HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 8835
CITY OF PALO ALTO OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
January 22, 2018
The Honorable City Council
Palo Alto, California
SECOND READING: Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Section
2.040.160 (City Council Minutes) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to
Provide for Action Minutes and Video/Audio Recordings as the Official
Record of Council Business, and Directing the Clerk to Prepare Sense
Summaries of Council and Council Standing Committee Meetings for
the use and Convenience of Council and the Public (FIRST READING:
December 4, 2017 PASSED 8-0 Fine absent)
This Ordinance was first heard by the City Council on December 4, 2017 and it is now before
you for the second reading. It was passed on a vote of 8-0 Fine absent, with no changes.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A: Minutes Ordinance (PDF)
Department Head: Beth Minor, City Clerk
Page 2
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Ordinance No. _____
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Chapter 2.04
(Council Organization and Procedure), Section 2.04.160 (City Council Minutes),
to Require that Action Minutes and Sense Minutes Be Prepared for All Council
and Council Standing Committee Meetings, and Deleting the Requirement for
Verbatim Transcripts
The Council of the City of Palo Alto ORDAINS as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as follows:
A. The City and the public require clear, accessible records of all official
business of the City Council and its committees. The Council finds that action minutes and the
video and audio recordings of Council and committee meetings are the clearest and most
complete records of Council proceedings and actions. For this reason, action minutes and video
and audio records shall be the official records of Council and committee proceedings.
B. Council further finds that there remains a use for summaries of Council
discussions, which provide additional detail in a form that is easier and quicker to review than
video and audio recordings. Council hereby amends the Municipal Code to require the Clerk to
prepare unofficial summaries of Council and committee meetings, for the use and convenience
of Council and the public.
SECTION 2. Section 2.04.160 “City Council Minutes” of the Palo Alto Municipal Code
is amended to read as follows:
2.04.160 City council minutes.
(a) The minutes of the council shall be kept by the city clerk. The minutes
shall be neatly typewritten or printed in a book kept for that purpose, with a record of each
particular type of business transacted set off in paragraphs, with proper subheadings.
(b) The minutes shall include a record of all business discussed and all
actions taken at regular or special meetings of the council and council standing committees.
The minutes shall be action minutes. As soon as possible after each council and committee
meeting, the city clerk shall post draft action minutes on the city’s website and transmit a copy
to each council member.
(c) A verbatim transcript of the proceedings shall also be prepared. The city
clerk shall also prepare a summary of discussions and actions taken at all regular and special
council meetings and council standing committees. The summaries, or sense minutes, are for
the use and convenience of council and the public and shall not be approved by council as
official records of proceedings. As soon as possible after each council and committee meeting
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the verbatim transcript , sense minutes shall be made publicly available digitally on the city’s
website and hard copies available upon request.
(d) At the meeting following posting of the draft action minutes, council
minutes shall be agendized by the city clerk for the council’s approval. Corrections to the
minutes shall be made at the meeting. Council members may submit their corrections in writing
or orally to the city clerk’s office before the time of the meeting. The city clerk shall distribute a
written copy of all corrections received during regular business hours to all council members at
the meeting.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, clause or phrase of this Ordinance is for any
reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion or
sections of the Ordinance. The Council hereby declares that it should have adopted the
Ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the
fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared
invalid.
SECTION 4. The Council finds that this project is exempt from the provisions of the
California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), pursuant to Section 15061 of the CEQA
Guidelines, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance
will have a significant effect on the environment.
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SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be effective on the thirty-first day after the date of
its adoption.
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
ATTEST:
____________________________ ____________________________
City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
____________________________ ____________________________
City Attorney City Manager
____________________________
Director of Administrative
Services