CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
8/25/2025
1 SUBJECT:
Amend the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics and Administrative Policy No. 1 “City Council Agenda Format and Process”
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt a Resolution to amend the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics and Administrative Policy No. 1 “City Council Agenda Format and Process,” as recommended by the City Council at the May 17, 2025 City Council Study Session on Governance Training.
STAFF CONTACT:
Kevin Woodhouse, City Manager
650-738-7409
[email protected]
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
Summary of City Council Rules and Code of Ethics
The City Council Rules and Code of Ethics is an important policy to establish the standards for the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the governing board (City Council) and staff in the operation of the organization, promoting communication, understanding, and trust in these roles, responsibilities and expectations, and helping to make City Council meetings as productive as possible. The City Council Rules and Code of Ethics also establishes standards that provide an understanding for the members of the community for expectations of the roles and responsibilities of the members of the City Council and standards for conducting City Council meeting.
The City Council Rules and Code of Ethics covers a broad range of topics, including:
• Operation of City Council Meetings
• Order of the Agenda
• Council Communications
• Councilmember and Public Decorum
• City Council Relationship with City Staff
In the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics, it is stated that establishing a periodic review of these City Council rules will assist all Councilmembers to better understand their role and responsibilities and will help to make City Council meetings as productive as possible.
Updates Stemming from Council Governance Training Study Session On May 17, 2025, the City Council held a Study Session for the purpose of Governance Training and Team Development as part of the City’s annual City Council Goals and Strategic Plan update process. In this Study Session, the Council briefly reviewed the current City Pacifica City Council 2
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Council Rules and Code of Ethics and a majority of Councilmembers and/or Council consensus recommended some changes aimed at improving productivity and process related to City Council meetings, as summarized below:
1. Revise the term “Mayor pro Tem” to “Vice Mayor”.
2. Specify that the Mayor may seek assistance of the Vice Mayor for meeting management.
3. Move the regular City Council meeting start time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM. (Regular City Council meetings will still take place on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.)
4. Move “Council Communications” to end of the meeting.
5. End regular City Council meetings by 11:00 PM, unless a supermajority (4/5) vote to continue beyond 11:00 PM.
The above recommended changes have been reflected in Exhibit A City Council Rules and Code of Ethics proposed update. In conjunction with the review and recommended amendments to the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics, the City of Pacifica’s Administrative Policy No. 1 “City Council Agenda Format and Process” was reviewed and updated to reflect the above-referenced changes and to reflect current practices and City Council agenda / staff report formats (Attachment B). Clean versions of the amended documents are attached with the proposed Resolution to adopt the updated policies. Redlined versions showing the edits are attached as Attachment C (redline City Council Rules and Code of Ethics) and Attachment D (redline Administrative Policy No. 1).
Previous Council Review and Updates to City Council Rules and Code of Ethics As part of the City’s ongoing goal for continuous improvement in its policies and procedures for its conduct of business, it is a best practice to periodically review and consider updates to important policies and procedures. On January 10, 2022, the City Council appointed a twoCouncilmember ad hoc subcommittee, to consist of then Mayor pro Tem Bigstyck and then Councilmember O’Neill, to work with the City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk, to conduct a comprehensive review and develop recommendations for updating the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics. The resulting recommended updates to the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics were discussed by the full City Council at the September 12, 2022, City Council meeting and the January 23, 2023 City Council meeting. Amendments to the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics were adopted by the City Council at the January 23, 2023 City Council meeting.
Process for Future Review and Amendments to the Council Rules and Code of Ethics Going forward, it is recommended and City Councilmembers expressed the intent to conduct a brief review of the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics on an annual basis, typically in the January timeframe, to confirm the policy document as written or to discuss any recommendations for modifications for the purpose of clarifying or improving the process, roles and/or responsibilities as they relate to the conduct of City Council meetings.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
The City Council could decide to not adopt the recommended edits to the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics and/or the Administrative Policy No. 1 or direct alternative amendments.
RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
This agenda item relates to City Council Strategic Plan - Goal #1 - Enhance organizational and Pacifica City Council 3
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fiscal stability.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The approval of these amendments are not subject to environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as it is not a “project” pursuant to Public Resources Code Section 21000, et seq. and the CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. §§ 15000 et. seq.), including without limitation, Public Resources Code section 21065 and California Code of Regulations 15378, as these amendments would only make administrative changes and would not be considered a “project” that may cause a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this recommendation ORIGINATED BY:
City Manager's Office
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Exhibit A: City Council Rules and Code of Ethics proposed update 8-25-2025 (Clean) (DOCX)
Exhibit B: Administrative Policy No. 1 – City Council Agenda Format and Process – proposed update 8-25-2025 (Clean) (PDF)
Attachment C: City Council Rules and Code of Ethics (Redline) (PDF) Attachment D: Administrative Policy No. 1 – City Council Agenda Format and Process (Redline) (PDF)
Pacifica City Council 4
August 25, 2025
RESOLUTION NO. _______
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PACIFICA AMENDING THE CITY COUNCIL RULES AND CODE OF ETHICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY NO. 1 “CITY COUNCIL AGENDA AND FORMAT PROCESS”
WHEREAS, the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics has been established to define the roles, responsibilities and expectations of the City Councilmember and staff with regard to the organization and process for the operation of City Council meetings; and WHEREAS, periodic review of these City Council rules will assist all City Councilmembers to better understand their role and responsibilities and will help to make City Council meetings as productive as possible; and
WHEREAS, the City Council reviewed and directed amendments to the process, roles and responsibilities in conducting City Council meetings; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to make the following amendments:
1. Revise the term “Mayor pro Tem” to “Vice Mayor”.
2. Move the regular City Council meeting start time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM. (Regular City Council meetings will still take place on the second and fourth Mondays of each month.)
3. Move “Council Communications” to end of the meeting.
4. End regular City Council meetings by 11:00 PM, unless a supermajority (4/5) vote to continue beyond 11:00 PM. Government; and
WHEREAS, the above-referenced amendments have been reflected and incorporated in the proposed amended City Council Rule and Code of Ethics included as Exhibit A; and WHEREAS, Administrative Policy No. 1 “City Council Agenda Format and Process” was reviewed to reflect current practices, City Council agenda / staff report formats and the recommended edits to the City Council Rules and Code of Ethics and the recommended edits to bring Administrative Policy No. 1 into conformity are included in the policy presented in Exhibit B;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Pacifica hereby approves the amendments and incorporates them into the revised City Council Rules and Code of Ethics, which is attached hereto and incorporated in Exhibit A; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Pacifica hereby approves the amendments and incorporates them into the revised Administrative Policy No. 1 “City Council Agenda Format and Process”, which is attached hereto and incorporated in Exhibit B.
• • • • •
Pacifica City Council 5
August 25, 2025
PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Pacifica, California, held on the 25th day of August 2025, by the following vote:
AYES, Councilmembers:
NOES, Councilmembers:
ABSENT, Councilmembers:
ABSTAIN, Councilmembers:
_________________________
Sue Beckmeyer, Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________ _________________________
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk Michelle Kenyon, City Attorney