TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
David N. Carmany, City Manager
FROM:
Quinn Barrow, City Attorney
SUBJECT:Title
Meeting Management - Consent Calendar
DISCUSS AND CONSIDER ADOPTING A RESOLUTION OUTLINING THE SCOPE OF THE CITY COUNCIL'S CONSENT CALENDAR
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution 13-0065, "A Resolution of the Manhattan Beach City Council Outlining the Scope of the Consent Calendar for City Council Meetings."
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
BACKGROUND:
Periodically, and most recently on May 21, 2013 and August 13, 2013, the City Council reviewed its rules of order for the conduct of City Council meetings to facilitate effective meeting management. The Council's consideration of the rules of order is intended to foster an environment in which more members of the public may participate in Council meetings at a reasonable hour.
There was considerable discussion of the Consent Calendar at the August 13, 2013 City Council meeting. A draft excerpt of that discussion is attached as Attachment 2. After discussion and public input, the following motions were approved:
A motion was made by Councilmember Burton, seconded by Councilmember Powell, and carried (5 - 0) to direct the City Attorney to prepare a report to present with a draft resolution making recommendations regarding appropriate items to place on the Consent Calendar and include, as attachments, samples of consent calendar items from other cities.
A motion was made by Mayor Pro Tem Howorth, seconded by Councilmember Burton, and carried (5 - 0) to start including first and second readings of ordinances on the consent calendar, when appropriate.
A motion was made by Councilmember Burton and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Howorth to allow the public to pull items from the Consent Calendar prior to City Council doing so, by coming to the podium to make that request. Discussion followed regarding a member of the public who felt strongly that City Council should pull items prior to the public. The motion carried (5 - 0).
Pursuant to City Council direction, the City Attorney performed further research regarding the nature of items placed on consent calendars in other cities. In light of the Council's interest in consent calendar items and our anticipation of extensive discussion on this subject, we have prepared this staff report separately from the general meeting management item to ensure that both items receive sufficient attention.
DISCUSSION:
Issues for Discussion
1. The type of matters that should be placed on the Consent Calendar;
2. The removal of Consent Calendar items by the public; and
3. Whether the Consent Calendar should be moved to a different place on the agenda.
1. Type of Matters on the Consent Calendar
A. Current Practice of Manhattan Beach
In general, items that are considered to be routine and customary are placed on the Consent Calendar. Manhattan Beach City Council Resolution 12-6411 provides:
"Those items on the City Council agenda which are considered routine by the City Manager shall appear on a separate section on the agenda and shall include, but not be limited to, the following items:
1. Approval of Minutes
2. Approval of Minute Actions
3. Acceptance of Grant Deeds/Grants of Easement
4. Notices of Completion for Projects
5. City Treasurer's Report
6. Approval of Plans and Specifications and Call for Bids
7. Bid Awards
8. Approval of Records Destruction
9. Approval of Leases and Agreements
10. Approval of Annexations
11. Receive and File or Refer Correspondence
12. Approval or Receive and File Commission or Board Resolutions or Actions
13. Appointments/Resignations/Personnel Actions
14. Claims against the City
15. Resolutions of Intent or Calling of Hearings
16. Approval of Demands."
Historically, in addition to the 16 items listed immediately above, the Consent Calendar for Manhattan Beach has included resolutions, ordinances, purchase orders, progress payments and other items not specifically listed in the above list. In that Resolution 12-6411's operative language-"include, but not be limited to"-is illustrative not exclusive, it is proper to include such items. As shown in the following section and in the attachments, other cities include such items as well.
We recommend that some of the items listed above (e.g., approval of annexations, personnel actions) be deleted from the list. In addition, as noted on August 13, 2013, a number of items that have been included in the Consent Calendar do not require City Council approval. According to Manhattan Beach staff, items such as progress payments, minutes of other boards, contracts for amounts under $20,000 were included on the Consent Calendar to keep the public and the Council informed. We recommend that a better practice in keeping the public and Council informed is for the City Manager to include such items in the City Manager's Weekly Report. Further, the City Manager should inform the public of the status of such items as part of the City Manager's Report on the City Council agenda.
B. Consent Calendars in Other Cities
As can be seen in the attached sample consent calendar agendas, other cities also include the following items on their consent calendars:
(a) Adoption of Ordinances
(b) Adoption of Resolutions
(c) Approval of Purchase Orders
(d) Acceptance of Donations
(e) Designation of Voting Delegates, Commission/Board Appointments, and Alternates
(f) Adoption of Policies
(g) Approval of Funding Agreements or Funding/Sponsorship Requests
(h) Appropriations of Funds
(i) Approval of Change Orders
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution that allows the following items, which can be considered routine and customary, to be placed on the consent calendar. Councilmember Powell requested that the list be illustrative, not exclusive, and we have prepared the draft resolution accordingly.
- Approval of Minutes/Minute Actions
- Adoption of Ordinances/Resolutions/Policies/Regulations
- Approval of Agreements, Leases, and Purchase Orders
- Acceptance of Grant Deeds/Grants of Easement/Donations
- Approval of Funding/Sponsorship Requests
- Approval of Plans/Specifications, Calls for Bids, and Bid Awards
- Approval of Change Orders and Notices of Completion
- Receipt/Approval of City Treasurer's Report
- Appropriation of Funds for Budgeted Items
- Receipt and Filing or Reference of Correspondence
- Designation of Voting Delegates, Commission/Board Appointments, and Alternates
- Resolutions of Intent or Calling of Hearings
- Actions related to Claims against the City
- Approval of Demands
- Other Routine Matters
Please note that pursuant to State law and/or the nature of the ordinance, resolution, or agreement, certain of those items should not be placed on the consent calendar. The adoption of the attached resolution will not authorize Staff to place any such non-routine items on the consent calendar.
2. Items Removed from the Consent Calendar
Under the City's current practice, items may be removed from the Consent Calendar for individual consideration by staff, Councilmembers, or members of the public. Items that are removed ("pulled") for discussion will typically be heard after General Business items are discussed, unless the majority of the City Council chooses an earlier or later time. Any member of the audience may comment on an item pulled from the Consent Calendar. The Council consensus on August 13, 2013 was to continue the practice of allowing the public to pull items without the need for Council consent.
There was discussion on the sequence of who should be invited to pull items of the consent calendar first: councilmembers or the public. A motion was made by Councilmember Burton and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Howorth to allow the public to pull items from the Consent Calendar prior to City Council doing so, by coming to the podium to make that request. Discussion followed regarding a member of the public who felt strongly that Council should pull items prior to the public. The motion carried (5 - 0).
3. Placement of Consent Calendar on Agenda
The Consent Calendar is currently included on the agenda after Audience Participation and before Public Hearings and General Business. The City Council has discussed moving the Consent Calendar to another location on the agenda in the past. The Council may wish to revisit that issue.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the draft resolution.
Attachments:
1. Samples of Other Cities' Consent Calendars (Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach)
2. Draft Excerpt of August 13, 2013 City Council meeting discussion regarding consent calendar
3. Draft Resolution No. 13-0065