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Home My Public Portal About22) 9.A. First Reading and Intro of Ord. 13-973 Amending Regular City Council Meeting Start TimeAGENDA ITEM 9.A MANAGEMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT AMENDED MEMORANDUM 6/14/2013 DATE: June 18, 2013 TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Jose E. Pulido, City Manager By: Peggy Kuo, City Clerk SUBJECT: FIRST READING AND INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 13-973 AMENDING CHAPTER 1, SECTION 2100 OF THE TEMPLE CITY MUNICIPAL CODE AMENDING THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING START TIME FROM 7:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. RECOMMENDATION: The City Council is requested to: a) Introduce Ordinance No. 13-973 (Attachment "A") for first reading by title only, amending Chapter 1, Section 2100, of the Temple City Municipal Code amending the Regular City Council meeting start time from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; and b) Schedule the second reading of Ordinance No. 13-973 for July 16, 2013; or c) Provide staff with direction on how to proceed. -7e[dMe] :tell]kiU1i 1. On April 12, 1965, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 65-150 amending Section 2703 of the Temple City Municipal Code declaring the regular meetings of the City Council to be held on the first and third Tuesday of each month at the hour of 7:30 p.m. 2. On May 21, 2013, the City Council directed staff to bring back options regarding amendment to the Regular City Council meeting start time for Council's consideration. 3. On June 3, 2013, the required public noticing for City Council to consider a ordinance amendment to the regular City Council meeting start time was published in the legal notice section of the Temple City Tribune. City Council June 18, 2013 Page 2 of 3 Since 1965, the Temple City Regular City Council meeting has been held on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. The City Council has expressed an interest in changing the start time of its regular meetings from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. A decision to change the City Council meeting start time is discretionary and would require an amendment to the City's Municipal Code. Pros Possible benefits in starting the regular City Council meetings half an hour earlier includes: a shorter wait time for those who wish to attend the meeting right after work; potential increased public attendance because meetings are anticipated to end at a more reasonable hour; provide Council and staff additional time as needed to consider complex issues during a single meeting versus continuing the matter to the next meeting; and potentially prevent extremely late night meetings as the productivity of staff and the City Councilmembers decline during longer meetings. During 2012, the average Regular City Council Meeting, including closed session, lasted approximately three hours and several other meetings lasted almost four hours. In 2013, two of the eight Regular City Council meetings held, exceeded four hours. Staff conducted an informal survey of surrounding cities and found that two out of the 11 cities surveyed has a meeting start time of 7:30 p.m., six starts at 7:00 p.m., two starts at 6:30 p.m. and one starts at 6:00 p.m. (Attachment "B"). Cons Some possible concerns City Council may have regarding starting the Regular City Council meetings half an hour earlier could be that some citizens may have difficulty attending public meetings because of work commitments or that it may prevent otherwise qualified candidates from seeking public office. It is staff's assessment that a indicator of citizen participation at City Council meetings are the specific topics on the agenda and perhaps not the meeting start time (i.e., majority of Temple City's Special City Council Meetings and Community Meetings with special public interests start at 7:00 p.m.). As for the concern with preventing qualified City Council candidates from seeking public office, it is difficult for a citizen with a strict work schedule to serve on the City Council, regardless of the start time of the regular City Council meeting. This is due to the overall time commitment associated with serving as an elected official in Temple City. If the City Council agrees to amend the Regular City Council Meeting start time from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., it would be necessary to introduce proposed Ordinance No. 13- 973 on first reading and set the public hearing for second reading and adoption of Ordinance No. 13-973 for July 16, 2013 as City Council will not have a meeting on July 2, 2013. City Council June 18, 2013 Page 3 of 3 Adoption of the proposed Ordinance will change the Regular City Council Meeting start time from 7:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. FISCAL IMPACT: This item may have an impact on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-14 City Budget in that overtime for non -management employees attending the meeting would be reduced by a half an hour each. F-WITTOUFMA TM A. Ordinance No. 13-973 B. Survey of meeting start time ATTACHMENT A ORDINANCE NO. 13-973 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY, AMENDING CHAPTER 1, SECTION 2100 OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE TIME OF COUNCIL MEETINGS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY DOES ORDAIN: SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Section 2100 of the Temple City Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 2100. Council Meetinqs. Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held in the council chamber at the city hall, at 5938 North Kauffman Avenue, Temple City, California at seven o'clock (7:00) P.M. on the first and third Tuesday of each month of the year. SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall take effect on August 15, 2013, thirty (30) days after its adoption. The City Clerk, or her duly appointed deputy, shall attest to the adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause this Ordinance to be published once in a newspaper circulated in the City of Temple City. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 161" day of July, 2013. f ASY6 . ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Clerk City Attorney I, Peggy Kuo, City Clerk of the City of Temple City, hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 13-973 was introduced at the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Temple City held on the 18`" day of June 2013, its second reading on 16 day of July, and was duly passed, approved and adopted by said Council at the regular meeting held on July 16, 2013 by the following vote: AYES: Councilmember- NOES: Councilmember- ABSENT: Councilmember- ABSTAIN: Councilmember- City Clerk ATTACHMENT B For comparison, other local jurisdictions meeting schedules are as follows: City Start Time Alhambra 7:00 p.m. Arcadia 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Covina 6:30 p.m. EI Monte 7:00 p.m. Glendora 7:00 p.m. Irwindale 6:00 P.M. Monrovia 7:30 p.m. Monterey Park 7:00 p.m. Rosemead 7:00 p.m. San Gabriel 7:30 p.m. Sierra Madre 6:30 p.m. Meeting Day 2"° and 4'" Monday 1st and 3rd Tuesday 1s` and 3`0 Tuesday 1s` and 3'Q Tuesday 2 n and 4`" Tuesday 2"O and 4`" Wednesday 1 stand 3rd Tuesday 1s` and 3`° Wednesday 2nd and 4th Tuesday 1s' and 3`" Tuesday 2"° and 4" Tuesday