November 9, 2004

SUBJECT:       Length of Council Meetings, Start/End Times, Duration, and Frequency

REPORT IN BRIEF

At the October 5, 2004 Council Study Session, Council directed staff to survey local cities about their policies and procedures regarding regular Council meetings, study sessions and closed sessions.  The requested information included meeting start and end times, frequency, and duration.  Council also requested information as available on length of time allocated for public comment, and length of time allocated for public comment by any single community member.

Staff conducted the survey, focusing on local cities with needs or profiles similar to Sunnyvale’s.  As Attachment A indicates, information was received from eight neighboring cities. While there are some common practices, practices and policies tend to vary according to the needs and preferences of each city.  In this report staff briefly summarizes the common practices, and discusses several available options.   Since Council will need to determine the practices that will best address the needs of the Sunnyvale community, there is no staff recommendation.

BACKGROUND

At a Study Session on October 5, 2004 Council underscored the importance of community input and citizen engagement in the conduct of City business, and the critical role of City Council meetings in this effort. Council discussed their concerns with lengthy Council meetings that extend into late-night or early-morning hours:  the impact a late-hour discussion will have on the amount of public participation, the potentially diminished quality of discussion and/or decision making by Councilmembers, and the possible perception by the public that items may have been scheduled at a late hour to limit public awareness of an issue and/or public input.

Currently, there is no City policy on length of Council meetings or adjournment times.  The current practice is that City Council holds its meetings on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m.  Meetings are adjourned when all agenda items have been completed or, if the meeting is quite lengthy, Council votes to adjourn the meeting, with remaining items continued to another specified meeting date. 

The following tables summarize data about Council’s recent meeting practices.

In Table 1, note that the number of hours spent in regular meetings has stayed fairly consistent over the past two fiscal years. 

Data in Table 2 indicates that there may be an increasing trend in late-night meetings.  Less than one-third of meetings adjourned after 11:00p.m. in FY2003/04 (31.4%) and FY2002/03 (28.1%); however, year-to-date in FY2004/05 more than half (53.8%) of regular Council meetings have adjourned after 11:00p.m.

Table 1:  Hours and number of meetings, by meeting type, by fiscal year

 Table 2:  Regular Council meeting adjournment times by fiscal year 

In December 1997 the City Council meeting start time was changed from 8:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to facilitate community involvement (see Attachment B, RTC #97-526, Start Time of Council Meetings).

EXISTING POLICY

Sunnyvale City Charter, Section 608: Regular Meetings.       The City Council shall hold regular meetings at least twice each month, at such times as it shall fix by ordinance or resolution and may adjourn or re-adjourn any regular meeting to a date certain, which shall be specified in the order of adjournment and when so adjourned, each adjourned meeting shall be a regular meeting for all purposes. (Amended effective December 21, 1976: previously Section 707)

Resolution No. 212-01.  Regular City Council meetings shall be held on at least two (2) Tuesdays each month at 7:30 p.m.

DISCUSSION

This section is in two parts.  The first part is a summary of the practices identified by neighboring cities as listed in Attachment A, Council Meeting Comparisons of Local Cities. The second part provides several options that may assist Council in limiting late-night meetings.

Part I.             Summary of Attachment A – The following summary includes observations of common or noteworthy meeting practices among neighboring cities.  The summary is divided into Regular Council Meetings, Study Sessions, and Closed Sessions. 

Regular Council Meetings

Start time:

• Six of the eight cities start at 7:00p.m.
• One starts at 6:45 p.m.
• One starts at 6:30.m.  

“End time” or curfew:

• Five of the eight cities do not have a stated end-time
• Two cities have an 11:00p.m. stated end-time
• One city has a 10:00p.m. stated end-time

Cities with end times generally:

·         Complete agenda items begun prior to the end-time

·         Require a majority vote to start new agenda items after the stated end-time has passed. 

Frequency of Regular Council Meetings:  Varies by city.

Study Sessions

Start times:

• Six of the eight cities begin study sessions between 5:00 and 6:30p.m.
• One city begins study sessions between 3:00 and 6:00p.m. 

Frequency:

• Varies by city.  One city holds regular Council meetings every other Tuesday, and holds study sessions on the alternate Tuesday, as needed. 

Closed Sessions

Start Times of Study Sessions:

• Six of the eight cities generally hold study sessions prior to the start of regular Council meetings.

Part II.           Options that may assist in limiting late-night meetings

There are two types of approaches that may help limit late-night Council meetings.  The first approach is to make changes to the meeting calendar and/or schedule (i.e. start times, end times, frequency), and the second approach is to change the structure and/or conduct of the meetings. Options #1 - #4 are representative of the first approach.  Options #5 and #6 are representative of the second approach. 

The advantages and disadvantages of each option are noted.  While each option is listed independently, implementing one option may affect the feasibility of implementing others.

Options for Changing the Council Meeting Calendar and Schedule

Option #1:              Start regular Council meetings earlier. 

Note:  If this approach is selected, Council will need to identify the earlier start-time.

Advantages:             Meetings may not run as late.

Disadvantages:        Earlier start time will impact time available for study sessions and

 closed sessions.

Option #2:             Hold regular Council meetings on 2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays, and reserve 3^rd Tuesday for study sessions and closed sessions only.  Schedule meetings on 1^st Tuesday as needed to address “overflow” business.

Advantages:             Provides for a consistent start-time for Council business.

                             Makes it possible to start regular Council meetings earlier.

Disadvantages:        May delay consideration of some Public Hearing items.

Option #3:             Restrict Planning items to a regular schedule (for example: second Tuesdays, with overflow to 4^th Tuesdays).

Planning items are a critical and time-consuming part of City business.  While many Planning items affect community members citywide, Planning applications often affect a very limited number of community members yet may result in a very lengthy Council meeting.  Generally restricting Planning items to a regular schedule will ensure broader appeal of non-Planning focused meetings, and will enable community members affected by Planning issues to plan their schedules accordingly.  Currently, Planning applications are generally considered only twice a month, however, they share the agenda with other public hearing items.

Advantages:             Regular Council meetings will better reflect the interest of                                                the broader community.

Disadvantages:        Planning-focused Council meetings may be lengthy.

Option #4              Hold more City Council meetings, so that each meeting may                                              be shorter.

Currently, Council meetings are scheduled every week except holiday weeks, League of California Cities and National League of Cities conference weeks, and the annual two-week summer break. 

Advantages:            Each individual meeting may be shorter. Caveat:  While in theory each meeting should be shorter, in practice work often expands “to take up all available time.”

Disadvantages:        See caveat noted in “Advantages.”

                             Current schedule is already very full.

Options for Changing the Structure and/or Conduct of Council Meetings

Option #5:             Impose an end-time or curfew for regular Council meetings, and identify procedures for implementing it.  Note:  If this approach is selected, Council will need to identify the designated end-time.

Advantages:            If the end-time is respected, regular meetings are unlikely to run into the early hours of the morning.

Disadvantages:        Some agenda items will likely be continued and not                                                          addressed as originally scheduled.

Option #6:             Explore strategies such as setting limits for staff

presentations and applicant presentations; getting Council questions answered in advance of meetings; reserving public hearings for public comment only and limiting discussion with Council. 

Practices of neighboring cities regarding Public Hearing time limits are listed in Attachment A, page 4.

Advantages:             None identified.

Disadvantages:        None identified.                                     

FISCAL IMPACT

There is no fiscal impact to this report. However, length of meetings and number of meetings affects staff time needed to support the meetings.

Conclusion

City Council meetings provide the public with an opportunity to participate in conducting the business of the City.  Council has underscored the importance of community input and citizen engagement in the conduct of City business, and the critical role City Council meetings play in this effort. Lengthy Council meetings that extend late into the night negatively impact the amount of public participation, as well as the quality of Council and public discussion of issues. Late night meetings may be minimized through new approaches to scheduling and meeting management, several of which have been identified.  Because the tools that work best for a community will vary according to its needs, and Council is in the best position to gauge Sunnyvale’s needs, there is no staff recommendation in this report. 

PUBLIC CONTACT

Public contact was made through posting of Council agenda on the City’s official notice bulletin board, posting of the agenda and report on the City’s web page, publication of the Council agenda in the San Jose Mercury News, and the availability of the report in the Library and the City Clerk’s Office.

ALTERNATIVES

A.       Continue current practices.

B.       Implement new practices for meeting scheduling and/or meeting management as directed by Council. 

C.       Other direction as provided by Council.

RECOMMENDATION 

None.  For Council deliberation and direction to staff.

Approved by:
Amy Chan

City Manager

Prepared by: Coryn Campbell

Manager, Neighborhood and Community Services

Attachments

A. Council Meeting Comparisons of Local Cities

B. RTC #97-526, Start Time of Council Meetings (attached per Council request)