CC SR 20160216 08 - Agenda Report Timing OptionsRANCHO PALOS VERDES CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA REPORT
AGENDA DESCRIPTION:
MEETING DATE: 02/16/2016
AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business
Consideration and possible action to require earlier agenda posting and receipt of late
correspondence
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
Direct staff to proceed with either:
1) Option 1: Continuing posting and delivering the agenda on the Thursday evening
preceding the Council meeting; or
2) Option 2: Posting the agenda online on Tuesday evening and delivering the
printed agenda on the Wednesday preceding the Council meeting.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Gabriella Yap, Deputy City Manager
REVIEWED BY: Same
APPROVED BY: Doug Willmore, City Managerlyq/ `}
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. None
BACKGROUND:
At the January 5, 2016, meeting, the Council communicated a desire to receive the
agenda earlier, and directed Staff to report back with some options for when the agenda
could be made available, and the impact that earlier delivery could have upon late
correspondence.
Currently, the agendas are posted online and hard copies delivered to the Mayor and
Council Members on the Thursday preceding a Council meeting. Preparing staff reports
for the agenda often involves many steps including research, analysis, legal review, and
gathering backup documentation (e.g., bids, proposals, draft agreements, exhibits, etc.).
The originator/writer of the report must have these items prepared and/or compiled
before the report goes through the iterative review process described below.
1
The review process consists of City Attorney review (if applicable), Department Head
review, Deputy City Manager review, and (ultimately) City Manager review. The bulk of
this review process must occur no earlier than two weeks before the Council meeting
due to the fact that Council meetings are two weeks apart, and that direction on some
issue is usually given at meetings for action at the next meeting. All the levels of review
and corresponding revisions must be completed between the time the first reviewer
receives the information and the finalization of the agenda. In addition, the semi-
monthly Warrant Report is not completed until the Tuesday morning one week before
the Council meeting.
Depending upon the item, information for reports could also come in at the last minute
while the Staff report is in the midst of the review process. This could include (for
example) results from a public workshop or concerns from the community that Staff
wants to address in the report to make it clearer and more transparent.
Staff provides the following sample calendar of what the review process looks like with
the current Thursday agenda posting and distribution:
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday Friday
Saturday
1/24
1/25
1/26 PC
1/27 1/28 1/29
1/30
1/31
2/1
2/2 CC
2/3 2/4 2/5
2/6
Reviews and Revisions by City Attorney,
Department Heads, Deputy CM, and City
Manager
2/7
2/8
2/9 PC
2/10
2/11
2/12
2/13
(Continued) Reviews by
Incorporate last
Finalize,
City Attorney,
minute items
Post, Print,
Department Heads,
(e.g., PC Mtg
and Deliver
Deputy CM, and City
item, public
Agenda
Manager
input, etc.)
2/14
2/152/16
CC
2/17
2/18
2/19
2/20
2/21
2/22
2/23 PC
2/24
2/25
2/26
2/27
DISCUSSION:
Staff has performed a few "dry runs" to see if we could realistically get the agenda out
earlier in order to give the Council and the public more time to review the agenda. The
last agenda was posted a day earlier — on Wednesday — rather than on Thursday. Due
to the fact that Council meetings are two weeks apart, Staff has determined that posting
it online Tuesday evening one week before the Council meeting would be the earliest
the agenda could be finalized and still incorporate direction from Council at one meeting
into the next meeting and complete the Warrant report. Below are the options that Staff
has identified for Council to review and select from:
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Option 1: Continue Posting and Delivering Agenda on Thursday Evening
Preceding Meeting
Option 1 is the status quo, meaning that the Council would continue to receive the
agenda packet on Thursday and the public would be able to view it online on Thursday.
An important consideration is that with the current schedule of agenda finalization on
Thursdays, the Community Development Staff has the ability to bring items approved at
the Planning Commission meeting to the next Council meeting. It also allows the most
time and flexibility in incorporating last minute information or changes to the agenda.
Option 2: Post Agenda Online on Tuesday Evening and Deliver Agenda on
Wednesday Preceding Meeting
Option 2 would give the Council and the public the most time to review the agenda if
they viewed it online. The agenda would be posted online a full week before the
Council meeting. However, a hard copy of the agenda and reports would not be
available until Wednesday. By moving the agenda posting date up to Tuesday, the
finalization of the agenda will have already occurred prior to the Planning Commission
meeting. As a result, any Planning Commission items that require Council approval
could not be brought forward until at least two (2) Council meetings out.
Below is a table to summarize the pros and cons of each option.
Receive Agenda
Add'I Time
Able to
Able to
More Time for
by:
for Council
incorporate
incorporate
Late
and Public to
items from
items from
Correspondence?
Review
last CC Mtg?
last PC Mtg?
1) Thurs. Online
N
Y
Y
N
and Hard Copy
2) Tues. Online/
Y
Y
N
Y
Wed. Hard Copy
Late Correspondence
With respect to late correspondence, the Council had expressed the hope that, by
posting the agenda earlier, late correspondence could be received before the weekend
and allow the Council more time to read and consider the public's concerns. Option 2
would provide extra time for the public to review the materials and respond. In addition,
the wording on the agenda below the Adjournment section of the agenda was changed
beginning February 2016 to highly encourage written materials to be submitted earlier to
allow the Council ample time to review and consider the issues prior to making
decisions at the meeting. For your reference, the agenda wording is included below:
"We highly encourage written materials regarding City Council Agenda
items be submitted no later than 4:00 P.M. the Monday prior to a City
Council meeting to allow the Council members ample time to review and
9
consider the issues raised prior to making decisions at the council
meeting. It is difficult for Council Members to carefully review materials
submitted after that deadline or at the meeting. "
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative actions are available
for the City Council's consideration:
1. Based upon City Council discussion, identify another other option (or options)
that would result in earlier agenda posting and receipt of late correspondence.
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