1 Vernice Hankins
From: Tricia Crane <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2023 11:43 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Gleam Davis; Oscar de la Torre; Lana Negrete; Christine Parra; Phil Brock; Jesse Zwick; Caroline Torosis; David White; Santa Monica City Manager's Office; Douglas Sloan Subject: City Council Agenda Item 11.A.3 - Resolution Amending Council Rules of Order and Procedure
EXTERNAL
To: City Council
From: Tricia Crane
Re: City Council Agenda Item 11.A.3, Sept. 12, 2023
Adoption of Resolution Amending Council Rules of Order and Procedure: Adopt the attached proposed resolution amending the City Council’s Rules of Order and Procedure and repealing Resolution No. 11517 (CCS).
Dear City Council,
I request that City Council add the following to the proposed Resolution Amending City Council’s Rules of Order and Procedures in order to restore a sense of good will between the Council and the community and open government:
1) Restore the practice of allowing Council members to ask clarifying questions of members of the community who speak in public comment and to allow speakers to finish their sentence or request without cutting them off.
2) Restore the log that previously existed on the City website to show the dates and substance of meetings held by City staff with lobbyists.
On the first matter, it is in the interest of good governance that the Council should once again allow yourselves to ask clarifying questions following a comment from a community member. It would restore civility to return to the practice of allowing speakers to complete their last sentence without cutting them off mid‐sentence during public Comment.
While the Council decided to make meetings more efficient by using an electronic timer and banning the asking of clarifying questions, the unintended consequence has been a degradation of the atmosphere of meetings. These changes have created an unfriendly and unwelcoming climate in Council chambers.
Community members want to trust the Council and feel connected to our government. Council meetings should be experiences where people feel valued.
Councilmembers will be required to exercise restraint in order to not add to the length of already long meetings, but there will be great benefit in terms of good will if Council allows brief clarifying questions when additional information is needed or desired.
2 On the second matter, during former City Manager Rick Cole’s redevelopment of the City website changes were made that diminished transparency on the City Clerk’s page. Where it was once possible for community members to access a log of meetings held by City staff with lobbyists, that log is no longer accessible.
The Search tool does not currently serve this purpose on the site.
I understand that the website was updated last year, but easy wayfinding to the log was not apparently a goal of that update.
Please restore access to the log of meetings held by City staff with lobbyists as it is in the interest of transparency and openness.
Sincerely,
Tricia Crane