TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Councilmember David Cohen
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: January 23, 2023
Approved Date: 01/23/2023
SUBJECT: Interim Appointments to Council District 8 and District 10
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the revised supplemental memorandum from the City Clerk (dated January 23) with the following clarifications and revisions:
1) Each applicant will be interviewed by council in the random alphabet order laid out by the City Clerk in the Memorandum of January 13.
2) Each applicant will provide an opening statement of up to three (3) minutes. 3) After the opening statement, each Councilmember and the Mayor will have the opportunity to ask the applicant one question. Each applicant will be asked the same questions by the same Councilmembers. Each question will be completed within three (3) minutes, including the question and answer.
4) After all applicants have made their statements and answered each question, the Mayor will open public comment.
5) After public comment, each councilmember will have the opportunity ask a single follow-up question that may arise based on the initial round of questioning and the public comment. Each follow-up question and answer will be completed within two (2) minutes. 6) Appoint an applicant for each district to a term to begin January 30, 2023.
BACKGROUND
I appreciate the thought that our City Clerk has put into developing a process to ensure that we have a rigorous appointment process to follow this week.
I believe it is important to have a process laid out in advance of the meeting to allow for proper preparation and avoid unnecessary process discussion. In order for the process to be fair and uniform, every candidate should be asked the same initial set of questions. The time limits also allow us to have a succinct and timely interview process for each candidate. No councilmember should be required to ask a question, but if they do, they must ask it of each candidate.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 01/23/23
FILE#:
ITEM:
23-047
1 HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
January 24, 2023
Subject: Special Meeting on Filling Vacancies in Council Districts.
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Because there might be some clarification needed on issues that arise during questioning or during public comment, Councilmembers should be given the opportunity to ask for clarification after public comment. I expect that not every Councilmember will participate in a second round of questioning or that every candidate will receive the same questions in the second round. Some candidates may receive no follow-up questions at all.
As previously agreed by council in December, the candidates appointed will serve a term that ends when a candidate has been duly elected in the next regularly scheduled election and the results of the election have been officially certified.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.