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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-18-1998 Staff Reports I� 'I SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NO. 4,1 0 AGENDA ITEM 4'C 1 MEETING DATE: FEBRUARY 18, 1998 CITY MANAGER•- !1, ORIGINATING DEPT.: CITY MANAGER DEPT. HEAD: SUBJECT: Letter from Good Government Group suggesting changes to City Council meeting format la RECOMMENDED MOTION(S): Move to direct the City Clerk to include an item called "Report from City Manager" at the end of the March 4th City Council meeting agenda. REPORT SUMMARY: The attached letter from the Good Government Group dated February 6 suggests including an oral report from the City Manager on mostly routine, non controversial matters of City business during regular City Council meetings. With the advent of live cablecasting of Council meetings, it seems to me that this could be both an efficient and effective way for residents to keep current on City affairs many of which would not otherwise come before the City Council. I agree that such a report should be kept brief, five minutes maximum, and could appear at the end of the regular agenda after "City Council Items" without violating the Brown Act. I am prepared to make such reports and suggest experimenting with the idea at your March 4 regular meeting if the Council desires. If, afterwards, the Council is in favor of keeping these reports on the agenda, then the City Clerk will adjust future agendas accordingly. If, on the other hand, the Council does not desire to continue with these reports, then it would still be possible for the City Manager to address the Council under "Other Items" at the end of the meeting as is the current practice. Adding "Report from City Manager" to the agenda would simply designate a spot on the agenda for the City Manager to convey any information to the Council and public which is deemed necessary or noteworthy. FISCAL IMPACTS: None. ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT: Nothing additional. CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ACTING ON RECOMMENDED MOTION(S): A "Report from City Manager" will not be included on future regular meeting agendas. FOLLOW UP ACTIONS: "Report from City Manager" will be added to regular meeting agendas after City Council Items. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Letter from Good Government Group dated February 6. 113= l i r©©I L1ITL/ ZL IVIJJP February 6, 1998 To: Mayor and City Council of Saratoga Fr: Saratoga Good Government Group Board of Directors Re: Suggestion to City Council Format GGG commends you for your continuing support to televise city council meetings. This truly provides the community an easy way to understand and be informed on how our local government operates. As Council discussions are usually limited to items requiring some form of action and are of significant interest to the community our concern is with items that are of an informational nature. We sometimes read in the Saratoga News or Mercury about lawsuits, personnel changes and other important events that we did not hear about at Council meetings. To assist the Council in continuing to have outstanding communications with the public we suggest that the Council consider adding a City Manager's report to televised meetings. This brief (several minutes) oral report could include administrative decisions, staff accomplishments, events, activities, problems that would be of interest to the community and announce any lawsuits or resolution of such as would be appropriate. The Council could also take this opportunity to make comments on the items presented. We recommend that the Council place this suggestion on their agenda for -a future meeting discussion. Thank you, Marlene Duffin President cc Saratoga News THE GOOD GOVERNMENT GROUP OF SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA, INC. P.O. BOX 371 11 SARATOGA, CA 95071 -0371