City of Santa Clara
Policy and Procedure Manual
CITIZEN COMPLAINTS ADDRESSED TO CITY COUNCIL
Rev. April 1992 P&P 007 Page 1 of 2
POLICY The Mayor/Council Offices may receive complaints from citizens either over the phone, in person, or in writing.
When a complaint is received over the phone or in person, the Executive Assistant to the Mayor and City Council will attempt to direct the caller to the appropriate City department for reso lution of the complaint. If the caller has tried unsuccessfully to resolv e the matter with the appropriate department or does not wish to deal with the department directly, the Executive Assistant will ty pe the complaint information in memo form and refer the memo to the City Manager fo r investigation and response to the citizen. If the citizen has requeste d that Council be informed of the complaint, copies of the memo will be distributed to Council members.
Written complaints are forwarded to the City Manager for follow-up, and copies of the complaint are given to the Council members.
If a Council member receives a citizen complaint directly, in person or by a phone call, the Council member should relay the information to the City Manager for follow-up. The City Manager will investigate the complaint and respond to the citizen on the Council member’s behalf or will draft a letter for the Council member’s signature, if that is preferred. All complainant information is kept confidential.
PROCEDURE 1. When the City Manager receives a memo from the Executive Assistant regarding a citizen complaint, or receives a written complaint to Council from the Executive Assistant, the City Manager will assign the complaint to the appropriate Department Head or to the City Manager’s staff, requesting a report for the City Manager’s review and follow-up.
2. At the same time, the City Manager will send a letter to the citizen, explaining that the citizen’s conc ern has been referred to the City Manager and that the Ci ty Manager will investigate the concern and respond back to the citizen.
3. After investigation of the complaint, a response letter will be sent to the citizen by the City Manager. A resp onse will be remitted within two weeks time, if possible, or a follow- up letter will be sent to the citizen explaining the delay.
City of Santa Clara
Policy and Procedure Manual
CITIZEN COMPLAINTS ADDRESSED TO CITY COUNCIL (cont.)
Rev. April 1992 P&P 007 Page 2 of 2
4. Copies of response letters to wri tten complaints, or verbal complaints of which Council was informed, will be distributed to Council.
Reference: City Manager’s Directive No. 12