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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - Council Action Form dated May 14, 1996 ITEM # DATE May 14. 1996 COUNCIL ACTION FORM SUBJECT: Ordinance Amending Municipal Code Section 2.16 Regarding Special Meetings of the City Council BACKGROUND: Municipal Code Section 2.16 states that"The Council shall hold special meetings when called by the Mayor or four members of the Council. Notice thereof shall be given personally or left at the usual place of residence of each member of the Council by the Chief of Police,or designee,and a record of the services of notices shall be returned to the City Clerk and a record of such services made." Staff has recently discussed that it is likely this provision for delivering notice of a meeting to the Council persons' residences was a remnant of an older provision of the Code, originally included to ensure that all Council members were apprised of any special meeting being held. Since it is Staff's feeling that the hand-delivered written notification process would be cumbersome and time-consuming, perhaps limiting the City's ability to react quickly to citizens' needs,Staff would recommend amending the Code to eliminate the second sentence of this section (in bold type above). It should be noted that this provision never affected citizen notification of meetings. Any special meeting scheduled must still comply with the Open Meetings Law and meet its at least 24- hour posting requirements. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance amending Municipal Code Section 2.16 regarding the scheduling of Special Council meetings as recommended above. 2. Direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance substituting some other, less cumbersome notification procedure. 3. Do nothing. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: It is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt Alternative#1,thereby directing the City Attorney to draft an ordinance amending the Municipal Code Section 2.16 regarding the scheduling of Special City Council meetings by eliminating the provision for hand- delivered notification to Council members.