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BASICS OF CITY
GOVERNMENT
Council Workshop
March 18, 2014
Form of Government
• Non-Charter Code City
—Authority: any local action not prohibited by
constitution or not in conflict with general
laws of the state
—Power: all powers granted to any other class
of city, including future legislative enactments
• Mayor-Council form of government
—Council: legislative and policy-making powers
—Mayor: administrative powers
• Council sets policy; Mayor implements
policy
Policymaking Role of Council
• Council sets policy. Decides matters of
city-wide importance
—Comprehensive Plan
—Budget(and attendant service allocations)
—Capital improvements
—Taxes and fees
—City salaries
—Contract awards
—Confirm board and commission members
—Real property purchases and sales
—Street franchises,licenses,vacations
1
Administrative Role of Mayor
• Mayor implements policy set by council.
—oversees daily operations of the city
—Spends and transfers funds within established
budgets
—Hires and fires city staff
—Negotiates labor contracts
—Enforces contracts
—Prosecutes lawsuits
—Presides over council meetings
—Appoints board and commission members
—Reports to council on general health of city
—Acts as ceremonial head of city
Council President
• Elected by council
• 2 year term,beginning even-numbered years
• Must be elected by 2"d meeting in January
• Serves as Mayor Pro Tempore
• Duties:
—Appoint committee members and chairs
—Set agenda in coordination with Mayor
—Call for special meetings
—Communicate on behalf of/with consent of council
—Ensure adequate council facilities and support
—Liaison to Mayor's office
—Substitute for absent members at committees
—Attend regional meetings to represent council's views
—Focal point for council,mayor and staff
Pro Tempore Positions
• Mayor Pro Tern
—Council president serves in Mayor's absence
—If mayor and council president absent, most
senior councilmember serves
• President Pro Tern
—May be appointed by council president,if
absence planned;otherwise,most senior
councilmember serves
2
Mayor and Council Relations
• Separation of Powers
• Mutual respect for separate roles
• All are elected; all represent city
government
• Within council:
—Respect differences
—Avoid surprises
—Address conflict
Relations with City Staff
• Mayor is their ultimate supervisor
• Staff is there to implement council policy, under
direction of Mayor
• Staff wants to listen, understand,and support
you
• Staff has expertise;they try hard;they seek to
earn and keep your trust
• Communicate with staff; seek Mayor's input,but
avoid direction to staff
Meetings
• Regular Council Meetings/Workshops
• Committee Meetings
—Critical to council decision-making structure
—Heavy lifting at committee level
• Special Meetings
—Called by mayor or council president,written request
of 4 or more councilmembers,or by motion of
majority of full council.
—24 hour Prior written notice must be delivered
personally or by mail to
•Each counalmember
•All media who have filed a request to be notified
—Notice must state time,place,and business to be
conducted—final action only on listed business
—Agenda is set and should not be amended
3
. Open Public Meetings
•The legislature finds and declares that...
all public agencies of this state and
subdivisions thereof exist to aid in the
conduct of the people's business. It is the
intent of this chapter that their actions be
taken openly and that their deliberations
be conducted openly.
(and . . )
Quorum Required for Meeting
•A quorum is a majority of the full 7-
member council or 3-member committee.
• Council meetings:
—Need 4 members to take action.
• Council Committees:
—Need 2 members to take action.
—Councilmembers can substitute for each other
for committees
Open Public Meetings
• Which meetings are subject to the Act?
—All meetings(except quasi-judicial)
• What is a"meeting"under the Act?
—Any meeting where"action"is taken
• What is"action"under the Act?
—The"transaction of official business.. .including but
not limited to receipt of public testimony,
deliberations,discussion,considerations,review,
evaluations,and final actions"
4
Open Public Meetings
•Telephone discussions
• Emails
• Public Records
• Social gatherings
Executive Session
• Must first describe purpose for session and
estimated time it will end
• Staff,or others,may be invited to attend;all
others excluded
• Limited purposes allowed for executive session:
—Buy or sell property,when price might be affected
—Labor negotiations or personnel matters
—Discuss potential/pending litigation with legal counsel
Executive Session
• Only discuss matters permitted for
discussion during executive session
• Discussions are confidential; do not
subsequently discuss or disclose
•Action cannot be taken during executive
session; action can only be taken during
the regular meeting
5
Voting
• Quorum: Majority of total council(4)or committee(2)
• Action: Majority of quorum,except majority of full
council needed for:
-Ordinance
- Grant or revocation of a franchise or license
- Resolution for the payment of money
• Mayor. May cast tiebreaking vote(except above&
quasi-judicial matters)
• Superrnajority of full council required:
-Override mayor's veto(at least 5 votes)
- Emergency ordinance(unanimous vote of those members
attending the meeting,or 5 votes,whichever is greater)
• If mayor vetoes,return to council for reconsideration;
council may override by superrnajority vote
Ordinance, Resolution or Motion?
• Ordinance: Most permanent; items of
long-term application or significance
• Resolution: More temporary in nature;
statement of opinion or position on issues
• Motion: All else; accepting grants, buying
or selling property, awarding contracts,
etc.
Robert's Rules of Order
• Exist to serve council as it conducts
business—these are your rules
• General rules
-One subject at a time
-One person speaks at a time
-All members have equal rights to speak,after
first being recognized by mayor
-Rights of minority must be protected;will of
majority must prevail
6
Hierarchy of Motions
• Main Motion
• Subsidiary Motions
—Amend(debatable)
—Amend the amendment(debatable)
—limit debate(not debatable)
—Call for question,or Close Debate(not debatable)
—Refer to Committee(debatable)
—Lay on table or Postpone(not debatable)
• Always address the motion at hand,then work
your way"back down the ladder"to the main
motion.
Quasi-judicial Meetings
• EXEMPT from Open Public Meetings Act
•Judicial capacity, rather than legislative
•Adjudicating issues involving specific
rights among specific individuals
—Fact based decision
—Applying policy,not making it
• Site-specific rezones; conditional use
applications, variances,and preliminary
plat applications
Quasi-judicial Meetings
Conflict of Interest (direct)
• Impartial Decisionmakers
—Personal Interest(financial gain,property ownership,
employment,family or social interest)
—Prejudgment of Issues("You're just wasting your
time!'D
—Partiality(speak from audience;continue because
vote is assured)
• "The bias of one member affects the action of
the other members"
7
Quasi-judicial Meetings
Appearance of Fairness Doctrine
• "To guarantee that strict procedural
requirements are followed so that land use
hearings are not only fair, but also appearto be
fair"
• Created first as judicial doctrine,then legislated
into statutory law
• To protect against actual bias,prejudice,
improper influence,or favoritism
• Also to avoid suspicion,misinterpretation,
prejudgment,partiality,and conflicts of interest
Quasi-judicial Meetings
Appearance of Fairness Doctrine
•To maintain the appearance of fairness,
you must avoid ex parte contacts.
• Ex parte contacts/communications are
those with proponents or opponents of the
subject of the hearing.
• If ex parte occur, you must disclose them
on the record at the hearing,and
proponent or opponent must be given
opportunity to rebut the communication.
Code of Ethics
• Councilmembers may not:
—Receive a gift or compensation for a matter
connected to the councilmember's services
—Disclose confidential information gained by
reason of the councilmembers position or use
confidential info for personal benefit
—Vote on a contract for which he or she has a
personal pecuniary interest
8
Council Liability
• Legislative Action: Councilmembers enjoy
immunity("legislative immunity')from
suit for legislative action.
• Administrative Action: Councilmembers
who engage in administrative action do
not enjoy legislative immunity. In this
circumstance, councilmembers are liable
as staff would be liable.
Defense & Indemnification
• Chapter 2.96 Kent City Code
• Provides that the City will defend and
indemnify councilmembers in the event
they are subject to a lawsuit as a result of
actions taken within the scope of their
duties as a councilmember
Public Records
• Any record relating to your work as a
councilmembers is a public record.
• Public records are subject to disclosure.
• Record may be paper,or electronic.
• It does not matter where the record is retained
(city-owned device or private device).
• Failure to disclose a public record subjects the
city to significant penalties and attorney's fees.
9
Public Records
• Send all city related emails using city
email account.
•The records you create are public, and
may be seen by anyone.
10
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