HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 11244
City of Palo Alto (ID # 11244)
Policy and Services Committee Staff Report
Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 6/9/2020
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Review of Council Travel Policy
Title: Delay of Review of Council Travel Policy, Council Procedures and
Protocols, Section 7, and Public Availability of Council Travel Expense
Reports, as Referred by City Council at the Annual Retreat, February 1, 2020
From: City Manager
Lead Department: City Manager
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Policy and Services Committee delay a discussion of the Council
Procedures and Protocols, Section 7, City Council and Boards and Commissions Policy for Travel
and Miscellaneous Expense Reimbursement, whether Council’s travel expense reports should
be made available to the public, and refer any recommended changes to Council for approval
and adoption until such time as Council has a travel budget to expend.
Background
At the City Council Retreat held February 1, 2020, the following action was taken:
SUBSTITUTE MOTION AS AMENDED: Council Member Filseth moved, seconded by Council
Member Cormack to refer the following to the Policy and Services Committee for review and
discussion:
A. Council Procedures and Protocols, Section 7, City Council and Boards and
Commissions Policy for Travel and Miscellaneous Expense Reimbursement; and
B. Consider whether to make City Council travel expense reports available to the public.
SUBSTITUTE MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 7-0 (Action Minutes)
Though a report is presented, no further discussion is recommended at this time.
Discussion
The 2019 Policy and Services Committee reviewed the Council Procedures and Protocols,
Section 7, at their November 12, 2019. Based on the November 12, 2019 Policy and Services
Committee, a previously edited version of Section 7 was attached to the December 10, 2019
Policy and Services Committee Agenda, dated 2016. This was provided by the City’s
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Administrative Services Department and was edited to align with the City’s Travel Policy for
employees. You may choose to discuss this further and make additional recommendations
based on the November report, which included information about other cities’ budgets for
travel and meetings, how these funds are allocated, and whether changes should be
recommended to the full Council.
In addition, the motion from the City Council Retreat in February further asked Policy and
Services to consider whether to make City Council travel expense reports available to the
public. It should be noted that all travel expense reports are public documents, available upon
request. The decision here may be to make these reports available online whether there is a
public request or not.
Timeline, Resource Impact, Policy Implications (If Applicable)
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel budget has been reduced to $0. A potential
timeline for resuming this discussion is unlikely to happen until discussion of the FY22 budget.
Impacts to staff resources to make travel expense reports public are described by
Administrative Services as minimal.
Stakeholder Engagement
Policy and Services has reviewed and discussed this topic at the end of 2019 and as a part of
their annual retreat. The City’s Administrative Services Department Director was engaged
related to costs that might be realized by any changes to budget allocations and/or publicly
posting travel expense reports.
Environmental Review
This is not considered a project in terms of CEQA.