19 REVISED
Date: October 13, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council
From: Councilwoman Cindy Allen, Second District
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, Third District
Councilman Daryl Supernaw, Fourth District
Subject: Amendments to the Order of Business of City Council Meetings
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation to request amendments to the Long Beach Municipal Code, Chapter
2.03 under Article 1- Rules of the Council, specifically under the section of the Order of Business in order to adopt changes related to City Council deliberation, the projection of a publicly displayed timer, and adjourning remarks.
DISCUSSION
This recommendation strives to better direct City Council meeting policies already intended or needing codification within the Long Beach Municipal Code, Order of Business.
• Currently, under Long Beach Municipal Code 2.03.040 (D) (1), debate by the City Council is limited to five (5) minutes at a time and only applies to City Councilmembers during hearings.
• In addition, Long Beach Municipal Code 2.03.040 (A) (6) states any ceremonial or presentation is not to exceed five (5) minutes.
• The Long Beach Municipal Code 2.03.040 (A)(14) does not speak to the current practice of closing announcements.
This recommendation requests amendments to the Long Beach Municipal Code to better codify a current practice which has been allowing City Council deliberation at Honorable Mayor and City Council
October 13, 2026
5-minute intervals during any item (not only hearings) presented at a City Council meeting. The amendments should include language that will direct for a timer to be publicly displayed to ensure timeliness and orderly proceedings. This proposal including the potential for the Mayor and any City Councilmember to call for “point of order” after Council discussion has gone longer than 30 minutes is not new, should be introduced into the amendments and is publicly available for review along with initial research conducted by city staff on streamlining meetings in 2018 and 2019.
As it relates to ceremonial and presentations, combined City Council discussion and presentations often exceed five minutes and further reiterates the need for a public timer being displayed. A viewable timer on large screens for the Chair of the meeting, presenters, and members of the public will allow for fair, orderly, and timely proceedings.
Lastly, this recommendation requests amendments to Long Beach Municipal Code
2.03.040 (A)(14) as it relates to adjournment. Closing comments should be limited to one minute per Councilperson solely to discuss future events, with the exception of in memoriam announcements. During adjournment, members should be respectful and courteous. The remembrance of a community member is not to be taken lightly or interrupted upon with side-bar conversations or members and/or staff walking around the dais.
This matter has been reviewed by Budget Manager Rebecca Bernstorff on October 7, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT
This recommendation requests staff return with an ordinance amending certain provisions of Long Beach Municipal Code, Chapter 2.03, related to the order of business. This recommendation is anticipated to have a minimal impact on staff hours beyond the normal budgeted scope of duties and is in line with existing City Council priorities. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Allen, Councilwoman, Second District
Honorable Mayor and City Council
October 13, 2026
Daryl Supernaw, Councilman, Fourth District
Kristina Duggan, Councilmember, Second District