DATE: March 3, 2025
TO: Mayor and Members of the City Council President and Members of the Estero Municipal Improvement District (EMID) Board of Directors
VIA: Stefan Chatwin, City/District Manager
FROM: Priscilla Schaus, Communications Director/City Clerk DEPARTMENT: Communications/City Clerk
SUBJECT: DISCUSSION OF THE STATUS OF CITY COUNCIL STANDING
SUBCOMMITTEES
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council, by Minute Order, provide policy direction on whether to keep or disband the current City Council Standing Subcommittees.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council held their City Council Annual Retreat (Retreat) on January 23, 2025, to discuss and establish the short-, mid-, and long-term priorities for the year. At the Retreat, the City Council discussed whether there is a need for Council Standing Subcommittees as there have not been new council liaison assignments to subcommittees since 2022, and most subcommittees have not held meetings in the last year. The City Council directed staff to bring back an item to discuss the status of subcommittees at a future meeting.
The City Council Standing Subcommittees to be considered are the following: Land Use, Infrastructure/Facilities, Communications & Public Engagement, Transportation, and Economic Development/Sustainability.
BACKGROUND/ANALYSIS
City Council Standing Subcommittees are composed of no more than two (2) member subsets of the City Council who meet to discuss and provide recommendations on items or issues that will eventually be considered by the City Council as a body.
Standing Subcommittees have a regular meeting schedule and are subject to the Brown Act. These standing subcommittees address ongoing policy issues. City Council Standing Subcommittees are required to post agendas in advance of the meeting, allow the public to attend and to publish minutes of the meetings, among other requirements.
While the subcommittees have not met regularly, there is still an impact on staff workload, as staff needs to administer the subcommittees by cancelling meetings and adhering to Brown Act noticing requirements.
The Council has also created Ad Hoc subcommittees in the past that are temporary advisory committees that are formed to study a specific issue and make recommendations to the City Council. The Ad Hoc subcommittees that have been created more recently are: City Manager Performance Review, Pension Liability, Foster’s Landing, Privacy & Technology, and Community Beautification. A temporary advisory committee composed solely of less than a quorum of the legislative body that serves a limited or single purpose, that is not perpetual, and that will be dissolved once its specific task is completed is not subject to the Brown Act. (Government Code section 54952(b)). The Council does not need to take action to disband these Ad Hoc subcommittees because all of them have dissolved because the specific task has been completed or because the Ad Hoc subcommittee member is no longer serving on Council.
Timeline of City Council Standing and Ad Hoc Subcommittees At the 2016 Vision and Policy Summit, the City Council discussed creating subcommittees for Priority Focus Areas to address challenges facing the City. Staff brought the item back to the City Council on February 8, 2016, and via Minute Order No. 1453, established the Land Use, Infrastructure, Communications & Public Engagement, Economic Development/Sustainability, Transportation, and the City Manager’s Performance Review subcommittees.
On November 19, 2018, the Pension Liability subcommittee was established, via Minute Order No. 1575. On October 5, 2020, the City Council discussed committee protocols and revisited the City Council Subcommittees list. The City Council voted, via Minute Order No. 1697, to transition the Land Use, Infrastructure, Communications and Public Engagement, Transportation, and Economic Development/Sustainability subcommittees to Standing Committee status and transitioned the City Manager Performance Review and Pension Liability subcommittees to Ad Hoc status. In 2021, the Foster’s Landing Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Minute Order No. 1752) and Privacy and Technology Policy Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Minute Order No. 1793) were also established. On December 13, 2021, the City Council, via Minute Order No. 1822, voted to accept the Subcommittees, Purpose/Mission Statements and schedules and establish the Community Beautification Ad Hoc Subcommittee.
The current Council Standing Subcommittees, five (5) standing and the most recent five (5) Ad Hoc Subcommittees, are outlined in Attachment 1, including the Purpose/Mission Statement and meeting frequency. It should be noted the Council membership/liaisons to the subcommittees were last updated in 2022 so many of the subcommittee assignments are currently vacant.
At the Council Retreat in January, the City Council reviewed the need for Council Standing Subcommittees and provided direction to staff to bring forward an agenda item to discuss the status of subcommittees as they have not met and there has not been a need for subcommittees to meet regularly. If, in the future, the City Council finds a need for subcommittees, new subcommittees may be established via Minute Order.
California Environmental Quality Act
Not Applicable
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
CITY COUNCIL VISION, MISSION, AND VALUE/PRIORITY AREA
City Council Operations and Improved Community Engagement ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1 - Current City Council Subcommittees