REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Amend the 2017 Priority Advocacy Issues
Report
BACKGROUND
A goal of the City's Intergovernmental Relations Program is to enable timely and effective advocacy of City interests on pending legislation and issues that significantly impact City business. The City can initiate advocacy on the basis of any existing City Policy, including the City Charter, Municipal Code, General Plan Elements, and the Council Policy Manual, which is where many of the City's other legislative goals are addressed. Regardless, every year, the Council adopts the City's advocacy platform which includes the priority advocacy issues for the coming year as well as Legislative Advocacy Positions (LAPs). This report provides Council with the opportunity to reinstate a LAP which was inadvertently not carried forward from the 2016 LAPs to the 2017 LAPs.
EXISTING POLICY
Council Policy 7.4.14, Legislative Advocacy Positions
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a "project" with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378 (a) as it has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
DISCUSSION
On January 6, 2015, as part of the adoption of the 2015 Priority Issues and Legislative Advocacy Positions, Council directed staff to create a legislative position for the divestment of any direct and indirect investments in fossil fuels. Further, staff was directed to return to the Council in Fall 2015 to formalize Council's position of not directly investing in fossil fuels. While Council amended the investment and cash management policy, which prohibits direct investments that support the production or drilling of fossil fuels, in October 2016 (16-0693), staff inadvertently dropped the adoption of a LAP. Staff is recommending the following LAP be added, amending the 201...
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