Chapter 5 – Membership
Appointments and OathsAuthority
The City Council is the appointing body authority for all Council-Appointed Bodies. All appointments require an affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council present unless otherwise specified. All members serve at the pleasure of the City Council for designated terms. All appointments may be made at a regularly scheduled or special City Council meeting and require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Council present unless the appointment is otherwise described. Before taking office, all membersAppointees must complete an Oath of Office administered by the City Clerk prior to assuming duties1. as required by the City Charter. All oaths are administered by the City Clerk or designee.
Appointments made during the middle of the term are for the unexpired portion of that term.
Application and Selection Process
The application recruitment process begins when a vacancy occurs due to term expiration, resignation, removal, or death of a member of a Council-Appointed Body.
Application Period
The standard application period iswill normally run for four three weeks from the date the vacancy occurs.
If there is more than one concurrent vacancymultiple vacancies exist or additional outreach is needed, the City Clerk may extend the application period may be extended.
If no applications are received by the deadline, the application period will remain open until sufficient applications are received.
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and remain on file in the City Clerk’s Office for a period of two years or once appointed, whichever occurs first.
Application Requirements
Any candidate that wisheswishing to be considered for appointment must fill outcomplete an official application.
Applications are available from the City Clerk’s Office as well as the City’s website. Applications are keptremain on file for two years for future consideration. Incumbents seeking reappointment must submit a new application by the deadline (no limit on number of terms members may serve).
The City Clerk shall will notify members whose terms are about to expireexpiring and whether or not they are eligibleconfirm eligibility for reappointment. If reappointment is sought, the incumbent must submit a new application to be considered.
Interview Requirement
1 City Charter Section 17 Appointive Officers: Requires all appointive officers to take an oath of office before entering upon the duties of their office.
Formatted: Normal, No bullets or numbering
Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
9.3 General Business 3 of 7
After the application deadline for receipt of applications, the City Clerk shall will compile all applications and schedule for the applications to be reviewedinterviews at the next available regular Council meeting or schedule a special meeting. All applications received will be submitted and made a part ofincluded in the Council agenda packet for their review and consideration. If there are no applications received by the deadline, the City Clerk will extend the application period for an indefinite period of time until sufficient applications are received. All applicants must be present at the interview to be considered for appointment.
The interview allows Council to ask questions and applicants to provide any additional information not provided on their application. Following interviews, councilmembers must notify the City Clerk of their recommended candidate(s) prior to the next regular meeting to add to the agenda for appointment.
Recommended appointments may be placed on the Consent Calendar for approval at the next available regular meeting. Candidates are not required to attend the appointment meeting.
Notification and Onboarding
Following an appointmentAfter Council action, the City Clerk shall will notify successful and unsuccessful applicants in writing.
Appointees will receive copies of the City’s Non-Discrimination and Sexual Harassment policies, the Brown Act2, and other relevant orientation materials.
Attendance
The provisions listed below shall apply to all Council-Appointed Bodies.
Any member of any a Council-Appointed Body who is absent from either (1) three consecutive regular meetings; or (2) fifty percent or more of all meetings within any consecutive 12-month period of time shall automatically be removed from the CouncilAppointed Body unless the City Council shall finds and determines that there was good cause to excuse the absences.
Good cause shall include but not be limited to illness, injury, hospitalization, other medical emergencies or temporary requirements and obligations of employment or family matters.
City Council may consider removal of a member on its own volition, with or without the consensus from the Council-Appointed Body.
While it is expected that members be present at all meetings, the support staff or Chair should be notified if a member knows in advance that they will be absent. 2 SB 707 requires City to provide a copy of the Brown Act to all appointed board, commission, and committee members.
Formatted: Space After: 0 pt
Formatted: List Paragraph
9.3 General Business 4 of 7
Compensation
Members shall serve without compensation for their services unless specifically provided for in the City Charter.
Qualifications
Unless stated otherwise in the Council-Appointed Body’s bylaws, by statute, or provided for by the Council, the City Charter, or Municipal Code, all members shall maintain their principal place of residence either within the sphere of influence of the City of Tulare or within the city limits (see table below for specific requirements) at the time of their appointment and throughout the term of service.
Body Residency Requirement
Aviation Committee Sphere of Influence
Board of Public Utilities City Limits
Committee on Aging City Limits
Measure I Citizen Oversight Committee City Limits
Library Board City Limits
Parks and Recreation Commission Sphere of Influence
Planning Commission Sphere of Influence
Police Department Citizen Complaint Review Board City Limits A majority of the membership for the Planning Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission must have their primary place of residence within the city limits, limiting the number of members who reside outside the city limits but within the sphere of influence.
If at any time during their term any member shall cease to maintain their principal place of residence in the City of Tulare, that member shall become ineligible to continue to serve as a member of the board, commission, or committee and said position shall be declared vacant by the City Council.
Current members of any other Council-Appointed Body are disqualified for membership if there is a direct conflict between the bodies. Members shall be permitted to retain membership while seeking any elective office; however, members shall not use the meetings, functions, or activities of such bodies for purposes of campaigning for elective office. No Council-Appointed Body member shall hold any paid position for the City of Tulare unless stated otherwise in their bylaws.
Members must be at least 18 years of age at the time of appointment unless otherwise specified.
Reappointments, Resignations, and Removals
Incumbents seeking reappointment are required to submit a new application by the given deadline. There is no limit to the number of terms a member may serve. Resignations must be submitted in writing to the City Clerk who will distribute copies to City Council and appropriate staff. The City Council may remove a member by a majority vote of the Council without cause, notice, or hearing.
9.3 General Business 5 of 7
Term of Office
Standard Term: With the exception of the Police Department Citizen Complaint Review Board where members serve two-year terms and the Library Board where members serve three-year terms, the term of office for mMembers of most CouncilAppointed Bodies is serve four- years terms. Exceptions:
o Police Department Citizen Complaint Review Board: Two-year terms o Library Board: Three-year terms
Term Expiration Dates:
o All bodies except the Library Board: The term of office for all members other than the Library Board expires on December 31
o where Library Board: terms expire on June 30.
Partial Terms:
o If a person is appointed to fill an unexpired term and serves less than two years, that time will not be considereddoes not count as a full term.; however,
o iIf a person is appointed to fill an unexpired term and serves two years or more, that time will be considereddoes count as a full term. Staggered Terms: Terms are staggered, so that not all terms expire in any onethe same year.
Vacancy Replacement: If a member resigns before the end of their term ends, a the replacement serves out the remainder of that term only.
Vacancies, New Terms, and the Maddy Act
Unscheduled vVacancies: are createdOccur due to resignations, removals, or death. Whenever an unscheduled vacancy occurs in any Council-Appointed Body, the City Clerk will post a special vacancy notice is posted in the City Clerk’s Office, City Hall kiosk, Tulare Public Library, and City website no earlier than 20 days before and no later than 20 days after the vacancy occurs. Appointment shall notcannot be made for at least ten working days after posting of the noticethe notice is posted pursuant to Government Code 549743.
Scheduled Vacancies (Expiring Terms): Seats on Council-Appointed Bodies will also become available at the end of each term. On or beforeBy December 31 of each year, the City Clerk prepares an appointment list of all regular advisory boards, commissions, and committees of the City Council whosewith terms will be expiring in the succeeding following year. shall be prepared by the City Clerk and This list is posted on the City’s website as well asand made available to the public upon request4. (Government Code 54972, Maddy Act).
Purpose of the Maddy Act: The Maddy Act (Legislature established 54970 et seq. of the Government Code Sections 54970-54974), also known as The Maddy Act, for the purpose of increasing public awareness of appointments to be made by any local government, to improve interest in serving, transparency in the process, and provide the local appointive powers access to applicants otherwise 3 California Government Code Section 54974
4 California Government Code Section 54972 (Maddy Act)
Formatted: Underline
Formatted: No underline
Formatted: No underline
Formatted: Underline
Formatted: Underline
Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
Formatted: No underline
Formatted: Underline
Formatted: List Paragraph, Bulleted + Level: 1 +
Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5"
Formatted: Underline
Formatted: Underline
9.3 General Business 6 of 7
untapped.ensures transparency and public awareness of upcoming appointments, encourages community participation, and broadens access to applicants.
9.3 General Business 7 of 7
COUNCIL ITEM REQUEST FORM
The Council Item Request Form is for members of the City Council to submit written requests to the City Clerk’s Office for inclusion of an item on a future City Council meeting agenda. At the meeting where the initial written request is heard, discussion shall be limited to whether the item should be added to an agenda and a date, not the merit of the item. A majority vote of the City Council is required for the item to be added to a future Council meeting agenda for action. No more than 10 items may be submitted collectively for consideration by all councilmembers at any regular meeting of the Council, and in that regard, no individual councilmember may submit more than three items for consideration at any regular meeting of the Council. In the event more than 10 items are submitted collectively, no more than two items shall be accepted for consideration from any one councilmember.
NAME OF REQUESTING COUNCILMEMBER TODAY’S DATE AGENDA DATE
ITEM TITLE
BRIEF DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF ITEM
Item #: 10.1
Future Agenda Item
Stephen C. Harrell 6/6/2026 6/16/2026
Place the official motto of The United States of America, "In God We Trust," on the wall directly behind the Mayor's seat.
Given that we are approaching the 250th year as a nation now would be the time for us as a council to display those four words "In God We Trust" in the people's chamber. Numerous local governments in the valley like Clovis, Fresno, Porterville, Delano as well as many others have utilized the federal designation to justify displaying the motto in City Council chambers.
In 2011 Congress reaffirmed this status via H,Con.Res.13, which specifically "supports and encourages the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the motto is "ceremonial and patriotic" and not a government-sponsored religious exercise, adhering to the principle that it has "nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of religion." The Pilgrims in 1620, the war of 1812, the civil war all relied on "Divine Providence to sustain them. "In God We Trust",is a reflection of America's heritage and symbol of unity as a "declaration of faith and national identity," aimed at promoting unity and encouraging residents.