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Home My WebLink AboutItem 8.2 City Council Meeting Time Limits .` ArT A STAFF REPORT CITY CLERK CITY COUNCIL File #610-05 DATE: October 21, 2014 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Christopher L. Foss, City Manager L SUBJECT: Consideration of Setting a Time Limit for Dublin City Council Meetings Prepared by Roger Bradley, Assistant to the City Manager EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City Council will consider whether to establish a time limit for City Council meetings. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council receive the report, deliberate, and provide Staff with direction on whether to establish a time limit for City Council meetings. Submitted B Reviewed By Assistant to the City Manager Assistant City Manager DESCRIPTION: At the August 18, 2014 City Council meeting, Vice Mayor Biddle expressed concerns about the length of some of the City Council meetings, and requested that Staff research what other cities in the area do to limit the length of city council meetings. With City Council direction, Staff has conducted research on what other cities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties are doing to determine whether they have a time limit or specific end time designated for their meetings. The following cities responded to the survey, indicating that they do have a meeting limit. City Start Time End Time Alameda 7:00 11:00 Albany 7:30 10:30 Berkeley 7:00 11:00 Danville 7:30 11:00 Livermore 7:00 11:00 Piedmont 7:30 11:30 Pleasanton 7:00 11:30 San Leandro 7:00 10:00 Page 1 of 3 ITEM NO. 8.2 All of the cities listed above have a time limit established to limit the length of their City Council meetings. However, the mechanism to manage how each jurisdiction will end or extend its meetings is somewhat different. For example, the City of San Leandro does not allow any calendar items or announcements after 10:00 p.m., but regular agenda items may continue past that time, while the Town of Danville Town Council must vote to continue any agenda items after 11:00. Individual differences are listed below. City of Alameda At 10:30 p.m., a super majority vote is required to continue a meeting past 11:00 p.m. to consider additional agenda items. According to the response, the City Council typically votes to consider all the remaining items. If the City Council votes to continue three meetings in a row past 11:00 p.m., the vote must also include increasing the number of regular meetings. When two meetings in a row have gone past 11:00 p.m., the City Council does everything possible to ensure the 3rd meeting ends before 11:00 p.m., and special meetings are often called in between regular meetings to "re-set" the three meeting rule. City of Albany City Council meetings shall conclude at 10:30 p.m. unless a motion is made by the City Council to extend the meeting past 10:30 p.m. City of Berkeley No City Council meeting shall continue past 11:00 p.m. unless a two-thirds majority of the City Council votes to extend the meeting to discuss specified items. Any motion to extend the meeting beyond 11:00 p.m. shall include a list of specific agenda items to be covered and shall specify in which order these items shall be handled. Any items not completed at a regularly scheduled City Council meeting shall be continued to the next regular business meeting, or by a two-thirds majority vote of the City Council to an adjourned regular meeting. Town of Danville Agenda items will not be considered after 11:00 p.m., unless the Town Council votes by a simple majority to do so. City of Livermore Generally, the City Council will not begin consideration of any item after 11:00 p.m. At 10:30 p.m., or as soon after that as practical, the Mayor may canvass the agenda, staff and fellow Councilmembers to determine what items remain to be considered. The City Council will identify what items will be considered or continued, and in what order, based on practicality, deadlines, City Council input, and the public interest. Other City Councilmembers may appeal the Mayor's decision, and that appeal will be sustained by majority vote. Neither the City Council nor the Mayor may continue an item if it is subject to a legal deadline. City of Piedmont No meeting shall extend past 11:30 p.m., except by a majority vote of the City Council members then present. In the event the meeting is not extended, any agenda items not covered by 11:30 p.m. shall automatically be continued until the next regular City Council meeting, unless the City Council determines it should be heard at a special meeting. City of Pleasanton By 11:00 p.m., the City Council shall determine by vote which agenda items, if any, it will take up that evening, with the intent of completing those by 11:30 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., the City Council shall determine by vote whether it will complete action on the current agenda item and Page 2 of 3 any others. Any other agenda items scheduled for the evening, but not taken up or completed, shall be continued to a future date. City of San Leandro The City Council Calendar, Reports, and Announcements section of City Council meetings is dispensed when a meeting runs past 10:00 p.m.: i.e., the section where the City Council announces the calendar of upcoming events and coordinates attendance, reports on local events attended since the last meeting, and makes brief comments on issues of concern. San Leandro also limits presentations to 15 minutes, subject to City Manager discretion. City of Dublin Meeting Statistics Over the past year (12-month period from October 2013 to September 2014), Dublin City Council meetings have lasted an average of three hours and 29 minutes. The number of meetings that have extended past three hours over this time period is 12, which is 57% of the meetings sampled (sample size was 21). Of the 12 meetings, 7 meetings extended past four hours (1/3 of the meetings). Two meetings extended past five hours. Only one meeting went past six hours, (meeting lasted eight hours and six minutes). This meeting included the City's budget hearing. The 12-month City Council meeting dataset is included as Attachment 1 for reference. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: None. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Data Set of City Council meetings for 12 consecutive months Page 3 of 3 Dublin City Council Meeting — Start and End Times October 2013 — September 2014 Meeting Information Date Start End Elapsed Time Time Time September 16, 2014 7:00 9:05 2:05 September 2, 2014 7:00 9.03 2:03 August 19, 2014 7:08 10:40 3:32 July 15, 2014 7:23 11:45 4:22 June 17, 2014 7:09 9:42 2:33 June 3, 2014 5:40 9:52 4:12 May 20, 2014 5:32 1:38 8:06 May 6, 2014 7:19 11:41 1 4:22 April 15, 2014 7:00 8:34 1.34 April 1, 2014 7:14 8:57 1:43 March 18, 2014 7:02 10:54 3:52 March 4, 2014 7:14 9:17 2:03 February 18, 2014 7:04 10:47 3:43 February 4, 2014 7:00 9.10 2:10 January 21, 2014 7:07 10:20 3:13 December 17, 2013 7:00 9:47 2:47 December 3, 2013 7:16 12:33 5:17 November 19, 2013 7:17 11:21 4:04 November 5, 2013 7:05 10:56 3:51 October 15, 2013 1 7:00 1 11:45 1 4:45 October 1, 2013 7:08 9:53 2:45 ATTACHMENT 1