November 3, 2025 www.PaloAlto.gov
2026 City Council Calendar
& Days of Significance
Christine Prior, Assistant City Clerk
Chantal Cotton Gaines, Deputy City Manager
Kojo Pierce, Wellness and Belonging Program Manager
• Seek Council input on
o List of dates to avoid scheduling City Council meetings o Preference on special meetings on 3rd Wednesdays or 4th Mondays o Preference on Annual Retreat/Priority Setting Meeting on January 24 or January 31.
• Resolution will be brought back on Council Consent Agenda for final adoption
STUDY SESSION PURPOSE
1 • Purpose of calendar setting process
o Craft a City Council meeting schedule that considers observances that could prevent public participation at Council meetings
o Provide opportunity for consistent and iterative annual review and discussion o Engage with residents on dates of significance and expand awareness • Second iteration of a process that began last year to implement Equity Action Plan Item 1.3: Create a process that includes the HRC for annual calendar setting related to holidays and heritage months
• Staff received HRC feedback at October HRC meeting
BACKGROUND
2 • Dates to avoid scheduling City Council meetings fall into two categories:
1. Days on which City offices are closed in observance of holidays
2. Certain religious or cultural dates of significance that could fall on a Monday and whose main celebrations begin in the evening, which would prevent observants from participating in Council meetings • Council regular meetings that would conflict with these dates are rescheduled, either to the 3
rd Wednesday (Option 1) or 4th Monday (Option 2)
DATES TO AVOID SCHEDULING CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
3 DATES TO AVOID SCHEDULING CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
o New Year’s Day
o Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
o Lunar New Year
o Presidents’ Day
o Eid al-Fitr
o Passover
o Memorial Day
o Eid al-Adha
o Juneteenth
o Fourth of July
o Labor Day
o Rosh Hashanah
o Yom Kippur
o Indigenous Peoples’ Day
o Veterans Day
o Thanksgiving
o Day after Thanksgiving
o Christmas
• Staff recommends the same list as last year for dates to avoid scheduling City Council meetings
• Dates in bold occur on Mondays in 2026
4 Listed in Attachment B
• Iterative Process
• Commitment to Wellness & Inclusion
• Visibility of dates of significance
Engage with the Council and the public to
expand awareness and visibility
DATES OF SIGNIFICANCE
5 Christine Prior
Assistant City Clerk
Chantal Cotton Gaines
Deputy City Manager
Kojo Pierce
Wellness and Belonging Program Manager