TO: HONORABLE MAYOR
AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Jennifer A. Maguire
Toni J. Taber
SUBJECT: Amendment to City Council
Policy 9-5, Travel by
Elected and Appointed City
Officials
DATE: December 5, 2025
COUNCIL DISTRICT: Citywide
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution amending the City Council Policy No. 9-5 for Travel by Elected and Appointed City Officials to revise and conform the travel guidelines portion to the Employee Travel Policy, 1.8.2, that can be found in the City Administrative Policy Manual.
SUMMARY AND OUTCOME
Amending the City Council Policy No. 9-5 “Travel by Elected and Appointed City Officials” will align travel guidelines with the Employee Travel Policy, 1.8.2, that can be found in the City Administrative Policy Manual, with the exception of meal reimbursements for the Mayor, Councilmembers, and Commissioners, which will continue to be reimbursed for actual meal expenses incurred during travel.
BACKGROUND
There are two policies that govern travel, City Council Policy No. 9-5, “Travel by Elected and Appointed Officials,” and City Administrative Policy Manual Section 1.8.2, “Employee Travel.” Currently, when the City Manager authorizes revisions to the Employee Travel Policy, for example, modernizing outdated language, the respective changes must also be made separately to the City Council Policy.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 12/16/25
FILE: 25-1305
ITEM: 2.8
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
December 5, 2025
Subject: Amendment to City Council Policy 9-5, Travel by Elected and Appointed City Officials
ANALYSIS
The Employee Travel policy covers General Conditions such as travel time, environmentally preferable travel requirements, and cash advances; In-State, Out-of- State, and International travel; Travel Restrictions; Reimbursable Travel expenses such as ground transportation, airfare, lodging, meals, phone calls, and parking; and Non- Reimbursable expenses such as alcoholic beverages and personal expenses.
Pursuant to the Employee Travel Policy, travelers are reimbursed for meals on a per diem basis, which is standard practice for government travel expenses. The per diem rates are set by the federal government and tailored to specific locations throughout the world. However, the Mayor, Councilmembers, and Commissioners are required under state law to still submit receipts in order to receive meal reimbursement. California Government Code Section 53232.3(c) provides that “Members of a legislative body shall submit expense reports within a reasonable time after incurring the expense, as determined by the legislative body, and the reports shall be accompanied by the receipts documenting each expense.”
For ease of administration and future updates, it is recommended that the City Council Travel Policy be amended to refer to the City Administrative Manual Section 1.8.2, Employee Travel Policy, for all travel guidelines (see Attachment). The exception to the travel guidelines for the Mayor, Councilmembers, and Commissioners would be meal reimbursements, which will continue to be reimbursed for actual meal expenses incurred during travel.
At the request of the Mayor’s Office, it is recommended that City Council Policy be further amended to remove the language authorizing the Mayor to book a one-bedroom suite, as it is no longer deemed necessary by the Mayor’s Office and has not been used in recent years.
EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
No additional follow-up actions with the City Council are expected at this time.
COORDINATION
This memorandum has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office and the Mayor’s Office.
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
December 5, 2025
Subject: Amendment to City Council Policy 9-5, Travel by Elected and Appointed City Officials
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This memorandum will be posted on the City’s Council Agenda website for the December 16, 2025 City Council meeting.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION AND INPUT
No commission recommendation or input is associated with this action.
CEQA
Not a Project, File No. PP17-008, General Procedure and Policy Making resulting in no changes to the physical environment.
PUBLIC SUBSIDY REPORTING
This item does not include a public subsidy as defined in section 53083 or 53083.1 of the California Government Code or the City’s Open Government Resolution.
Jennifer A. Maguire Toni J. Taber
City Manager City Clerk
For questions, please contact Sarah Steele, Senior Executive Analyst, City Manager’s Office of Employee Relations, at [email protected].
Attachment
Revised City Council Policy 9-5