Agenda Item #14.1
For the Council Meeting of January 24, 2023
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: LON PETERSON, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS OFFICER
SCOTT ALONSO, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AND LEGISLATIVE OFFICER
COMMUNICATIONS AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS
SUBJECT: CITY COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY POLICY
AGENDA ACTION: RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Office that the Council, by resolution, update the Council’s Legislative Advocacy Policy 00-040.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this update to the City Council Legislative Advocacy Policy is to provide new procedures to guide legislative advocacy by City of Santa Rosa staff and the Council on behalf of the City. The updated policy will enable the City to have quick and sustained engagement on legislative and advocacy issues at the local, regional, Sacramento or Washington, D.C. levels. The proposed update aligns with the City’s on-going active advocacy and engagement surrounding funding for legislative priority initiatives and projects, recovery and resiliency efforts and the Council’s policy priorities.
BACKGROUND
The Council last updated its legislative advocacy policy in 2013. With the recent realignment of City resources and the creation of the centralized Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Office, an update to the policy is appropriate to set forth streamlined procedures to address policy matters affecting the City and our residents efficiently. Rather than setting forth legislative priorities in the Policy itself, the City’s legislative advocacy will be guided by the Council’s annual adoption of legislative platforms at the state and federal levels. The Council will review and update the platforms each year or as urgent needs arise.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
On August 9, 2013, the City Council last amended the Council’s Legislative Advocacy Policy by Resolution No. 28262.
On February 2, 2021, the Council approved its first-ever federal legislative platform. On January 25, 2022, the Council approved an updated version of the federal legislative platform for the year.
On January 11, 2022, the Council approved its first-ever state legislative platform.
ANALYSIS
It is in the best interest of the City of Santa Rosa and its residents to involve itself in legislative advocacy at the state, regional and national levels. The Council believes that an active legislative advocacy program will produce better-informed decisions and will protect the City’s interests.
When the policy was last amended and updated, the City had no city-wide advocacy team in Washington, D.C. to advocate and lobby for the City’s interests. Further, the list of policy priorities mentioned in the 2013 policy is now a decade old. The update presented to the Council best aligns the existing framework with how the City operates our advocacy efforts with our lobbying teams in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., and how the Council operates concerning its policy priorities.
The proposed policy also streamlines the City’s approval process to officially take a position on a particular policy matter. The Mayor is expressly authorized to approve a policy position if the Mayor’s proposed action is in line with the Council’s approved legislative platform. Lastly, the policy makes clear that the Council will have both state and federal legislative platforms and will update both on an annual basis.
FISCAL IMPACT
Not applicable.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The Council finds that the proposed action is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Section 15061(b)(3) and 15378 in that there is no possibility that the implementation of this action may have significant effects on the environment, and that no further environmental review is required.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution / Exhibit A –Amended Council Legislative Advocacy Policy 00-040
CONTACT
Lon Peterson, (707)543-4699, [email protected]
Scott Alonso, (707) 543-4624, [email protected]
UPDATING COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY POLICY
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