HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-07-29; City Council Minute Motion Update (Districts - All); Rocha, LauraTo the members of the:
CITY COUNCIL
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July 29, 2021
Council Memorandum
To:
From:
Via:
Re:
Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council
Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services
Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager @ .
City Council Minute Motion Update (Districts -All)
This memorandum provides an update on a City Council minute motion.
{city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID #2021148
1. April 14, 2020 -Directed staff to return with a report and resolution that would establish
criteria for the estimation of cost and staff time to be provided to the City Council prior to
taking action on minute motions and options for waiving the cost and time estimation
requirement
On Dec. 17, 2019, noting concerns with the increased frequency of ,minute motions being
requested by City Council Members during a City Council Meeting, the City Council approved a
minute motion directing staff to provide estimates of the cost, staff time and overall impact of
carrying out City Council directions contained in minute motions approved after that date.
On April 14, 2020, the City Council received an informational report to consider how staff plans
to provide the City Council with assessments on the impact of carrying out minute motions.
Minute motions allow members of a legislative body, such as the Carlsbad City Council, to offer
and approve motions on certain actions not requiring an ordinance or a resolution. This gives City
Council Members the ability to entertain motions not put forth by staff.
Minute motions are addressed in Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 1.20.0G0(C), which says, in
part:
" ... Items of business may be placed on the agenda by any member of the council, the
city manager or the city attorney, or by council action. Council-originated items must be
submitted to the city manager not less than seven days before the date of the council
meeting at which the member desires the item to appear on the agenda. Nothing in this
section precludes a council member from requesting council action to place an item on
the agenda for a future meeting.
After receiving the informational report on April 14, 2020, the City Council directed staff to
return back at a future date with a resolution and information on categorizing minute motions,
Administrative Services Branch
Finance Department
1635 Faraday Avenue I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 760-602-2430 t I 760-602-8553 f
Council Memo -City Council Minute Motion Update (Districts -All)
July 29, 2021
Page 2
defining certain circumstances in which the resource estimate process for some minute motions
either would not apply or could be waived and what the voting options for a waiver would be.
Additionally, due to COVID-19, staff's workload and priorities quickly diverted to COVID-19
related emergency activity and only necessary essential city operations. Since that time, minute
motions by City Council have become less frequent in nature and staff has worked diligently to
manage the outstanding minute motion list. The City Manager has also directed that if any
minute motion is approved, and should a review of the request result in a significant amount of
staff time or costs, the minute motion request will be returned to the City Council for additional
direction with any associated costs noted for the City Council's consideration.
Staff anticipates the amount of time and effort needed to perform these assessments can be
made in the course of normal city leadership, management and supervision, and will not entail
any additional costs to the city. It is always the intent of staff to provide the City Council with
timely and accurate information to help it make informed policy decisions.
As such, this minute motion will be closed.
cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Celia Brewer, City Attorney