HomeMy WebLinkAbout101-Staff Report.pdf
SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL
MEETING DATE: December16, 2009 AGENDA ITEM:
DEPARTMENT: City Manager’s Office CITY MANAGER: Dave Anderson
PREPARED BY: Ann Sullivan, City Clerk DIRECTOR: Dave Anderson
SUBJECT: City Council Mayoral Rotation Policy
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Accept report and direct staff accordingly.
REPORT SUMMARY:
Prior Mayor Chuck Page requested that the City Clerk conduct a survey to determine which cities
practice rotation of Council leadership, and that a formal policy of rotation be agendized and considered
by the City Council.
The reorganization of the Council occurs at a special meeting held on the first Tuesday of the month of
December.
I polled other cities in California inquiring if their council had a policy regarding mayoral rotation. Many
cities practice a rotation in which the Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen annually by the City Council
from among its members by the affirmative vote of three or more of the Council Members at a Special
Meeting on the first Tuesday in the month of December. The Mayor and Vice Mayor serve terms of one
year. The criteria for choosing Council leadership is generally based upon seniority or highest vote total
in any given election.
The City’s current practice is outlined below:
The Mayor and Vice Mayor are chosen annually by the City Council from among its members by the
affirmative vote of three or more of the Council Members at a Special Meeting on the first Tuesday in the
month of December.
Tradition of the Saratoga Council is to place the candidates with the highest votes in any one election into
a queue to rotate into the position of Mayor and Vice Mayor. In each City Council election, the
candidate with the most votes is placed first in the rotation of that group, the candidate with the second
highest votes is placed second, and in the years when there is a third seat contest, the candidate with the
third highest votes is placed third in that rotation.
Additional considerations:
o As can be seen in the attached chart, the Council seat with the third highest vote total becomes
Vice Mayor in the fourth year of their term without being able to attain the office of Mayor
(without being re-elected and placing first or second). Consequently, the next Mayor will not
have the benefit of having been Vice Mayor in the prior year.
o In the case of mid-term Council appointments, rotation may be interrupted because the appointed
Council member is placed last in seniority. Some City Council rotation policies do not allow the
appointed member to serve as Mayor.
o Right to Decline Office – Council members may decline to stand for the office of Mayor or Vice
Mayor, which results in each subsequent Council member moving up in sequence.
Language in the attached survey for the City of Del Mar resolves each of the above issues in our current
(unwritten) rotation policy.
I have attached the survey results from the cities that responded for your review.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
N/A
CONSEQUENCES OF NOT FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED ACTION:
The Council reorganization will continue as current practice with no Council Policy implemented.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
N/A
FOLLOW UP ACTION:
Implement Council’s direction.
ADVERTISING, NOTICING AND PUBLIC CONTACT:
Notice for this meeting.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – Rotation Chart
Attachment B – Survey results