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#4 Public hearing and action to change Council meeting start time (File Charter Ord #2009-008)CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE MEMORANDUM November 16, 2009 TO: City Council FROM:Thomas E. Malone, Management Analyst SUBJECT: Public Hearing and Action on a Proposed Charter Ordinance Amending the Meeting Time of Regular Common Council Meetings from 7:00 P.M. to 6:30 P.M. on the Second and Fourth Monday’s of the Month (File Charter Ordinance 2009-008) Request The Janesville Gazette requested that the Council President consider placing an agenda item to discuss City Council meetings be regularly scheduled to start at 6:30 pm rather than 7:00 pm. City Manager Recommendation: This item is being brought back to the City Council due to a co-sponsoring request from Councilman McDonald and Councilman Rashkin. The Council policy allows via two provisions the ability for two Council members to request an item be brought back if the motion is voted down. I recommend that the City Council focus on whether it is preferred to maintain a starting time at 7:00 or whether it would be more citizen and City Council member friendly to begin 30 minutes to an hour earlier with the motivation to end approximately an hour earlier. Suggested Motion If the City Council wishes to consider a change in the time for Council meetings then, following the public hearing, the proposed Charter Ordinance should be approved. Background Every city has a charter that establishes the form and substance of the City’s structure and operation. To make changes to the charter, the Council must pass a charter ordinance. Janesville’s charter details when the common council meets. Charter ordinances are more involved than typical “general ordinances”. ? Amending a Charter Ordinance requires a two-thirds vote, or 5 affirmative votes, of the Common Council, instead of a simple majority (4 votes). ? A Charter Ordinance does not take effect until 60 days after its passage and publication. If citizens oppose the Charter Ordinance, they may use this 60 day time period to gather the appropriate signatures to require a referendum on the Charter Ordinance. The Charter Ordinance amending the meeting time from 7:00 pm to 6:30 pm appeared on the October 12, 2009 City Council agenda. During the Council’s discussion an amendment was made to the Charter Ordinance to change the start time to 6:00 pm. The amendment failed on a 2-4 vote, and the Charter Ordinance failed to pass on a 3-3 vote. Attached is a peer survey that was conducted of the start time for City Council meetings in other communities. Analysis Below is a list of potential pros and cons to changing the start time of City Council Meetings to 6:30 pm. Pros ? Starting meetings at 6:30 would potentially provide the media with extended time to meet deadlines and include a more complete description of council meetings. ? There is the potential that meetings would not be in session as late into the evening because of the earlier start time. This would be an advantage to residents who are in attendance for later agenda items. Cons ? Starting meetings at an earlier time has the potential of being an inconvenient for citizens who are unable to make a 6:30 pm meeting due to work or personal reasons. ? The City Council currently holds a listening session from 6:00 until 7:00 prior to the first Council meeting of the month. If this request is approved that listening session will either need to be shortened by ½ hour, or the start time will need to be moved to 5:30. ? Under the current start time additional meetings are sometimes scheduled prior to the Council meetings, this could impact the ability to schedule those other meetings. CC: Eric Levitt, City Manager Jacob J. Winzenz, Assistant City Manager/Director of Administrative Services Ð»»® Ý±³³«²·¬§ Ý±«²½·´ Ó»»¬·²¹ Í¬¿®¬ Ì·³» Ý±³³«²·¬§Í¬¿®¬ Ì·³»Ü¿§ Ô¿ Ý®±»éæíðî²¼ Ì¸«®¼¿§ Þ»´±·¬éæððï¬ ú í®¼ Ó±²¼¿§ É¿«©¿¬±¿éæíðï¬ ú í®¼ Ì«»¼¿§ Î¿½·²»éæððï¬ ¿ú í®¼ Ì«»¼¿§ éæìë Þ®±±µº·»´¼ï¬ ú í®¼ Ì«»¼¿§ ß°°´»¬±²èæððÛ¿½¸ Ó±²¼¿§ É»¬ß´´·éæððï¬ ú í®¼ Ì«»¼¿§ Õ»²±¸¿éæððï¬ ú í®¼ Ó±²¼¿§ Ö¿²»ª·´´»éæððî²¼ ú ì¬¸ Ó±²¼¿§ Ú±²¼ ¼« Ô¿½éæððî²¼ ú ì¬¸ É»¼²»¼¿§ É¿«¿«éæððî²¼ ú ì¬¸ Ì«»¼¿§ É¿«µ»¸¿éæíðï¬ ú í®¼ Ì«»¼¿§ Û¿« Ý´¿·®»ìæððî²¼ ú ì¬¸ Ì«»¼¿§ Ñ¸µ±¸êæððî²¼ ú ì¬¸ Ì«»¼¿§ Ù®»»² Þ¿§éæððî²¼ ú ì¬¸ Ì«»¼¿§ Ó¿¼·±²êæíðï¬ ú í®¼ Ì«»¼¿§ øï÷ ï¬ ïë ³·² · º±® °«¾´·½ ½±³³»²¬ CHARTER ORDINANCE NO. 2009 – 008 CITY OF JANESVILLE Amendment To Certain Current Charter Ordinance Section 2.04.030 of the City of Janesville An ordinance amending the meeting time of regular common council meetings. THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF JANESVILLE DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION I. Charter Ordinance Section 2.04.030 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Janesville is hereby amended to read as follows: “2.04.030 Time--Place . Regular meetings of the council shall be held in the council chambers at six thirty o’clock p.m. the city hall at seven o'clock p.m. Special meetings shall be held at the place and at the time designated in the notice thereof.” SECTION II. All other provisions and sections of the Charter Ordinance(s) of the City of Janesville not expressly and specifically amended in the manner set forth above are hereby reaffirmed and ratified, shall remain unchanged, and shall remain in full force and effect. Motion by: ADOPTED: Second by: Councilmember Aye Nay Pass Absent APPROVED: Brunner McDonald Perrotto Eric Levitt, City Manager Rashkin Steeber ATTEST: Truman Voskuil Jean Ann Wulf, City Clerk-Treasurer APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorney Proposed by: Council President Truman Prepared by: Management Assistant