REPORT TO GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS COMMITTEE
SUBJECT
Title
Review and Approval of Amendments to Council Policy 043 ("Official Travel by Elected Officials")
Report
BACKGROUND
As part of the Governance and Ethics Committee workplan, existing Council Policy 043 ("Official Travel by Elected Officials") (Attachment 1) was identified for review and revision. The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines for official travel by City Councilmembers in connection with their roles and responsibilities. The policy outlines reimbursable expenses for official travel and ensures compliance with fiscal responsibility standards.
In addition to updating this policy, City staff is updating the City Manager Directive (CMD) Purchase Card (P-Card) policy that will include audit review procedures. These measures will assigned credit cards to be issued to Councilmembers for official travel related expenses. Once the policy has been updated, staff will implement the policy and provide training to the City Council on proper use.
DISCUSSION
This item presents for Governance and Ethics Committee consideration proposed amendments to the existing Council Policy 043 ("Official Travel by Elected Officials").
The proposed amendments to Council Policy 043 (Attachment 2) include clarifications, cleanup language, and corrections. Proposed key changes include:
1. Title: The title of the Council policy is proposed to be revised from "Official Travel by Elected Officials" to ("Official Travel by the City Council"). This proposed amendment is to clarify that the Council policy applies to the Mayor and City Councilmembers, not to the elected Police Chief or City Clerk. The policies that govern their travel are contained in City Manager Directive (CMD) 28 Travel Policy (Attachment 3).
2. Criteria for Official Travel: In this section, proposed revisions were made as follows:
a. "Official travel" that qualifies for reimbursement retains the requirements that travel shall relate to a C...
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