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CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 6 Section Name: {{section.name}} Account Number: 10-1111 File ID: {{item.tracking_number}} TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: City Clerk's Office
MEETING DATE: July 28, 2025
SUBJECT:
City Council Rules and Procedures – Updates
RECOMMENDATION:
Review and provide direction on proposed changes for consideration to the City Council's Rules and Procedures.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council originally adopted what is today known as “rules and procedures” to provide the Council, staff, and the public with direction on how it conducts its business in August 2015. The rules and procedures were compiled from several stand-alone resolutions that the Council had historically relied on. This document has been amended nine times since its original adoption. This is due to several factors including law changes, process changes, experience with the rules and the realization of unintended consequences, trends in local governance practices, and in response to public concern raised on local issues.
Most recently, on June 16, 2025, the City Council adopted amendments to the Rules and Procedures for City Council and Boards and Commissions to provide a process through which conduct violations may be enforced. This revision also further detailed the importance of adherence to all federal, state, and local laws in the performance of their public duties, and the need to pay close attention to the meeting, while limiting use of electronic devices while on the dais, except as necessary to access agenda materials or respond to urgent personal matters.
Separate and apart from this recent revision, staff has documented several areas within the rules and procedures that would benefit from further refinement, clarification, or additional Council direction. These areas reflect emerging governance practices, feedback received from elected officials and the public, and staff’s experience administering the existing framework.
Distribution of Council Duties and Events – Chapter 3:
Staff recommends clarifying that when Council receives invites for events where Brown Act considerations limit a majority of Council attendance, priority attendance in these cases be given to the Mayor (or Deputy Mayor in the absence of the Mayor); and the Council liaison most closely associated with the relevant board, commission, or policy area. This language is not intended to limit individual Council Members ability to attend such events, but to provide a framework for staff to ensure equitable participation.
Public Participation – Chapter 7:
Presentation Materials:
Staff is seeking Council direction on establishing clear and consistent procedures for the use of presentation materials— including videos—during public comment at Council meetings. Although such materials are optional, and there is no legal requirement for staff to accommodate these request, their use has become more frequent, and staff has lacked
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standardized protocols to ensure they are appropriately submitted, reviewed and prepared for display.
Without sufficient lead time, presentation materials may not function correctly during meetings. Video content, in particular, often requires additional review for relevance to City business or the agenda item, in addition to technical review for compatibility with City. The absence of standardized protocols has also created uncertainty around whether videos that exceed the allotted speaking time may be shown in full.
To address these issues, staff recommends that Council adopt a standardized policy that includes submission deadlines, allowing for the appropriate time to review content. The policy should apply equally to both individual speakers and organized groups, with the important clarification that all presentations—regardless of format—must remain within the designated speaking time.
Organized Presentations:
Staff is also seeking Council direction on clarifying the expectations for organized group presentations during public comment. As defined, an organized group presentation allows up to five minutes for a collective presentation, with as many speakers as can participate within that time limit.
Staff has received requests for organized group presentations that list multiple individuals as part of the group, even though some or all of those individuals are not present during the meeting. This practice appears inconsistent with the intent of the organized group process, which is designed to allow a coordinated, in-person presentation from multiple members of a group who are actively participating in the discussion.
To preserve the equal application and fairness of this process, staff recommends that Council consider requiring that all individuals identified as part of an organized group presentation be present at the meeting at the time of the request for organized presentation is submitted. This clarification would help ensure that group presentations remain transparent, meaningful, and consistent with the spirit of public participation.
Implementation:
Given that, if adopted, these revisions will impact how members of the public engage with the City Council during meetings, such changes will be communicated during the meeting, publicly posted in person at meeting spaces, on the City’s website and communicated through the agenda notification system to ensure transparency and broad awareness.
Meeting Agendas – (Chapter 8)
Under the current rules and procedures, the agenda follows a set order for discussion items: Public Hearings are listed first, followed by Old Business and then New Business. However, in practice, staff has encountered situations where items under Old or New Business are expected to generate greater public interest than scheduled Public Hearings. In such cases, at the request of staff, Council has adjusted the order of items during the meeting to better accommodate the audience.
The proposed revision would allow the City Manager to modify the order of discussion Items prior to publishing the agenda, based on anticipated public interest or other practical considerations. This change would streamline meeting logistics while preserving the City Council’s authority to make further adjustments during the meeting, if needed.
Cost Control (Chapter 9):
The City Council’s Rules and Procedures currently include a list of authorized expenses that Council Members may incur when participating in events, educational seminars, and other programs related to their official duties. Any expenses not included on this list require prior approval by the full City Council.
The City Clerk’s Office oversees the City Council’s budget, including coordination of registration, travel, and lodging arrangements. Over time, inconsistencies in how the budget has been used among Council Members have occasionally led to challenges in ensuring equal access to participate in events, particularly when the overall budget has been exhausted.
To address this, staff recommends incorporating language that clearly establishes equal individual allocations for each Council Member within the overall Council adopted budget. This approach—modeled after best practices from peer
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agencies such as the City of Mountain View—will help ensure fair and consistent access to professional development opportunities. The proposed revisions also include cost control guidelines and a tracking mechanism to monitor individual expenditures. The allocated budget amounts would be reflected as part of the annual budget approval process.
Council Legislative Committee – Chapter 11
Following the Legislative Briefing received on May 19th, staff is proposing language to establish a process for the development and ongoing review of a legislative platform, which is forthcoming, whereby the Legislative Committee performs in an advisory capacity and requires Council approval for adoption and amendments. Once established, the legislative platform would allow opportunities for greater responsiveness for staff to correspond in exceptional circumstances to urgent legislative deadlines or areas of significant negative impact to the City. Staff is proposing some additional amendments to this chapter to narrow the scope of who can bring items before the Legislative Committee to by Council Members or the City Manager. This chapter will also specify that while nothing in this chapter shall inhibit an individual Councilmember from adopting their own position on legislation.
Board and Commission Appointment Process – Chapter 13
Several years ago, the City established an appointment sub-committee comprised of the Mayor and the Council liaison to the commission to be the interviewing body and to make the recommendation to the Council for any openings on the City’s Boards and Commissions. Any Council Member could join any appointment sub-committee by requesting to do so during the est. The staff liaison was also designated to be an advisor to the appointment sub-committee. The intent behind establishing appointment sub-committees was to address long term vacancies that were occurring on commissions and allow for a more efficient and timely process for filling those vacancies. Prior to this process, the full council would conduct all interviews.
An amendment to the rules and procedures was added in 2024 to clarify that the default for all currently serving commissioners who are interested in continuing to serve must reapply and reinterview for an additional term. In the past, Commissioners who expressed an interest in continued service were presented to the Council for reappointment as part of a consent calendar. The 2024 amendment included language to allow the Council to determine circumstances where automatic reappointment is necessary due to outstanding performance or other factors. Staff wishes to use this study session to clarify existing rules and procedures language, towards the goal of efficient and timely filling of vacancies and allowing Council to determine vacancies that require additional focus and resources.
Next Steps
Following the staff presentation and public comment period, the City Council is requested to provide direction on the City Council rules and procedures, and identify appropriate next steps, including but not limited to:
1. Confirming that staff has received sufficient direction to return the proposed amendments, as outlined in Attachment 1, for approval on the consent calendar at a future meeting; or
2. Directing staff to conduct additional research on topics discussed during the study session, or on related matters outside the current scope of this report, for consideration at a later date.
BUDGET IMPACT:
There is no budget impact from this administrative action.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This administrative action is not a project subject to CEQA, because it is an organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. (CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5).)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 - City Council Guidelines with Track Changes
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STAFF CONTACT
Martin McTaggart, City Clerk
[email protected]
(650) 522-7042