REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Action on Recommendations from the Governance and Ethics Committee to Amend Council Policy 009 ("City Representation at Meetings, Ceremonies, and Events")
Report
BACKGROUND
The City Council referred the review and discussion of a policy for speaking at events to the Governance and Ethics Committee. Council Policy 009 ("City Representation at Meetings, Ceremonies & Events") (Attachment 1) addresses how the City will be officially represented at meetings, ceremonies, or special events by the Mayor and/or City Council.
At the March 4, 2024 Governance and Ethics Committee meeting, staff presented background and information on Council Policy 009 ("City Representation at Meetings, Ceremonies, and Events") for review and discussion by the Committee. As part of the Report to the Committee (Attachment 2), staff provided a benchmark and summary of policies and procedures for ceremonial recognition and event speaking roles across neighboring cities. The benchmark showed standard practices for nearby cities, with Council districts, including the Cities of Campbell, Fremont, San Jose, and Sunnyvale. For all the cities benchmarked, the Mayor is the ceremonial head of the City and the designated speaker. In some instances, the City Councilmember who represents the district of the event location is also invited to speak and district representatives are always recognized.
The Committee discussed its desire to provide options for City Councilmembers to speak at city events, in addition to the Mayor for City-hosted events. Based on this feedback, staff was directed to return to the Committee with options for further review and discussion on amending Council Policy 009 to include more speaking options for City Councilmembers.
At the June 3, 2024, Governance and Ethics Committee meeting, staff (Attachment 3) presented a recommended approach based on the Committee's previous guidance.
As part of the recommendations for City hosted events, sta...
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