| CHAPTER 4—COMMUNICATIONS |
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| 4.1 | Written Communications |
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| | 4.1.1 | Written communications addressed to the City Council are to be referred to the City Clerk for: - Forwarding to the Council with their agenda packet, or
- Placement on an agenda with or without a staff report, or
- Direct response to the citizen with a copy of the communication and staff letter to the Council.
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| 4.2 | Request for Staff Resources |
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| | 4.2.1 | Council requests for research or other staff work must be directed to the City Manager, or the City Attorney regarding legal matters or the City Clerk regarding matters within the Clerk's authority. If more than one hour of staff time will be required to complete the task/project, the item will be agendized to ask the City Council if time should be spent on preparing a report on the proposed item. Staff responses prepared to Council inquiries shall be distributed to all City Councilmembers. |
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| 4.3 | Relationship/Communications with Staff Staff serves the City Council as a whole, therefore: |
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| | 4.3.1 | A Councilmember shall not direct staff to initiate any action, change a course of action or prepare any report, nor shall a Councilmember initiate any project or study without the approval of the majority of the Council. |
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| | 4.3.2 | Councilmembers shall not attempt to pressure or influence discussions, recommendations, workloads, schedules or department priorities absent the approval of a majority of the Council. |
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| | 4.3.3 | When preparing for Council meetings, Councilmembers should direct questions ahead of time to the City Manager so that staff can provide the desired information at the Council meeting. |
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| | 4.3.4 | Any concerns by a member of the City Council regarding the behavior or work of a City employee should be directed to the City Manager privately to ensure the concern is resolved. Councilmembers shall not reprimand employees directly nor should they communicate their concerns to anyone other than the City Manager. |
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| | 4.3.5 | Councilmembers may direct routine inquiries to either the City Manager or appropriate department head. |
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| | 4.3.6 | Councilmembers serving on Council committees or as the City's representative to an outside agency may interact directly with City staff assigned to that effort as the City Manager's designee. The City staff member so designated and assigned will keep the City Manager appropriately informed. |
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| | 4.3.7 | Soliciting political support from staff (e.g., financial contributions, display of posters or lawn signs, name on support list, etc.) is prohibited. City staff may, as private citizens with constitutional rights, support political candidates, but all such activities must be done away from the workplace and may not be conducted while in uniform. (Also see Section 3.4.9.3) |
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| 4.4 | Council Relationship/Communication with Boards, Commissions and Committees |
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| | 4.4.1 | Councilmembers shall not attempt to pressure or influence board, commission or committee decisions, recommendations or priorities absent the approval of the majority of the Council. |
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| 4.5 | Handling of Litigation and Other Confidential Information |
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| | 4.5.1 | All written materials and verbal information provided to Councilmembers on matters that are confidential under State law shall be kept in complete confidence to ensure that the City's position is not compromised. No disclosure or mention of any information in these materials may be made to anyone other than Councilmembers, the City Attorney or City Manager. |
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| | 4.5.1.1 | Confidential materials provided in preparation for and during closed sessions must be returned to staff at the conclusion of the closed session. |
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| | 4.5.1.2 | Confidential materials provided to Councilmembers outside of closed sessions must be destroyed or returned to staff within thirty (30) days of their receipt. |
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| | 4.5.1.3 | Councilmembers may not request confidential written information from staff that has not been provided to all Councilmembers. |
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| 4.6 | Representing an Official City Position |
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| | 4.6.1 | City Councilmembers may use their title only when conducting official City business, for information purposes, or as an indication of background and expertise, carefully considering whether they are exceeding or appearing to exceed their authority. |
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| | 4.6.2 | Once the City Council has taken a position on an issue, all official City correspondence regarding that issue will reflect the Council's adopted position. |
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| | 4.6.3 | In most instances, the Council will authorize the Mayor to send letters stating the City's official position to appropriate legislators. |
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| | 4.6.4 | If a member of the City Council appears before another governmental agency organization to give a statement on an issue affecting the City, the Councilmember should indicate the majority position and opinion of the Council. |
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| | 4.6.5 | Personal opinions and comments may be expressed only if the Councilmember clarifies that these statements do not reflect the official position of the City Council. |
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| 4.7 | Quasi-Judicial Role/Ex Parte Contacts The City Council has a number of roles. It legislates and makes administrative and executive decisions. The Council also acts in a quasi-judicial capacity or "like a judge" when it rules on various permits, licenses and land use entitlements. In this last capacity, quasi-judicial, the Council holds a hearing, takes evidence, determines what the evidence shows and exercises its discretion in applying the facts to the law shown by the evidence. It is to these proceedings that the rule relative to ex parte contacts applies. |
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| | 4.7.1 | Ex Parte Contacts/Fair Hearings. The Council shall refrain from receiving information and evidence on any quasi-judicial matter while such matter is pending before the City Council or any agency, board or commission thereof, except at the public hearing. As an elected official, it is often impossible to avoid such contacts and exposure to information. Therefore, if any member is exposed to information or evidence about a pending matter outside of the public hearing, through contacts by constituents, the applicant or through site visits, the member shall disclose all such information and/or evidence acquired from such contacts, which is not otherwise included in the written or oral staff report, during the public hearing and before the public comments period is opened. Matters are "pending" when an application has been filed. Information and evidence gained by members via their attendance at noticed public hearings before subordinate boards and commissions are not subject to this rule. |
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| 4.8 | No Attorney-Client Relationship Councilmembers who consult the City Attorney, his or her staff and/or attorney(s) contracted to work on behalf of the City cannot enjoy or establish an attorney-client relationship with said attorney(s) by consulting with or speaking to same. Any attorney-client relationship established belongs to the City, acting through the City Council and as may be allowed in State law for purposes of defending the City and/or the City Council in the course of litigation and/or administrative procedures, etc. |
