2001-077- Amending Council Policy On Town Council Agenda Format And Rules~,
RESOLUTION 2001- 77
RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF THE
TOWN OF LOS GATOS AMENDING COUNCIL POLICY ON
'TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA FORMAT AND RULES
WHEREAS, on August 5,1996 Town Council adopted ResolutionNo.1996-108 amending
Council Agenda FoNinat and Rules; and
WHEREAS, it has become necessary to amend the Council Agenda FoNmat and Rules to
bring the policy into conformance with Council's currentpractices and to provide a clear.mechanism
for members of Council other than the Mayor to add:items onto future agendas for action by Council.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Council Agenda FoNmat and Rules are.established
as indicated in the attached policy.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED., that Resolution 1996-108 is hereby repealed.
PASSED AND .ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Los
Gatos, California, held on the 21''D day of July, 2001 by the .following vote:
COUNCIL MEMBERS:
AYES.: Randy Attaway, Sandy Decker, Steve Gliclctnan, Mayor Joe Pirzynski.
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Steven Blanton
ABSTAIN: None
SIGNED:
YOR O OWN OF LOS GATOS
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
ACTT®EST:
CLERK OF THE TOWN O OS GATOS
LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
COUNCIL POLICY
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
Subject: Town Council Agenda Enabling Actions:
Format and Rules Page 1 of 3 1986-1.83; :1987-24; 1988-124;
1993-181; 1994-57; :1996-'108
Approved: Effective: Revised Dater
12/1.5/86 12/15/86; 3/2/87; 6/6/88; 6/15/92;
12/6/92;12/6/93; 4/4/94; 8/5/9b
PURPOSE
To establish procedures which standardize the Town Council agenda and insure an orderly meeting.
POLICY
The following ;policies have been established:
A. Order of the A eg nda
Subj ect to the Mayor's discretionto change the order of consideration of any agenda item
during any individual meeting:
Closed Session
Interviews
Meeting Called to Order
Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance
Closed Session Report
.Appointments
Presentations
Consent Calendar
Verbal Communications
Public Hearings
Other Business
Council Matters
Manager Matters
Adjournment (No later than midnight without vote)
B. ,Closed Session Report
At the first Council meeting following any closed session, the Town Attorney will report
on-the closed session describing what occurred, but without reporting any information
which could damage the Town's position on a) potential or existing litigation, b) the
acquisition or .disposition of property, or c) any employee's privacy interests. In
addition,. the closed session agenda shall clearly identify the subject of each agenda item
consistent with the requirements ofthe Brown Act.
C. Communications by Members of the Public
(1) Verbal Communications. Comments by members of the public during the Verbal
Communications portion of the agenda shall be limited to no more than three (3) minutes
per speaker.
{2) Public Hearings. Presentations during the Public Hearings portion of the agendaby
appellants and applicants, including any expert or consultant assisting with the
presentation, shall be limited to a total of no more than ten (10) minutes for all spealeers.
Appellants and applicants shall be provided no more than five (5) minutes to rebut atthe
end of the public hearing. Other members of the public testifying at publichearings shall
be limited to no more than three (3) .minutes.
(3) Other Agenda Items. Comments by members of the public concerning .any other
item on an agenda shal'1 be limited to no more than three (3) minutes per item.
(4) Mayor's :Discretion. All time :limits shall be .subject to change at the Mayor's
discretion in order to control the length of a meeting.
D. Consent Calendar
The Mayor will aslc if any member of the Council, Town staff or public wishes to
comment on any item on the consent calendar. Items removed from the consent calendar
shall be considered for discussion and action after the Public .Hearings portion of the
agenda.
E. Presentations
The Presentations portion of the agenda is intended to allow organized :groups to make
formal presentations tothe Council and torecognize and honor deserving individuals and
organizations. All .matters included on the Presentations portion of the agenda require
the prior approval of the Mayor and shall be limited to no snore than ten (10) minutes,
unless the ~IYlayor grants additional time.
F. Council Matters
Members of CounciLmay report onthe activities of the committees to which they belong
or the meetings they attend, question staff briefly on matters upon which the Council has
taken action or :given direction, make brief announcements, or discuss whether to place
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particular items on future agendas for action by the Council. Future agenda items to be
briefly discussed here shall be identified consistent with section G of this Policy, or may
be raised for the first time under this item.
G. Adjournment
Council meetings will be adjourned at midnight unless a majority of the Council
Members present vote to extend the adjournment time.
H. Preparation of the A eg nda
The agenda is prepared by staff for the Mayor's approval. In this manner the Mayor
determines the agenda. Any member of the Council may request that the Mayor malce
a change or addition to the agenda. Such .requests may be made through the Town
Manager or directly to the Mayor. In no event may the subj ect of whether to amend the
agenda be discussed outside of a public meeting by more than two (2) members of the
Council.
Items thus proposed to be added to the agenda require the Mayor's agreement to be
added for action. If the Mayor does not agree, the item shall be listed on the agenda for
.discussion purposes only under the Council Matters portion of the agenda. Council may
then discuss whether to place the item on a future agenda for action. Two (2) or more
members of the Council must vote in favor of placing an item on a .future agenda for
action.
If the wish of the Council is to add an item on the agenda of the current meeting, then the
BrownAct generally requires atwo-thirds (2/3) vote or a unanimous vote ofthose present
if less than five (5) Council Members are present, with a finding that there is a need to
take immediate action and the :need for action came to the attention of the Town after the
agenda was posted.
I. Agenda Schedule and Preparation of Schedule
Thursday, 11 days prior to meeting
All agenda reports are due to the Town
Manager's Secretary. Reports should be
submitted as soon as possible to allow
time for review and revision. 'The
deadline for all reports is the Wednesday
prior to the Council meeting.
Wednesday, Noon, prior to meeting
Wednesday, 5:00 p.m., prior to meeting
Cut-off for requests for placement of items
on agenda by members of the public.
Cut-off for placement of items on the
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agenda by members of Town Council.
'Thursday, prior to meeting
J. Conduct of'Town Council Meetings
Written agenda is finalized .and printed.
Agenda packets distributed to Town
Council members.
The Council shall :adopt:
(1) .Robert's Rules of Order, or
(2) Some other rules of order, or
(3) AYlow the Mayor to conduct the meeting as .deemed appropriate so .long as all
members of the Town Council concur.
K. Reconsideration of Items
No item acted upon by the Town'Council will be reconsidered by the Council within 90
days of the Council action unless the item is requested for reconsideration by amember
of the Town Council. A motion for reconsideration may only be made at the meeting of
the original Council action or at the meeting immediately following the original action
provided the matter appears on the agenda, unless a request for reconsideration is made
by at least two (2) members of the Council at the meeting immediately following the
original :action,. in which event the item will be placed on the next available .agenda for
Council action. See schedule in section H concerning placement of items on the regular
:agenda by members of the Town Council.
L. Motions by the Chair
'The Chairperson of the .meeting may make or second motions.
The Mayor may restate, or ask that the maker restate, .all motions immediately prior to
any vote.
.APPROVED AS TO FORM:
$:\aty0702.17.wptl
1 K-
Orr .Korb, Town Attorney
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