REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a New Section of the Council Policy Manual to Hold Policies Relating to Council Support and Processes, Including a Reorganization of Existing Council Policies 7.3.2; 7.3.12; 7.3.13, and 7.3.28
Report
BACKGROUND
Recently staff determined that some Council policies - specifically those governing support for Council, staff-Council communications, and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) processes - were held in four long and hard to reference policies. The existing policies cover more topics than referenced in the titles, and are lengthy and confusing. To make it easier to find policies and to navigate within them, this report presents for Council consideration a reorganization of the content included in the following four Council policies:
· 7.3.2 Legislative Advocacy Positions
· 7.3.12 Council Appointments to Intergovernmental Agencies, City Council Subcommittees and Council or Mayor-Created Advisory Task-Forces
· 7.3.13 Support for Councilmembers; Staff-Council Communications
· 7.3.28 Request by Council and Councilmembers for Information and Records
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy 7.3.1, Legislative Management - Goals and Policies
Goal 7.3B Assure that City policy is established, documented and enacted according to established procedures and legal principles.
Policy 7.3B.2 Maintain official records of City action and policy in a retrievable manner, according to legal convention.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
N/A
DISCUSSION
Staff is proposing to reorganize the content included in four current Council Policies - 7.3.2, 7.3.12, 7.3.13, and 7.3.28. The proposed reorganization includes creating a new Subsection of Chapter 7 of the Council Policy Manual. The new policies are shorter and more concise, covering singular topics in one, easy-to-reference place. The result is the creation of 16 separate Council policies.
This reorganizing effort does not include changes to content; however, at times, as policies were reorganized, some edits were necessary, such as references to other policy sections, which needed to be updated to reflect new section numbers or policy titles, etc.
To guide Council through the relocation of current content, staff has developed the Council Policy Relocation Table (Attachment 1) which shows where current policy sections are proposed to be relocated.
As mentioned previously, only minor changes have been made to existing policy content as necessary. These non-substantive edits are captured in redline in the attached policy drafts (Attachment 2). Attachment 2, Proposed Council Policies, Chapter 7, Section 4, includes a Table of Contents and the draft proposed policies.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve Proposed Reorganization of Council Policies as presented in Attachments 1 and 2 to the report.
2. Approve Proposed Reorganization of Council Policies with modifications.
3. Other Direction as Provided by Council.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 1: Approve Proposed Reorganization of Council Policies as presented in Attachments 1 and 2 to the report.
Staff believes the proposed reorganization of policies will make it easier for the Council, staff, and public to locate Council policies specific to a certain subject. The difficulty in navigating the current policies is further illustrated by the fact that the proposed reorganization includes the creation of 16 topic-specific policies to replace four current policies.
Staff
Prepared by: Yvette Blackford, Senior Management Analyst
Reviewed by: Robert A. Walker, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Deanna J. Santana, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Council Policy Relocation Table
2. Proposed Council Policies, Chapter 7, Section 4