TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Quinn Barrow, City Attorney
SUBJECT:Title
Revised City Wide Civility Policy to Include Council Meetings (City Attorney Barrow).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 15-0065
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council approve Resolution No. 15-0065 approving the revised Civility Policy.
Body
BACKGROUND:
At the August 18, 2015 City Council meeting, Council adopted a Civility Policy to provide a safe and mutually respectful environment for all members of the public and City employees free from harassment, disruptions and intimidation. In accordance with Council direction, staff has revised the policy to include interactions at public meetings.
DISCUSSION:
A. The City is dedicated to providing a safe and mutually respectful environment for all members of the public and City employees free from harassment, disruptions and intimidation. The goal of this policy is to establish a reasonable, safe, harassment free workplace for City staff and members of the public, while not infringing any person’s right to freedom of expression. The key goals of the initial policy are:
(1) All interactions between City staff and members of the public will be
conducted in a respectful manner.
(2) Threats of violence will not be tolerated.
(3) Loud, demeaning, or offensive communications will not be tolerated.
(4) Any conduct that disrupts government operations will not be tolerated.
The initial policy includes a step by step approach to address uncivil, abusive, threatening, intimidating and harassing behavior.
B. The attached resolution includes the initial civility policy, and enlarges that policy to include interactions at public meetings. In order to safeguard participatory democracy in Manhattan Beach, all City officials, City employees and persons attending public meetings in Manhattan Beach should strive to:
• Treat everyone courteously
• Listen to others respectfully
• Exercise self control
• Give open minded consideration to all viewpoints
• Focus on the issues and avoid personalizing debate
• Embrace respectful disagreement and dissent as democratic rights inherent components of an inclusive public process and tools for forging sound decisions.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 15-0065 revising the Civility Policy to include conduct at public meetings.
Attachments:
1. Resolution No. 15-0065 Revised Civility Policy