it shall be referred to the City Council at the next Council meeting for consideration and direction.
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