GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

DATE 2/03/09
AGENDA ITEM 2

GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE

Olympia, Washington
February 3, 2009

Review of Council Procedures, as referred from Annual Goal Setting Retreat

__________________________________________________________________
CITY MANAGER’S
RECOMMENDATION: Develop recommendations for Council consideration.
Recommend procedures with minimal implementation impact.

STAFF CONTACTS: Subir Mukerjee, Assistant City Manager, (360) 753-

smukerje@ci.olympia.wa.us

Cathie Butler, Communications Manager, (360) 753-8361

cbutler@ci.olympia.wa.us

ORIGINATED BY: City Council

PRESENTERS AND
OTHERS NOTIFIED: Notified: Key staff involved with Agenda Preparation

ATTACHMENTS: 1. Relevant Sections of Current Council Guidelines

2. City’s Computer Use Policy

BUDGET IMPACT/
SOURCE OF FUNDS: None anticipated impact, unless changes to City’s technology systems
are required for implementation

PRIOR COUNCIL/
COMMITTEE REVIEW: Council discussion and referral from Annual Goal Setting Retreat,
January 10-11, 2009

BACKGROUND: At the Council’s 2009 Goal Setting Retreat, the following Council
procedural items were referred to General Government Committee for
recommendations:

1. Council Committee Recommendations: Council committee

recommendations will be presented to the full Council by the
respective Committee Chair, not staff. If an item does not have a
unanimous recommendation of the Committee, it shall not be
placed on the Council’s Consent Calendar. The staff report will
include one or two sentences to explain the Committee’s rationale
for its recommendation.

2. Motions/Roberts Rules of Order: Develop a guideline about

wording/presentation of Motions so that they are succinct and
easy to understand.
 3. Public Comment Protocols: Revise public comment protocols so
that as a matter of practice, those individuals who signed up to
speak and cannot be accommodated within the initial 30 minutes
will be heard at the end of the meeting, if they are in attendance
at that time. Sign-in for public comment will be closed at the
beginning of the Council meeting.

4. Agenda Order - Council Reports: Move “Council Reports” to an

earlier location on the Agenda and change the focus so it is less of
a report of prior activity to one of upcoming/pending issues.

5. Study Sessions: Begin to use Study Sessions more frequently to

address issues and craft public policy. Engage a broader set of
groups in the Council Study Session process. General Government
Committee should discuss and recommend Study Session format.
Use study sessions more frequently to address issues and craft
public policy.

6. Packet Publishing Date: Move the publishing date forward by two

days from Friday at 3:00 p.m. to Wednesday at Noon.

7. E-Mail Communication Policy: Develop a Council guideline on use

of email by the Council.

ANALYSIS AND OPTIONS: Items #1-#3 regarding Committee Recommendations, Robert’s Rules
and Public Comment Protocols are easy to implement once Council
gives direction to staff. If changes are recommended and approved,
the Council Guidebook and Council Meeting Agenda will be updated and
republished accordingly.

Item #4 is regarding Council Reports is also easily implementable. Staff

recommends that “Council Reports” be moved up and placed after the
“Consent Calendar” but before “Public Hearings” and “Other Business”
items. This will benefit the public and staff who are at the meeting on
a single agenda item on the consent calendar. If changes are
recommended and approved, the Council Guidebook and Council
Meeting Agenda will be updated and republished accordingly.

Item #5 regarding Study Sessions format is also easily implementable;

however, it is difficult in Study Session format to provide adequate,
consistent sound amplification and television/video streaming due to
limitations in our current system. Committee should consider whether
the Council Chamber should be set up with Councilmembers sitting
around the table from the start of the meeting or whether the setup
change should be made later when the study session comes up on the
agenda. The latter will require a 15-20 minute break to reset the
tables, chairs and microphones.

Item #6 regarding packet publishing date was discussed by City staff.

The table below provides the implications of early launch:

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Launch Day: Wednesday Thursday Friday
Agenda Deadline: Fri. 4pm Mon. 4pm Tue. 4pm
Reading Time: 6 days 5 days 4 days
(Current)
Minutes published 2 weeks Next week Next week
Changes requested 2 weeks
at Council 2 weeks 2 weeks preferred but
meeting can go in one
Time to fix
technical Difficult and
computer glitches Provides time Provides time may require
before Fri 5:00 IT overtime
p.m.
Budget schedule Prefer 2
impacts, 1st and 2nd weeks but can
2 weeks 2 weeks
Readings back to be done next
back week at times

Bid approval after Additional

Next week Next week
bid opening date week
Time for
Councilmember’s
questions/concerns
to be addressed Better than a
Yes More difficult
prior to meeting Friday launch
(outcome: fewer
pulls from Consent
Calendar)
LUEC packet
No, but consider
launched same as Yes No
standardizing
Council packet
Staff availability Fewer staff
for questions from on Friday due
Yes Yes
councilmembers to flex
and the public schedules

Under any launch date scenario staff does not recommend launching a
draft packet to be superseded by a final packet. This would add staff
time and resources as well as be confusing to the public and
councilmembers who may read the draft packet and not check (or know
to check) for the final version.

Packet launch by Thursday at 3:00 p.m. is the preferred option of

administrative support staff in the Executive Office. It allows adequate
time for Minutes to be prepared for approval the following week; while
providing an extra work day to resolve any technical, website
problems.

Item #7 regarding E-Mail Communication Policy. The relevant sections

of current version of the Council Guidelines and City’s Computer Use
Policy is attached for reference.

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