TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Liza Tamura, City Clerk
Michael Codron, Interim Community Development Director
Miguel Guardado, Information Technology Director
Martha Alvarez, Assistant City Clerk
Adam Finestone, Planning Manager
Erik Zandvliet, Traffic Engineer
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Memorializing Action Minutes for City Council, Planning Commission, and Parking and Public Improvements Commission, and Designating Meeting Videos and Closed Captioning as Permanent Records (Budgeted) (City Clerk Tamura, Interim Community Development Director Codron, and Information Technology Director Guardado).
APPROVE
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
a) Reaffirm and memorialize action minutes as the official record for City Council meetings, ensuring consistency in documentation practices;
b) Establish action minutes as the official record for Planning Commission and Parking and Public Improvements Commission meetings, aligning with City Council standards; and
c) Designate meeting videos and closed captions as permanent records for City Council, Planning Commission, and Parking and Public Improvements Commission meetings, enhancing transparency, accessibility, and modern documentation practices.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Funds in the amount of $91,606 are currently included within the Information Technology Department budget for the City Council and Planning Commission meetings captioning and video streaming services, part of the Granicus civic engagement services agreement expiring on December 31, 2026. Furthermore, $90,000 is budgeted in the Information Technology budget for the broadcast or audio-video professional services for the meetings of the City Council, Planning Commission, Parking and Public Improvements Commission (PPIC), Parks and Recreation Commission, Cultural Arts Commission, and Library Commission. Given that the audio-video services are already provided by Pegasus, the City’s broadcast professional services vendor, there will be no additional cost to activate the live streaming for the PPIC meetings. Funds totaling $20,000 have been budgeted in the Information Technology budget for Fiscal Year 2026 for the addition of the closed captioning services for the Parking and Public Improvements Commission meetings. Future years will be budgeted accordingly.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Manhattan Beach has undertaken significant efforts to modernize meeting management and improve open government initiatives. Over the years, the City Council has evaluated various approaches to enhance documentation practices and improve accessibility and transparency of the public meetings to ensure inclusivity and public trust. As a liaison between the public and City officials, the City Clerk assures transparent and open government, facilitates elections and legislative actions, and provides access to public records. Furthermore, City Clerk provides support for meetings, records, and other associated administrative tasks.
Government Code Sections 36814 and 40801 require that the City Clerk maintain an accurate record of City Council and associated board and commission meetings. However, the Government Code does not specify a required format for record keeping, leaving this decision to the City Council. The primary purpose of meeting minutes is to memorialize the legislative body’s decisions rather than provide a comprehensive transcript of discussions.
There are three primary formats for meeting minutes:
1. Action minutes - Record only the actions taken, including the maker and second of motions and the vote on each motion. Presentations and discussions are not included.
2. Summary minutes - Include action minutes plus a summary of key points discussed and individual comments.
3. Verbatim minutes - Provide a word-for-word transcript of the proceedings.
City of Manhattan Beach’ Transition to Action Minutes:
In 2013, the City Council adopted a Meeting Management Resolution to streamline governance procedures and improve accessibility for residents. Following that, in April 2014, the City Council conducted a six-month trial period to assess alternative minute-taking formats, ultimately approving a transition to action minutes with meeting video recording incorporated by reference as the official record. This approach aims to simplify minute-taking while maintaining full transparency.
DISCUSSION:
For several years, the Manhattan Beach City Council has utilized action minutes as the official record of its meetings, ensuring efficiency while maintaining transparency. Currently, the Planning Commission and Parking and Public Improvements Commission use summary-style minutes, which vary in length and detail. To ensure consistency across all legislative bodies (City Council, Planning Commission, Parking and Public Improvements Commission), staff recommends transitioning the Planning Commission and PPIC to action minutes, aligning their documentation practices with the City Council.
Transitioning to action minutes will streamline the documentation process, allowing staff to focus on timely record availability while ensuring clarity in decision-making. Other benefits of action minutes include:
• Improved efficiency - Reduces staff workload and accelerates the availability of official records.
• Brevity and clarity - Provides a concise record for audits and judicial review.
• Elimination of interpretation - Removes ambiguity by omitting discussions not relevant to final decisions.
• Emphasis on collective decision-making - Ensures that official records focus on actions taken rather than individual comments.
In today’s digital age, technology is no longer a novelty but part of daily life. As technology evolves, it creates more efficient and user-friendly ways to provide access to information or for citizen participation in democratic processes. To that end, the City of Manhattan Beach takes advantage of the advancements in technology, expanding the accessibility and transparency of the public meetings. The City broadcasts the City Council and Planning Commission meetings, posts on the City website meeting documentation and recordings, and utilizes an online platform for public comments submissions (City Council only).
Furthermore, the meeting video archive (recordings) and closed captioning transcripts provide a more accurate representation of discussions than any summary minute format can provide. Retaining meeting videos and closed captioning transcripts and posting them on the City website as permanent records follow best practices and further enhance accessibility and transparency. Given that the City Council and Planning Commission currently archive all meeting videos and make closed captioning transcripts available, staff recommends extending this practice to PPIC and formally designating meeting videos and closed captioning transcripts as permanent records for this commission as well. This approach furthers the transparency efforts, ensures accessibility for individuals with disabilities, and aligns with best practices in local governance and democracy.
The incorporation of action minutes, permanent video archives, and closed captioning transcripts for Public and Parking Improvements Commission applies the same standards and ensures consistency with City Council and Planning Commission meetings. The broadcast addition for PPIC meeting will be at no additional cost since the broadcast professional services vendor already provides audio-video services for this commission meetings. However, there will be a cost to add closed captions for PPIC meetings, but the funding is included in the Information Technology budget for Fiscal Year 2026.
By formally adopting these documentation practices, Manhattan Beach strengthens its commitment to efficient governance, ensures that official records remain clear, accessible, and aligns with modern best practices. Staff recommends that the City Council approve by minute action the formal approval of action minutes, permanent video recordings, and permanent closed captioning transcripts for the City Council meetings, Planning Commission meetings, and PPIC meetings. If the City Council approves this action, staff will come back to the City Council with an amendment adding the closed captioning services for PPIC meetings to the current Granicus agreement for citizen engagement services.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines, the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.