City Council
Staff Report
From: City Clerk
Report Type: ACTION ITEMS
Meeting Date: October 28, 2024
Report #:2409-3516
TITLE
Adopt a Resolution Establishing the City Council Annual Calendar of Meetings, Recesses and City Council Events for the Calendar Year 2025; CEQA status – not a project
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that City Council adopt a resolution establishing the City Council calendar of meetings, recesses, and City Council events for the calendar year 2025 which considers holidays and other dates to avoid for City Council meetings.
BACKGROUND
The City Council adopts a schedule of meetings for the upcoming calendar year every December.
An adopted calendar allows the City Council to efficiently conduct the City’s business and offer the City Council, staff, and the community the opportunity to better plan for meetings as well as other obligations.
The proposed calendar includes City Council and standing Council committee meetings (City Schools Liaison, Finance, Policy & Services Committees). The Council Appointed Officers Committee meets on an as-needed basis and therefore is not included. The Council has also chosen to use ad hoc committees in recent years. These committees are not included in this calendar as they are dependent on discussion and action by the City Council at the 2025 Retreat/Priority Setting meeting. Per the City Council’s Procedures and Protocols Handbook1, ad hoc committees are not intended to be perpetual, but rather should be dissolved within a finite period of time once their specific tasks are complete. A report out from the City’s ad hoc committees is tentatively scheduled for the December 16, 2024. Staff recommends that the City Council discuss ad hoc committees that may be needed for 2025 at the City Council’s 2025 Retreat/Priority Setting Meeting, proposed for January 27, 2025. (Aligned with prior practice, the 2024 ad hoc committees could meet in January if time-sensitive work is needed during that time.) 1 City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook, pg. 6 https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/5/city-clerk/city-charterprocedures/adopted-council- protocols-and-procedures-manual.pdf
Municipal Code Section 2.04.010 sets regular City Council meetings on the first three Mondays of each month at 5:30pm and requires the City Council to schedule its annual recesses by resolution. Municipal Code Section 2.04.200 establishes regular meeting frequencies for the Finance and Policy & Services standing Council committees as 7:00pm on the first and third Tuesday per month for Finance and 7:00pm on the second Tuesday per month for Policy & Services. The start times of standing Council committee meetings may be a discussion topic at the City Council’s 2025 Retreat/Priority Setting Meeting or as part of the annual discussion of the Council Policies and Procedures. Staff, in partnership with the Mayor and Vice Mayor, may schedule additional special meetings should they be necessary for conducting City Council business. In previous years, the City Council periodically rescheduled regular meetings to avoid conflicts with City holidays and religious or cultural dates of significance per City Council direction.
ANALYSIS
The proposed 2025 calendar of City Council meetings, recesses, and events is included in Attachment A. The proposed calendar incorporates scheduling changes based on a list of dates to avoid meetings.
Staff is proposing a list of days to avoid scheduling City Council meetings to increase transparency around the rescheduling of meetings and to offer a calendar consistent with the City’s commitment to equity and inclusion. The list is intended to identify possible conflicts only with City Council meetings. Staff does not recommend scheduling standing Council committee meetings around these dates because committee actions are recommendations to City Council; interested parties have an opportunity to weigh in when the item advances to the full Council.
The dates to avoid scheduling meetings fall into two categories: days on which City administrative offices are closed in observance of holidays, and certain City-recognized holidays and religious holidays. The City's Memoranda of Agreement with our represented employee labor groups recognize New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, July 4 th, Labor Day, Indigenous People's Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Day after Thanksgiving, and Christmas as paid days off. The MOAs include procedures and compensation for employees required to work on those days. Staff also included City-recognized holidays as well as religious holidays that could fall on Mondays and whose main celebrations begin in the evening, which would preclude observants from participating in City Council meetings.
The proposed days to avoid scheduling meetings are:
•New Year’s Day (Wed, Jan 1, 2025)
•Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Mon, Jan 20, 2025)
•Lunar New Year (Wed, Jan 29, 2025)
•President’s Day (Mon, Feb 17, 2025)
•Eid al-Fitr (Sat, Mar 29, 2025)
•Passover (Sat, Apr 12, 2025)
•Memorial Day (Mon, May 26, 2025)
•Eid Al-Adha (Fri, Jun 6, 2025)
•Juneteenth (Thurs, Jun 19, 2025)
•The Fourth of July (Fri, Jul 4, 2025)
•Labor Day (Mon, Sept 1, 2025)
•Rosh Hashanah (Mon, Sept 22, 2025)
•Yom Kippur (Wed, Oct 1, 2025)
•Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Mon, Oct 13, 2025)
•Veterans Day (Tues, Nov 11, 2025)
•Thanksgiving Day (Thurs, Nov 27, 2025)
•Day after Thanksgiving (Fri, Nov 28, 2025)
•Christmas Day (Thurs, Dec 25, 2025)
Note, Easter is not included on this list because it is typically observed on a Sunday and would not conflict with a City Council meeting date on a Monday.
Action Item 1.3 of the 2024-2025 Equity Action Plan 2 states: “Create a process that includes the Human Relations Commission (HRC) for annual calendar settings related to holidays and heritage months.” In line with this Action Item, the HRC provided feedback on this topic at its October 10, 2024 meeting3.
The HRC supported having the item return annually and expressed interest in additional public input in the future. The HRC also suggested the list be posted online. Staff added Lunar New Year to the list at the suggestion of the HRC. The also HRC suggested including Diwali. However, unlike the other holidays on the list, its primary observance is not tied to an evening. HRC also asked which of the dates to avoid would trigger the rescheduling of a City Council meeting in 2025.
Of the list above, the following holidays fall on a Monday in 2025:
•Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Mon, Jan 20, 2025)
•President’s Day (Mon, February 17, 2025)
•Memorial Day (Mon, May 26, 2025)
•Labor Day (Mon, Sept 1, 2025)
•Rosh Hashanah (Mon, Sept 22, 2025)
•Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Mon, Oct 13, 2025)
Relatedly, the City Council began an exploration more broadly of holidays/dates of significance with the intention of increasing inclusivity as part of the City’s equity goals. The current list is included as Attachment C. This expanded list could be used for general awareness, recognition, or sometimes proclamations. The HRC also reviewed these dates at its October meeting. 2 Equity Action Plan: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/city-manager/race-amp-equity/equity- workplan-2024.pdf
3 Human Relations Commission, October 10, 2024; Agenda Item # 2, Staff Report # 2409-3515 https://portal.laserfiche.com/Portal/DocView.aspx?id=98540&repo=r-704298fc The curation of both the dates to avoid for City Council meetings and the broader list of holidays/dates of significance has been and will continue to be iterative. With input from the City Council, the HRC, and the whole community, staff will continue to refine them as appropriate each year.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
There are no fiscal impacts associated with this action.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Staff in multiple departments including the City Manager’s Office, City Clerk’s Office, and Community Services Department collaborated on the proposed schedule and list of dates to avoid meetings. The HRC discussed the proposed calendar at its October 10, 2024 public meeting, and solicited public input, including from the local faith community, before and during the meeting.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is not a project under section 15378(b)(25) of the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines (administrative activities that will not result in direct or indirect physical change in the environment).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Proposed 2025 City Council and Standing Council Committee Meeting Schedule Attachment B: Draft Resolution Establishing the Council Calendar of Meetings, Summer and Winter Recesses, and Schedule of Events for Calendar Year 2025 Attachment C: Holidays and Dates of Significance
APPROVED BY:
Mahealani Ah Yun, City Clerk