agenda for open government commission · pdf file6. review of may 21, ... you may deliver...

Open Government Commission

AGENDA FOR OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION This meeting is being held in a wheelchair accessible location. To request a disability-related accommodation(s) to participate in the meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the Disability Services specialist at 981-6342 (V) or 981-6345 (TDD) at least three business days before the meeting date. Please refrain from wearing scented products to this meeting. North Berkeley Senior Center Regular Meeting 1901 Hearst Street June 18, 2015 Classroom C (Upstairs) 8:00 p.m.

Secretary: Savith Iyengar, Deputy City Attorney The Commission may act on any item on this agenda.

1. Call to Order 8:00 p.m.

2. Roll Call.

3. Public Comment. Comments on subjects not on the agenda that are within the

Commission’s purview are heard at the beginning of meeting. Speakers may comment on agenda items when the Commission hears those items.

4. Reports. a. Report from Chair. b. Report from Staff.

5. Approval of minutes for the May 21, 2015 Meeting.

6. Review of May 21, 2015 Complaint filed by Rozalina Gutman alleging violations of the Brown Act at November 13, 2012 Council meeting and Public Records Act regarding requests in November 2011 and February 2012; staff report regarding same; Commission discussion and possible action.

7. Staff report regarding Redistricting Commission Charter Amendment and ordinance amendment; discussion and possible action.

8. Adjournment.

Communications None. Communications to Berkeley boards, commissions or committees are public record and will become part of the City’s electronic records, which are accessible through the City’s website. Please note: e-mail addresses, names, addresses, and other contact information are not required, but if included in any communication to a City board, commission or committee, will become part of the public record. If you do not want your e-mail address or any other contact information to be made public, you may deliver communications via U.S. Postal Service or in person to the secretary of the relevant board, commission or committee. If you do not want your contact information included in the public record, please do not include that information in your communication. Please contact the secretary to the relevant board, commission or committee for further information. SB 343 Disclaimer: Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Commission regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at the City Attorney’s Office located at 2180 Milvia St., 4th Floor, Berkeley, CA.

2180 Milvia Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: 510.981.6998 TDD: 510.981.6903 Fax: 510.981-6960 E-mail: [email protected]

Open Government Commission

MINUTES North Berkeley Senior Center Regular Meeting 1901 Hearst Street May 21, 2015 Dining Room Members Present: Brad Smith (Chair), Dean Metzger (Vice Chair), Patrick O’Donnell, Al

Murray, Dave Ritchie, Sherry Smith Members Absent: Alice Lin, Jennifer Lombardi (excused), Michael Smart Also Present: Savith Iyengar, Secretary/Deputy City Attorney 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 7:32 p.m. 2. Roll Call Roll call taken. 3. Public Comment (items not on agenda) No public comment on matters not on agenda. Seven members of the public in attendance. 4. Report

a. Report from Chair b. Report from Staff

None. 5. Approval of minutes for the April 16, 2015 Meeting.

a. Public comment: no speakers. b. Commission discussion and action.

Motion to approve minutes (M/S/C: Murray/O’Donnell; Ayes: B. Smith, Metzger, O’Donnell, Murray, Ritchie, S. Smith; Noes: None; Abstain: None; Absent: Lin, Lombardi (excused), Smart).

2180 Milvia St., Berkeley, CA 94704 Tel: 510.981.6998 TDD: 510.981.6903 Fax: 510.981-6960

E-mail: [email protected]

OGC May 21, 2015 Page 2 of 2 6. Annual report under BMC Section 2.06.190.C; discussion and possible action.

Motion to accept annual report (M/S/C: O’Donnell/S. Smith; Ayes: B. Smith, Metzger, O’Donnell, Murray, Ritchie, S. Smith; Noes: None; Abstain: None; Absent: Lin, Lombardi (excused), Smart). 7. Staff reports regarding Redistricting Commission Charter Amendment;

discussion and workshop session.

a. Public Comment: four speakers. b. Commission discussion and action.

Motion to (i) form subcommittee to work with staff, councilmembers and stakeholders on redistricting commission charter amendment and ordinance amendment consisting of Dean Metzger, Patrick O’Donnell, Al Murray and Dave Ritchie, and (ii) name Dean Metzger as interim subcommittee chair until subcommittee’s first meeting (M/S/C: Metzger/Murray; Ayes: B. Smith, Metzger, O’Donnell, Murray, Ritchie, S. Smith; Noes: None; Abstain: None; Absent: Lin, Lombardi (excused), Smart). 8. Adjournment Motion to adjourn (M/S/C: O’Donnell/Metzger; Ayes: B. Smith, Metzger, O’Donnell, Murray, Ritchie, S. Smith; Noes: None; Abstain: None; Absent: Lin, Lombardi (excused), Smart). The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

June 18, 2015 Page 2 Re: Gutman Complaint

On 11/13/2012 Berkeley Mayor Bates had engaged [in] blunt and shameless actions to prevent [Complainant] from participating in the City Council meeting’s segment of non-agenda public comments. He got up and began yelling at me rudely, accusing me in public [of] “breaking rules,” most unfairly.

Second, the Complaint alleges that City staff violated the California Public Records Act (“PRA”) by “never provid[ing]” certain documents the Complainant alleges to have requested on November 11 and 12, 2011. The Complainant also submitted supplemental materials that appear to allege further that City staff did not respond to a PRA request by Grigory Gutman on February 13, 2012. These supplemental materials are attached hereto as Attachment B. Background Staff reviewed the following materials in preparation of this report: the Complaint, including the Complainant’s alleged November 11 and 12, 2011 PRA request (Attachment A); supplemental materials received on June 5, 2015, including Mr. Gutman’s alleged February 13, 2012 PRA request (Attachment B); video segments from the November 13, 2012 City Council meeting, available on the City’s website; the real-time recorder transcript from the November 13, 2012 City Council meeting (Attachment C); The Berkeley City Council Rules of Procedure and Order (“Council Rules”) that were in effect on November 13, 2012 (Attachment D); and the City’s records of PRA requests made by the Complainant (Attachment E). November 13, 2012 City Council Meeting At the conclusion of the ceremonial items and the City Manager’s comments, Mayor Bates announced that Council would hear public comments on items not on the agenda. He stated that “[t]he clerk has five names,” asked those whose names are called to “please come forward,” and noted that each speaker would “have two minutes” to speak. The City Clerk called five names: Adena Lorenson, Chris Bryant, Jacqueline Kent, Joel Mark, and “Alina.” Three individuals spoke. The Mayor asked: “Another person?” The Clerk read off the names again as follows: “Chris Bryant, Adena Lorenson, Jacqueline something. I can’t read the last name.” At that point, the Complainant approached the podium. A colloquy between the Complainant, Mayor, Clerk and two Councilmembers followed regarding whether the Complainant’s name was called. The conversation lasted approximately one minute and 13 seconds. It ended when the Clerk stated that the name “Alina” was called, and the Complainant stated that “[t]hat’s part of my name, Rosalina [sic].” The Complainant began her public comment at this time. During her comment period, the Complainant asked the Mayor several questions and the Mayor responded to those questions. The Complainant spoke for approximately 2 minutes and 11 seconds. At the sound of the buzzer indicating that the 2 minute period had concluded, the Mayor stated: “Your time is up. Thank you.” The Complainant replied: “I know my time is up ... Your time will be up very soon.” The Mayor then commented that the Complainant

June 18, 2015 Page 3 Re: Gutman Complaint must have “turned in a whole lot of cards.” After the Complainant’s public comment, one more member of the public spoke before the public comment period concluded. November 2011 and February 2012 PRA Requests The Complaint alleges that Complainant made a PRA request on November 11 and 12, 2011 yet City staff “never provided” the requested document. The Complainant also submitted supplemental materials that appear to allege further that the Complainant’s father Grigory Gutman made a PRA request on February 13, 2012 that was addressed to “Berkeley Chief of Police M. Meehan” and was allegedly hand-delivered to the “Police Department, 2100 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94704” on February 14, 2012. Staff searched the City’s Customer Relations Management (“CRM”) module for records of PRA requests made by Complainant or Grigory Gutman. Staff was unable to find any record of any PRA requests by Grigory Gutman. Staff was unable to find any record of PRA requests by Complainant dated November 11 or 12, 2011, or February 13 or 14, 2012. All searches included variations of Complainant’s and Mr. Gutman’s names, as well as searches by last name only and variations thereto. Staff located PRA requests made by Complainant on the following dates: November 1, 2011, January 11, 2012, September 28, 2012, December 13, 2012, October 1, 2014, and April 24, 2015. Copies of these PRA requests are attached to this memorandum as Attachment E. Complainant’s PRA requests received closest to the dates of her alleged requests – i.e., those dated November 2011 and January 2012, were addressed as follows. Records show that the November 1, 2011 PRA request was made by telephone. Complainant requested a copy of a message taken by 311 for the City Manager. Staff responded to Complainant’s PRA request within 2 days, with a letter dated November 3, 2011 attaching one page, described as a copy of the requested message. Records show that the January 11, 2012 PRA request was made in person. Complainant requested “Incident 11-70283” from the Berkeley Police Department (“BPD”). Staff responded to the request the same day, providing 19 pages of documents and receiving payment of $1.90. Discussion This Commission has jurisdiction to “hear complaints by any person concerning alleged non-compliance with [the Open Government] Ordinance, the Brown Act or the Public Records Act, by the City or any of its legislative bodies, officers or employees.” BMC §2.06.190.A.1.a. The Complaint alleges that the City Council violated the Brown Act based on its actions at the November 13, 2012 City Council meeting. The Complaint also alleges violations

June 18, 2015 Page 4 Re: Gutman Complaint of the PRA based on City staff’s alleged failure to provide requested documents. Each allegation is discussed below. November 13, 2012 City Council Meeting The Complaint alleges that the City Council violated the Brown Act based on Mayor Bates’ alleged “actions to prevent [Complainant] from participating in the City Council meeting’s segment of non-agenda public comments.” The Brown Act states that “[e]very agenda for regular meetings shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public, before or during the legislative body’s consideration of the item.” Gov’t Code §54954.3(a). The legislative body of a local agency may adopt “reasonable regulations to ensure that the intent of subdivision (a) is carried out, including, but not limited to, regulations limiting the total amount of time allocated for public testimony on particular issues and for each individual speaker.” Gov’t Code §54954.3(b). The Brown Act provides further that “members of a legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony rights under Section 54954.3.” Gov’t Code §54954.2(a)(2). The OGO does not address the issue of when or how long the public is allowed to speak during Council meetings. The Complaint does not appear to allege that the Complainant was not given an opportunity to speak. Instead, the Complaint states that the Mayor took “actions to prevent” the Complainant from participating. The video recording and transcript show that the Complainant did in fact speak for at least 2 minutes during the first round of public comment on non-agenda items. The Mayor’s responses to the Complainant’s questions posed during this time period are consistent with the Brown Act. Accordingly, the Complaint appears to be related to the Council Rules of Procedure rather than the Brown Act or OGO. As to the Council Rules, staff finds the following sections – which were in effect at the time of the November 13, 2012 meeting – instructive on the issues before the Commission:

IV. CONDUCT OF MEETING

A. Comments from the Public

Public comment will be taken in the following order:

• An initial ten-minute period of public comment on non-agenda items, after the commencement of the meeting and immediately after Ceremonial Matters and City Manager Comments.


• Public comment on the Consent and Information Calendars. • Public comment on action items, appeals and or public hearings

as they are taken up under procedures set forth in the sections governing each below.

• Public comment on non-agenda items from any speakers who did not speak during the first round of non-agenda public comment at the beginning of the meeting.

. . . 4. Public Comment on Non Agenda Matters.

Immediately following Ceremonial Matters and the City Manager Comments and prior to the Consent Calendar, five persons selected by lottery, will have two minutes each to address matters not on the Council agenda. Persons wishing to address the Council on matters not on the Council agenda during the initial ten-minute period for such comment, must submit a name card to the City Clerk in person at the meeting location and prior to commencement of that meeting. Five cards will be drawn by the City Clerk to determine the speakers who will be allowed to comment during the first round of public comment on non-agenda matters. The remainder of the speakers wishing to address the Council on non-agenda items will be heard at the end of the agenda. Name cards are not required for this second round of public comment on non-agenda matters.

Council Rules (Resolution No. 65,910-N.S.) (effective October 16, 2012), pp. 17-19. As noted above, the Complaint relates to the conduct of the Mayor during the meeting, specifically “engag[ing] [in] blunt and shameless actions to prevent [Complainant] from participating” during the public comment period on non-agenda items and “yelling at [Complainant] rudely, accusing [Complainant] in public [of] ‘breaking rules,’ most unfairly.” The Mayor’s duties related to running Council meetings include the following:

The Mayor shall preside at the meetings of the Council and shall preserve strict order and decorum at all regular and special meetings of the Council. The Mayor shall state every question coming before the Council, announce the decision of the Council on all subjects, and decide all questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the Council, in which event a majority vote of the Council shall govern and conclusively determine such question of order.

Council Rules, p. 3. The Mayor is responsible for preserving strict order and decorum at the meeting. The Council Rules further address decorum during Council meetings:


No person shall disrupt the orderly conduct of the Council meeting. Prohibited disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to shouting, making disruptive noises, such as boos or hisses, creating or participating in a physical disturbance, speaking out of turn or in violation of applicable rules, preventing or attempting to prevent others who have the floor from speaking, preventing others from observing the meeting, entering into or remaining in an area of the meeting room that is not open to the public, or approaching the Council table without consent. Any message to or contact with any member of the Council while the Council is in session shall be through the City Clerk.

Council Rules, p. 19. From staff’s review of the video recording online, and a review of relevant portions of the transcript, the Mayor’s actions in initially questioning whether Complainant’s name was called were responsive to a reasonable perception of disruption during the public comment period. The Clerk initially stated the name “Alina” prior to the public comment period, but did not restate the name after three members of the public had spoken and the Mayor inquired about remaining speakers. The transcript also suggests that the Mayor was familiar with Complainant. He stated that Complainant “come[s] [to] every meeting” and indicated that he had spoken with Complainant on a date prior to the meeting. As a result, the Mayor (as well as other members of City Council and the City Clerk) appears to have been reasonably confused about whether Complainant’s name was actually called given Complainant’s use of a pseudonym. Accordingly, the Mayor (as well as other members of City Council and the City Clerk) appears to have reasonably responded to a perceived disruption, consistent with his responsibilities under the Council Rules. Staff’s review also concluded that the Mayor and Council then provided Complainant at least two minutes to speak, and that Complainant did speak for at least two minutes during the first round of public comments on non-agenda items. Staff has attached the relevant portions of the transcript for the Commission’s review. Staff does not note any violation by the Mayor or other members of the City Council related to the Complainant’s ability to provide public comment or the Mayor’s duties to preserve strict order and decorum. Accordingly, it does not appear from staff’s review that there has been a violation of the Brown Act or OGO. Moreover, this Commission’s jurisdiction does not extend to allegations that the Council has violated its Rules of Procedure. For each of these reasons, staff concludes that no action is appropriate. Should the Commission choose to make any recommendations in this matter, they would fall under BMC Section 2.06.190.A.2, which provides that the Commission may advise City Council “as to any other action or policy that it deems advisable to enhance open and effective government in Berkeley.”

June 18, 2015 Page 7 Re: Gutman Complaint November 2011 and February 2012 PRA Requests The Complaint also alleges that City staff violated the PRA by “never provid[ing]” documents Complainant alleges to have requested on November 11 and 12, 2011. Complainant also submitted supplemental materials alleging that City staff did not respond to a PRA request by her father Grigory Gutman on February 13, 2012. The production of public records held by the City is governed by the PRA as follows:

Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall, within 10 days from receipt of the request, determine whether the request, in whole or in part, seeks copies of disclosable public records in the possession of the agency and shall promptly notify the person making the request of the determination and the reasons therefore.

Gov’t Code §6252(c). “Public records includes any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics.” Gov’t Code §6252(e). An agency has no duty to create a record that does not exist at the time of the request. Haynie v. Superior Court (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1061, 1075. The PRA does not address initiation of investigations, enforcement actions or preparation of opinions. In order to enable staff to capture and record PRA requests, staff has utilized the CRM module since July 1, 2011. In 2012, there were 35 designated staff in 14 departments that used CRM to track PRA requests. For each entry, staff was required to complete 15 data fields and update the entry several times based on the status of the request, including the date of the initial response, any documents obtained and paid for, as well as uploading the request or response letter when appropriate. Prior to July 1, 2011 and in 2012, the Information Technology (“IT”) Department and City Attorney staff conducted training for designated staff in every department regarding the CRM module and how to respond to PRA requests. Between July 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012, the City received 7,447 PRA requests. City staff fulfilled 7,387 (99.2%) PRA requests within the required time period; sixty requests (0.8%) were not timely fulfilled. As noted above, the City has no record of PRA requests made by the Complainant on November 11 or 12, 2011, or February 13 or 14, 2012, and no records of any PRA requests made by Grigory Gutman at any time. Staff does not believe that the Complaint supports a finding of a violation of the PRA. The City’s record-keeping process for PRA requests includes detailed entry into the CRM database. The City possesses extensive records of receiving and responding to PRA requests in 2011 and 2012, including records requested in person, by telephone, and by electronic or regular mail. The City also has specific records of PRA requests by Complainant on other dates: November 1, 2011, January 11, 2012, September 28, 2012, December 13, 2012, October 1, 2014, and April 24, 2015.

June 18, 2015 Page 8 Re: Gutman Complaint Staff also analyzed Complainant’s PRA requests that are closest to the dates of the allegedly unanswered PRA requests. This analysis shows that staff timely responded to both requests – providing one responsive page two days after Complainant’s November 1, 2011 PRA request and providing 19 pages the day of Complainant’s second PRA request on January 11, 2012.1 For these reasons, staff believes that no action is appropriate. Attachments

A. Complaint (including PRA requests dated November 11 and 12, 2011) B. Supplemental Materials (including PRA request dated February 13, 2012) C. Real-Time Recorder Transcript from November 13, 2012 Council Meeting D. Council Rules (Effective October 16, 2012) E. City Records of PRA requests made by Complainant

1 For clarity, the Complaint does not constitute a discrete PRA request. Rather, it is a complaint to the Commission about the City’s alleged failure to respond to past PRA requests.

City Council Rules of Procedure and Order CONSENT CALENDAR October 16, 2012

Page 2

Ordinance. The revisions to the language in the Rules of Procedure and Order capture this process. Please see Attachment 3 for the revised language.

BACKGROUND The City Council Rules of Procedure and Order governs the duties of the Council, the conduct of meetings, the agenda, procedural matters and facilities. The rules have been amended as necessary over time to improve the function of the Agenda Committee and the conduct of City Council meetings.

RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATION To make the language of the City Council Rules of Procedure and Order consistent with the Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter on Open Government as well as current practices.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS CONSIDERED None.

CONTACT PERSON Mark Numainville, Acting City Clerk, 981-6900

Attachments: 1: Resolution

Exhibit A: City Council Rules of Procedure and Order 2: Text of revised language for Amendment to Chapter III, Section C.3, C.4 and Section D.1 3: Text of revised language for Amendment to Chapter V, Section J.1

RESOLUTION NO. ##,###-N.S.

RE-ADOPTING THE CITY COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE AND ORDER AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 65,823–N.S.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Berkeley that the City Council Rules of Procedure and Order attached hereto and incorporated by reference shall govern all proceedings of the City Council therein described, subject to the exception and deviations provided for in such rules. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that violation of these rules shall not be construed as a penal offense, excepting that breach of the peace or willful failure to comply with the lawful orders of the Council or its presiding officer shall be punishable as misdemeanors under applicable law. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council shall review its Rules of Procedure in March of each odd-numbered year. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Resolution No. 65,823–N.S. is hereby rescinded. Exhibits A: City Council Rules of Procedure and Order

1 Council Rules of Procedure and Order Adopted October 16, 2012

City of Berkeley

The Berkeley City Council Rules of Procedure and Order

Adopted by Resolution XX,XXX–N.S.

Effective October 16, 2012

Exhibit A

Council Rules of Procedure and Order Adpoted October 16, 2012

Table of Contents

2 G:\CLERK\MASTER.DOC\Council Rules of Procedure\2012-July Readoption\Council Rules of Procedure.doc

City of Berkeley

I. DUTIES ....................................................................................................................... 3

A. Duties of Mayor ........................................................................................................... 3 B. Duties of Councilmembers .......................................................................................... 3 C. Motions to be Stated by Chair ..................................................................................... 3 D. Decorum by Councilmembers ..................................................................................... 3 E. Voting Disqualification ................................................................................................. 3 F. Requests for Technical Assistance and/or Reports ..................................................... 3 G. City Council Policy for Naming and Renaming Public Facilities .................................. 3

II. MEETINGS .................................................................................................................. 4

A. Call to Order - Presiding Officer ................................................................................. 4 B. Roll Call ...................................................................................................................... 4 C. Quorum Call ............................................................................................................... 4 D. Council Meeting Schedule .......................................................................................... 4 E. Adjournment ................................................................................................................ 5 F. City Council Recess Periods ....................................................................................... 5 G. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag .................................................................................. 6

III. AGENDA ..................................................................................................................... 7

A. Declaration of Policy .................................................................................................... 7 B. Definitions .................................................................................................................... 7 C. Procedure for Bringing Matters Before City Council .................................................... 8 D. Packet Preparation and Posting ................................................................................ 11 E. Agenda Sequence and Order of Business ................................................................ 13

IV. CONDUCT OF MEETING ......................................................................................... 14

A. Comments from the Public ........................................................................................ 14 B. Consent Calendar ...................................................................................................... 16 C. Information Reports Called Up for Discussion ........................................................... 16 D. Communications ........................................................................................................ 17 E. Public Hearings for Land Use and Zoning Matters .................................................... 17 F. Work Sessions ........................................................................................................... 18 G. Public Discussions ..................................................................................................... 18 H. Protocol ..................................................................................................................... 18

V. PROCEDURAL MATTERS ....................................................................................... 19

A. Persons Authorized to Sit at Tables .......................................................................... 19 B. Decorum .................................................................................................................... 19 C. Enforcement of Decorum ........................................................................................... 19 D. Precedence of Motions .............................................................................................. 19 E. Roberts Rules of Order .............................................................................................. 20 F. Rules of Debate ......................................................................................................... 20 G. Debate Limited .......................................................................................................... 21 H. Motion to Lay on Table .............................................................................................. 21 I. Division of Question ................................................................................................... 21 J. Addressing the Council .............................................................................................. 21 K. Addressing the Council After Motion Made ............................................................... 22

VI. FACILITIES ............................................................................................................... 23

A. Council Chamber Capacity ........................................................................................ 23 B. Alternate Facilities for Council Meetings ................................................................... 23

APPENDIX A. POLICY FOR NAMING AND RENAMING PUBLIC FACILITIES ....................... 24

I. DUTIES


City of Berkeley

I. DUTIES A. Duties of Mayor

The Mayor shall preside at the meetings of the Council and shall preserve strict order and decorum at all regular and special meetings of the Council. The Mayor shall state every question coming before the Council, announce the decision of the Council on all subjects, and decide all questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the Council, in which event a majority vote of the Council shall govern and conclusively determine such question of order.

B. Duties of Councilmembers Promptly at the hour set by law on the date of each regular meeting, the members of the Council shall take their regular stations in the Council Chambers and the business of the Council shall be taken up for consideration and disposition.

C. Motions to be Stated by Chair When a motion is made, it may be stated by the Chair or the City Clerk before debate.

D. Decorum by Councilmembers While the Council is in session, the members must preserve order and decorum, and a member shall not, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the Council nor disturb any member while speaking, nor refuse to obey the orders of the Council, or the presiding officer, except as otherwise herein provided.

E. Voting Disqualification No member of the Council who is disqualified shall vote upon the matter on which the member is disqualified. Any member shall openly state or have the presiding officer announce the fact and nature of such disqualification in open meeting, and shall not be subject to further inquiry. Where no clearly disqualifying conflict of interest appears, the matter of disqualification may, at the request of the member affected, be decided by the other members of the Council, by motion, and such decision shall determine such member's right and obligation to vote. A member who is disqualified by conflict of interest in any matter shall not remain in the Chamber during the debate and vote on such matter, but shall request and be given the presiding officer's permission to absent themselves. Any member having a "remote interest" in any matter as provided in Government Code shall divulge the same before voting.

F. Requests for Technical Assistance and/or Reports A majority vote of the Council shall be required to direct staff to provide technical assistance, develop a report, initiate staff research, or respond to requests for information or service generated by an individual council member.

G. City Council Policy for Naming and Renaming Public Facilities The City Council Policy for Naming and Renaming Public Facilities adopted on January 31, 2012, and all its successors, is incorporated by reference into the City Council Rules of Procedure and included as Appendix A to this document.

II. MEETINGS


City of Berkeley

II. MEETINGS A. Call to Order - Presiding Officer

The Mayor, or in the Mayor's absence, the Vice Mayor, shall take the chair precisely at the hour appointed by the meeting and shall immediately call the Council to order. Upon the arrival of the Mayor, the Vice Mayor shall immediately relinquish the chair at the conclusion of the business presently before the Council. In the absence of the two officers specified in this section, the council member present with the longest period of Council service shall preside.

B. Roll Call Before the Council shall proceed with the business of the Council, the City Clerk shall call the roll of the members and the names of those present shall be entered in the minutes. The later arrival of any absentee shall also be entered in the minutes.

C. Quorum Call During the course of the meeting, should the Chair note a Council quorum is lacking, the Chair shall call this fact to the attention of the City Clerk. The City Clerk shall issue a quorum call. If a quorum has not been restored within two minutes of a quorum call, the meeting shall be deemed automatically adjourned.

D. Council Meeting Schedule The City Council shall hold a minimum of twenty-four (24) meetings, or the amount needed to conduct City business in a timely manner, whichever is greater, each calendar year.

Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held generally two to three Tuesdays of each month; the schedule to be established annually by Council resolution taking into consideration holidays and election dates.

Regular City Council meetings shall begin no later than 7:00 p.m.

The agenda for the regular business meetings shall include the following: Ceremonial; Comments from the City Manager; Comments from the Public; Consent Calendar; Action Calendar (Appeals, Public Hearings, Continued Business, Old Business, New Business); Information Reports; and Communication from the Public. Presentations and workshops may be included as part of the Action Calendar. Items removed from the Consent Calendar will be moved to the Action Calendar. The Chair will determine the order in which the item(s) will be heard with the consent of Council.

Upon request by any council member, any item may be moved from the Consent Calendar or Information Calendar to the Action Calendar. Unless there is an objection by any council member, a council member may alsomove an item from the Action Calendar to the Consent Calendar. Any item not considered or withdrawn from the agenda will automatically be carried over as Continued Business or Old Business to the next regular business meeting unless the Council sets another date.

II. MEETINGS


City of Berkeley

A public hearing that is not expected to be lengthy may be placed on the agenda for a regular business meeting. When a public hearing is expected to be contentious and lengthy and/or the Council’s regular meeting schedule is heavily booked, the Agenda Committee, in conjunction with the staff, will schedule a special meeting exclusively for the public hearing. No other matters shall be placed on the agenda for the special meeting. All public comment will be considered as part of the public hearing and no separate time will be set aside for public comment not related to the public hearing at this meeting.

Except at meetings at which the budget is to be adopted, no public hearing may commence later than 10:00 p.m. unless there is a legal necessity to hold the hearing or make a decision at that meeting or the City Council determines by a two-thirds vote that there is a fiscal necessity to hold the hearing.

E. Adjournment 1. No Council meeting shall continue past 11:00 p.m. unless a two-thirds majority

of the Council votes to extend the meeting to discuss specified items; and any motion to extend the meeting beyond 11:00 p.m. shall include a list of specific agenda items to be covered and shall specify in which order these items shall be handled.

2. Any items not completed at a regularly scheduled Council meeting shall be continued to the next regular business meeting, or by a two-thirds majority vote of the Council to an adjourned regular meeting.

F. City Council Recess Periods A recess period is defined as a period of time longer than 21 days without a regular or special meeting of the Council.

When a recess period occurs, the City Manager is authorized to take such ministerial actions for matters of operational urgency as would normally be taken by the City Council during the period of recess except for those duties specifically reserved to the Council by the Charter, and including such emergency actions as are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety; the authority to extend throughout the period of time established by the City Council for the period of recess.

The City Manager shall have the aforementioned authority beginning the day after the Agenda Committee meeting for the last regular meeting before a Council recess and this authority shall extend through the deadline for submission of staff reports for the first meeting after the Council recess.

The City Manager shall make a full and complete report to the City Council at its first regularly scheduled meeting following the period of recess of actions taken by the City Manager pursuant to this section, at which time the City Council may make such findings as may be required and confirm said actions of the City Manager.

II. MEETINGS


City of Berkeley

G. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag At the first meeting of each year following the August recess and at any subsequent meeting if specifically requested before the meeting by any member of the Council in order to commemorate an occasion of national significance, the first item on the program will be the Pledge of Allegiance.

III. AGENDA


City of Berkeley

III. AGENDA

A. Declaration of Policy No ordinance, resolution, or item of business shall be introduced, discussed or acted upon before the Council at its meeting without prior thereto its having been published on the agenda of the meeting and posted in accordance with Section III.D.2. Exceptions to this rule are limited to circumstances listed in Section III.D.4.b and items carried over.

B. Definitions For purposes of this section, the terms listed herein shall be defined as follows:

1. "Agenda Item" means an item placed on the agenda (on either the Consent Calendar or as a Report For Action) for a vote of the Council by any council member, the City Manager, the Auditor, or any board/commission/committee created by the City Council, or any Report For Information which may be acted upon if a council member so requests. For purposes of this section, appeals shall be considered action items. All information from the City Manager concerning any item to be acted upon by the Council shall be submitted as a report on the agenda and not as an off-agenda memorandum and shall be available for public review, except to the extent such report is privileged and thus confidential such as an attorney client communication concerning a litigation matter.

2. Agenda items shall contain all relevant documentation, including the following as applicable:

a) A descriptive title that adequately informs the public of the subject matter and general nature of the item or report and action requested;

b) Whether the matter is to be presented on the Consent Calendar or the Action Calendar or as a Report for Information;

c) Recommendation of the City Manager, if applicable (these provisions shall not apply to Mayor and Council items.);

d) Fiscal impacts of the recommendation;

e) A description of the current situation and its effects;

f) Background information as needed;

g) Rationale for recommendation;

h) Alternative actions considered;

i) For awards of contracts; the abstract of bids and the Affirmative Action Program of the low bidder in those cases where such is required (these provisions shall not apply to Mayor and Council items.);

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j) Person or persons to contact for further information, with telephone number. If the author of any report believes additional background information, beyond the basic report, is necessary to Council understanding of the subject, a separate compilation of such background information may be developed and copies will be available for Council and for public review in the City Clerk Department, and the City Clerk shall provide limited distribution of such background information depending upon quantity of pages to be duplicated. In such case the agenda item distributed with the packet shall so indicate.

3. "Agenda" means the compilation of the descriptive titles of agenda items submitted to the City Clerk, arranged in the sequence established in Section III.E hereof.

4. "Packet" means the agenda plus all its corresponding duplicated agenda items.

5. "Emergency Matter" arises when prompt action is necessary due to the disruption or threatened disruption of public facilities and a majority of the Council determines that:

a) A work stoppage or other activity which severely impairs public health, safety, or both;

b) A crippling disaster, which severely impairs public health, safety or both. Notice of the Council's proposed consideration of any such emergency matter shall be given in the manner required by law for such an emergency pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.5.

6. “Continued Business” Items carried over from a prior agenda of a meeting occurring less than 11 days earlier, as uncompleted items.

7. "Old Business" Items carried over from a prior agenda of a meeting as uncompleted items.

C. Procedure for Bringing Matters Before City Council 1. Persons Who Can Place Matters on the Agenda.

Matters may be placed on the agenda by any council member, the City Manager, the Auditor, or any board/commission/committee created by the City Council. All items, other than board and commission items shall be subject to review by an Agenda Committee, which shall be a standing committee of the City Council. The Agenda Committee shall consist of the Mayor and two councilmembers, nominated by the Mayor and approved by the Council. A third council member, nominated by the Mayor and approved by the Council, will serve as an alternate on the Committee in the event that an Agenda Committee member cannot attend a meeting.

The Agenda Committee shall meet 15 days prior to each City Council meeting and shall approve the agenda of that City Council meeting. The Agenda Committee packet, including a draft agenda and Councilmember and

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Commission reports shall be distributed by 5:00 p.m. 4 days before the Agenda Committee meeting.

The Agenda Committee shall have the powers set forth below.

a) Items Authored by a Councilmember or the Auditor. As to items authored by a council member or the Auditor, the Agenda Committee shall review the report for the item and may recommend that the matter be referred back to the author, to a commission, or to the City Manager for adherence to required form, additional analysis as required in Section III.B.2, or suggest other appropriate action including scheduling the matter for a later meeting to allow for appropriate revisions.

The author of a “referred” item must inform the City Clerk within 24 hours of the adjournment of the Agenda Committee whether they prefer to: 1) hold the item for a future meeting pending modifications as suggested by the Committee; 2) have the item appear on the next available Council agenda as originally submitted; 3) pull the item completely; or 4) re-submit the item with revisions as requested by the Agenda Committee for the following Council agenda.

In the event that the Clerk does not receive guidance from the author of the item within 24 hours of the Agenda Committee’s adjournment, the recommendation of the Agenda Committee will take effect.

Items held for a future meeting to allow for modifications will be placed on the next available Council meeting agenda when the revised version is submitted to the Clerk. If changes made to the item extend beyond the scope of the Agenda Committee referral recommendations, the item must be re-submitted as a new Council item. All items placed on the Council agenda against the referral recommendation of the Agenda Committee or revised items that have not been resubmitted to the Agenda Committee will automatically be placed on the Action Calendar.

b) Items Authored by the City Manager. The Agenda Committee shall review agenda descriptions of items authored by the City Manager. The Committee can recommend that the matter be referred to a commission or back to the City Manager for adherence to required form, additional analysis as required in Section III.B.2, or suggest other appropriate action including scheduling the matter for a later meeting to allow for appropriate revisions.

If the City Manager determines that the matter should proceed notwithstanding the Agenda Committee’s action, it will be placed on the agenda as directed by the Manager. All City Manager items placed on the Council agenda against the referral recommendation of the Agenda Committee or revised items that have not been resubmitted to the Agenda Committee will automatically be placed on the Action Calendar.

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c) Items Authored by Boards and Commissions. Items submitted by boards and commissions are subject to City Manager review and must follow procedures and timelines for submittal of reports as described in the Commissioners’ Manual. While these items are not subject to review by the Agenda Committee, the Agenda Committee may elect to move a commission report from the Consent Calendar to the Action Calendar or from the Action Calendar to the Consent Calendar.

2. Scheduling Public Hearings Mandated by State, Federal, or Local Statute. The City Clerk may schedule a public hearing at an available time and date in those cases where State, Federal or local statute mandates the City Council hold a public hearing.

3. Submission of Agenda Items. a) City Manager Items. Except for Continued Business and Old Business,

as a condition to placing an item on the agenda, agenda items from departments, including agenda items from commissions, shall be furnished to the City Clerk at a time established by the City Manager.

b) Council and Auditor Items. The deadline for reports submitted by the Auditor, Mayor and City Council is 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 22 days before each Council meeting.

c) Time Critical Items. A Time Critical item is defined as a matter that is considered urgent by the sponsor and that has a deadline for action that is prior to the next meeting of the Council and for which a report prepared by the City Manager, Auditor, Mayor or council member is received by the City Clerk after established deadlines and is not included on the Agenda Committee’s published agenda.

The author of the report shall bring any reports submitted as Time Critical to the meeting of the Agenda Committee. Time Critical items must be accompanied by complete reports and statements of financial implications. If the Agenda Committee finds the matter to meet the definition of Time Critical, the Agenda Committee may place the matter on the Agenda on either the Consent or Action Calendar.

d) The City Clerk may not accept any agenda item after the adjournment of the Agenda Committee meeting, except for items carried over by the City Council from a prior City Council meeting occurring less than 11 days earlier, which may include supplemental or revised reports, and reports concerning actions taken by boards and commissions that are required by law or ordinance to be presented to the Council within a deadline that does not permit compliance with the agenda timelines in BMC Chapter 2.06 or these rules.

4. Submission of Supplemental and Revised Agenda Material. Berkeley Municipal Code Section 2.06.070 allows for the submission of supplemental and revised agenda material. Supplemental and revised material

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cannot be substantially new or only tangentially related to an agenda item. Supplemental material must be specifically related to the item in the Agenda Packet. Revised material should be presented as revised versions of the report or item printed in the Agenda Packet. Supplemental and revised material may be submitted for consideration as follows:

a) Supplemental and revised agenda material shall be submitted to the City Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. seven calendar days prior to the City Council meeting at which it is to be considered. Supplemental and revised items that are received by the deadline shall be distributed to Council in a supplemental reports packet and posted to the City’s website no later than 5:00 p.m. five calendar days prior to the meeting. Copies of the supplemental packet shall also be made available in the office of the City Clerk and in the main branch of the Berkeley Public Library. Such material may be considered by the Council without the need for a determination that the good of the City clearly outweighs the lack of time for citizen review or City Council member evaluation.

b) After 5:00 p.m. seven calendar days prior to the meeting, supplemental or revised reports may be submitted for consideration by delivering a minimum of 42 copies of the supplemental/revised material to the City Clerk for distribution at the meeting. Each copy must be accompanied by a completed supplemental/revised material cover page, using the form provided by the City Clerk. The material may be considered only if the City Council, by a two-thirds vote, determines that the good of the City clearly outweighs the lack of time for citizen review or City Council member evaluation of the material.

5. Scheduling a Presentation. Any request for a presentation to the Council will be submitted as an agenda item and follow the time lines for submittal of agenda reports. The agenda item should include general information regarding the purpose and content of the presentation; information on the presenters; contact information; and the length of the presentation. The request may state a preference for a date before the Council. The Agenda Committee will review the request and recommend a presentation date and allotted time based on the Council’s schedule.

The City Clerk will notify the presenters of the date and time of the presentation and will coordinate use of any presentation equipment and receipt of additional written material.

D. Packet Preparation and Posting 1. Preparation of the Packet.

Not later than the thirteenth day prior to said meeting, the City Clerk shall prepare the packet, which shall include the agenda plus all its corresponding duplicated agenda items. No item shall be considered if not included in the packet, except as provided for in Section III.C.4 and Section III.D.4. Reports carried over, as Continued Business or Old Business need not be reproduced again.

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2. Distribution and Posting of Agenda. a) The City Clerk shall post each agenda of the City Council regular meeting

no later than 11 days prior to the meeting and shall post each agenda of a special meeting at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting in the official bulletin board. The City Clerk shall maintain an affidavit indicating the location, date and time of posting each agenda.

b) The City Clerk shall also post agendas and annotated agendas of all City Council meetings and notices of public hearings on the City's website.

c) No later than 11 days prior to a regular meeting, copies of the agenda shall be mailed by the City Clerk to any resident of the City of Berkeley who so requests in writing. Copies shall also be available free of charge in the City Clerk Department.

3. Distribution of the Agenda Packet. The Agenda Packet shall consist of the Agenda and all supporting documents for agenda items. No later than 11 days prior to a regular meeting, the City Clerk shall:

a) distribute the Agenda Packet to each member of the City Council;

b) post the Agenda Packet to the City’s website;

c) place copies of the Agenda Packet in viewing binders in the office of the City Clerk and in the main branch of the Berkeley Public Library; and

d) make the Agenda Packet available to members of the press.

4. Failure to Meet Deadlines. a) The City Clerk shall not accept any agenda item or revised agenda item

after the deadlines established.

b) Matters not included on the published agenda may be discussed and acted upon as otherwise authorized by State law or providing the Council finds one of the following conditions is met:

A majority of the Council determines that the subject meets the criteria of "Emergency" as defined in Section III.B.5.

Two thirds of the Council determines that there is a need to take immediate action and that the need for action came to the attention of the City subsequent to the posting of the agenda as required by law.

c) Matters listed on the printed agenda but for which support materials are not received by the City Council on the eleventh day prior to said meeting as part of the agenda packet, shall not be discussed or acted upon.

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E. Agenda Sequence and Order of Business The Council agenda for a regular business meeting is to be arranged in the following order:

1. Preliminary Matters: (Ceremonial, Comments from the City Manager, Public Comment)

2. Consent Calendar

3. Action Calendar

a) Appeals and Public Hearings

b) Continued Business

c) Old Business

d) New Business

e) Time Critical

4. Information Reports

5. Communications

6. Adjournment

Action items may be reordered at the discretion of the Chair with the consent of Council.



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IV. CONDUCT OF MEETING A. Comments from the Public

Public comment will be taken in the following order: An initial ten-minute period of public comment on non-agenda items, after the

commencement of the meeting and immediately after Ceremonial Matters and City Manager Comments.

Public comment on the Consent and Information Calendars.

Public comment on action items, appeals and or public hearings as they are taken up under procedures set forth in the sections governing each below.

Public comment on non-agenda items from any speakers who did not speak during the first round of non-agenda public comment at the beginning of the meeting.

Speakers are permitted to yield their time to one other speaker, however no one speaker shall have more than four minutes. A speaker wishing to yield their time shall stand, shall be recognized by the chair, and announce publicly their intention to yield their time. Disabled persons shall have priority seating in the front row of the public seating area.

A member of the public may only speak once at public comment on any single item, unless called upon by the Mayor or a Councilmember to answer a specific inquiry.

1. Public Comment on Consent Calendar and Information Items. The Council will first determine whether to move items on the agenda for action or “Information” to the “Consent Calendar”, or move “Consent Calendar” items to action. Items that remain on the “Consent Calendar” are voted on in one motion as a group. “Information” items are not discussed or acted upon at the Council meeting unless they are moved to “Action” or “Consent”.

The Council will then take public comment on any items that are either on the amended Consent Calendar or the Information Calendar. Up to three speakers will be entitled to two minutes each to speak in opposition to or support of a Consent Calendar Item. The Presiding Officer will ask additional persons in the audience to stand to demonstrate their respective opposition to or support of the item.

In the event that there are more than three persons wishing to speak either in opposition to or support of a “Consent” item, the Presiding Officer will move the item to the Action Calendar. Prior to moving the item, the Presiding Officer will fully inform those persons in the audience of this process. The Presiding Officer has the authority to reschedule the removed “Consent” item to either the beginning or the end of the Action Calendar.

After hearing from public speakers regarding items remaining on the Consent Calendar, any Council Member may move any Information or Consent item to “Action”, however no additional items can be moved onto the Consent Calendar



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at that point. Following this, the Council will vote on the items remaining on the Consent Calendar in one motion.

For items removed from the Consent Calendar to the Action Calendar for additional public comment, at the time the matter is taken up during the Action Calendar, public comment will be limited to persons who have not previously addressed that item during the Consent Calendar related public comment period.

2. Public Comment on Action Items. After the initial ten minutes of public comment on non-agenda items and public comment and action on consent items, the public may comment on each remaining item listed on the agenda for action as the item is taken up. Where an item was moved from the Consent Calendar to Action no speaker who has already spoken on that item would be entitled to speak to that item again.

The Presiding Officer will request that persons wishing to speak line up at the podium to determine the number of persons interested in speaking at that time.

Up to ten (10) speakers may speak for two minutes. If there are more than ten persons interested in speaking, the Presiding Officer may limit the public comment for all speakers to one minute per speaker. The Presiding Officer may, with the consent of persons representing both sides of an issue, allocate a block of time to each side to present their issue.

3. Appeals Appearing on Action Calendar. Appeals from decisions of the Zoning Adjustment Board, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Planning Commission and other City commissions appear on the “Action” section of the Council Agenda. Council determines whether to affirm the action of the commission, set a public hearing, or remand the matter to the commission.

Time shall be provided for public comment for persons representing both sides of the action/appeal and each side will be allocated seven minutes to present their comments on the appeal. Where the appellant is not the applicant, the appellants collectively shall have seven minutes to comment and the applicant shall have seven minutes to comment. Where the appellant is the applicant, the applicant/appellant shall have seven minutes to comment and the persons supporting the action of the board or commission on appeal shall have seven minutes to comment. Each side shall be informed of this public comment procedure at the time the Clerk notifies the parties of the date the appeal will appear on the Council agenda.

4. Public Comment on Non Agenda Matters. Immediately following Ceremonial Matters and the City Manager Comments and prior to the Consent Calendar, five persons selected by lottery, will have two minutes each to address matters not on the Council agenda. Persons wishing to address the Council on matters not on the Council agenda during the initial ten-



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minute period for such comment, must submit a name card to the City Clerk in person at the meeting location and prior to commencement of that meeting.

Five cards will be drawn by the City Clerk to determine the speakers who will be allowed to comment during the first round of public comment on non-agenda matters. The remainder of the speakers wishing to address the Council on non-agenda items will be heard at the end of the agenda. Name cards are not required for this second round of public comment on non-agenda matters.

For the second round of public comment on non-agenda matters, the Presiding Officer retains the authority to limit the number of speakers by subject. The Presiding Officer will generally request that persons wishing to speak, line up at the podium to be recognized to determine the number of persons interested in speaking at that time. Each speaker will be entitled to speak for two minutes each unless the Presiding Officer determines that one-minute is appropriate given the number of speakers.

According to the current Rules and Procedures, no Council meeting shall continue past 11:00 p.m. unless a two-thirds majority of the Council votes to extend the meeting to discuss specified items. If any agendized business remains unfinished at 11:00 p.m. or the expiration of any extension after 11:00 p.m., it will be moved to the next Council meeting. In that event, the meeting shall be automatically extended for up to fifteen (15) minutes for public comment on non-agenda items.

5. Ralph M. Brown Act Pertaining to Public Comments. The “Brown Act” prohibits the Council from discussing or taking action on an issue raised during Public Comment, unless it is specifically listed on the agenda. However, the Council may refer a matter to the City Manager.

B. Consent Calendar There shall be a Consent Calendar on all regular meeting agendas on which shall be included those matters which the Mayor, councilmembers, boards, commissions, City Auditor and City Manager deem to be of such nature that no debate or inquiry will be necessary at the Council meetings. Ordinances for second reading may be included in the Consent Calendar.

It is the policy of the Council that councilmembers wishing to ask questions concerning Consent Calendar items should ask questions of the contact person identified prior to the Council meeting so that the need for discussion of consent calendar items can be minimized.

Consent Calendar items may be moved to the Action Calendar by the Council. Action items may be reordered at the discretion of the Chair with the consent of Council.

C. Information Reports Called Up for Discussion Reports for Information designated for discussion at the request of any council member shall be added to the appropriate section of Reports for Action and may be



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acted upon at that meeting or carried over as pending business until discussed or withdrawn. The agenda will indicate that at the request of any council member a Report for Information may be acted upon by the Council.

D. Communications Letters from the public will not appear on the Council agenda as individual matters for discussion but will be distributed as part of the Council agenda packet with a cover sheet identifying the author and subject matter and will be listed under "Communications," with the exception that communications regarding appeals will be listed with the appeal.

All such communications must have been received by the City Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. fifteen days prior to the meeting in order to be included on the agenda.

In instances where an individual forwards more than three pages of email messages not related to actionable items on the Council agenda to the Council to be reproduced in the "Communications" section of the Council packet, the City Clerk will not reproduce the entire email(s) but instead refer the public to the City's website or a hard copy of the email(s) on file in the City Clerk Department.

All communications shall be simply deemed received without any formal action by the Council. A council member may refer a communication to staff for action, if appropriate, or prepare a consent or action item for placement on a future agenda.

E. Public Hearings for Land Use and Zoning Matters The City Council, in setting the time and place for a public hearing, may limit the amount of time to be devoted to public presentations. Staff shall introduce the public hearing item and present their comments.

Following any staff presentation, each member of the City Council shall verbally disclose all ex parte contacts concerning the subject of the hearing. Members shall also submit a report of such contacts in writing prior to the commencement of the hearing. Such reports shall include a brief statement describing the name, date, place, and content of the contact. Written reports shall be available for public review in the office of the City Clerk prior to the meeting and placed in a file available for public viewing at the meeting.

This is followed by five-minute presentations each by the appellant and applicant. The Presiding Officer will request that persons wishing to speak, line up at the podium to be recognized and to determine the number of persons interested in speaking at that time.

Up to ten (10) speakers may speak for two minutes. If there are more than ten persons interested in speaking, the Presiding Officer may limit the public comment for all speakers to one minute per speaker. Speakers are permitted to yield their time to one other speaker, however no one speaker shall have more than four minutes. The Presiding Officer may with the consent of persons representing both sides of an issue allocate a block of time to each side to present their issue.



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F. Work Sessions The City Council may schedule a matter for general Council discussion and direction to staff. Official/formal action on a work session item will be scheduled on a subsequent agenda under the Action portion of the Council agenda.

In general, public comment at Council work sessions will be heard after the staff presentation, for a limited amount of time to be determined by the Presiding Officer.

The Presiding Officer will request that persons wishing to speak, line up at the podium to be recognized and to determine the number of persons interested in speaking at that time. Up to ten (10) speakers may speak for two minutes. If there are more than ten persons interested in speaking, the Presiding Officer may limit the public comment for all speakers to one minute per speaker. Speakers are permitted to yield their time to one other speaker, however no one speaker shall have more than four minutes.

After Council discussion, if time permits, the Presiding Officer may allow additional public comment. During this time, each speaker will receive one minute. Persons who spoke during the prior public comment time may be permitted to speak again.

G. Public Discussions The City Council may, from time to time, schedule a matter for public discussion and may limit the amount of time to be devoted to said discussions. At the time the public discussion is scheduled, the City Council may seek comment from others if they so determine.

H. Protocol People addressing the Council may first give their name in an audible tone of voice for the record. All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a body and not to any member thereof. No one other than the Council and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or through a member of the Council, without the permission of the Presiding Officer. No question shall be asked of a council member except through the Presiding Officer.

V. PROCEDURAL MATTERS


City of Berkeley

V. PROCEDURAL MATTERS A. Persons Authorized to Sit at Tables

No person, except City officials, their representatives and representatives of boards and commissions shall be permitted to sit at the tables in the front of the Council Chambers without the express consent of the Council.

B. Decorum No person shall disrupt the orderly conduct of the Council meeting. Prohibited disruptive behavior includes but is not limited to shouting, making disruptive noises, such as boos or hisses, creating or participating in a physical disturbance, speaking out of turn or in violation of applicable rules, preventing or attempting to prevent others who have the floor from speaking, preventing others from observing the meeting, entering into or remaining in an area of the meeting room that is not open to the public, or approaching the Council table without consent. Any message to or contact with any member of the Council while the Council is in session shall be through the City Clerk.

C. Enforcement of Decorum Any law enforcement officer on duty or whose services the presiding officer commands shall be Sergeant-at-Arms of the Council meetings. That person shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding officer of the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council meetings. Upon instructions of the presiding officer, it shall be the duty of the Sergeant-of-Arms, or any law enforcement officer present, to place any person who violates the order and decorum of the meeting under arrest, and cause that person to be prosecuted under the provisions of applicable law.

D. Precedence of Motions When a question is before the Council, no motion shall be entertained except:

1. To adjourn,

2. To fix the hour of adjournment,

3. To lay on the table,

4. For the previous question,

5. To postpone to a certain day,

6. To refer,

7. To amend,

8. To substitute, and

9. To postpone indefinitely.



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These motions shall have precedence in order indicated. Any such motion, except a motion to adjourn, amend, or substitute, shall be put to a vote without debate.

E. Roberts Rules of Order Roberts Rules of Order have been adopted by the City Council and apply in all cases except the precedence of motions in Section V.D shall supercede.

F. Rules of Debate 1. Presiding Officer May Debate.

The presiding officer may debate from the chair; subject only to such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed on all members, and shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges as a member of the Council by reason of that person acting as the presiding officer.

2. Getting the Floor - Improper References to be avoided. Members desiring to speak shall address the Chair, and upon recognition by the presiding officer, shall confine themself to the question under debate.

3. Interruptions. A member, once recognized, shall not be interrupted when speaking unless it is to call a member to order, or as herein otherwise provided. If a member, while speaking, were called to order, that member shall cease speaking until the question of order is determined, and, if in order, the member shall be permitted to proceed.

4. Privilege of Closing Debate. The council member moving the adoption of an ordinance or resolution shall have the privilege of closing the debate. When a motion to call a question is passed, the council member moving adoption of an ordinance, resolution or other action shall have three minutes to conclude the debate.

5. Motion to Reconsider. A motion to reconsider any action taken by the Council may be made only on the day such action is taken. It may be made either immediately during the same session, or at a recessed or adjourned session thereof. Such motion must be made and seconded by one of the prevailing sides, and may be made at any time and have precedence over all other motions or while a member has the floor; it shall be debatable. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent any member of the Council from making or remaking the same or other motion at a subsequent meeting of the Council.

6. Repeal or Amendment of Action Requiring a Vote of Two-Thirds of Council, or Greater. Any ordinance or resolution which is passed and which, as part of its terms, requires a vote of two-thirds of the Council or more in order to pass a motion pursuant to such an ordinance or resolution, shall require the vote of the same percent of the Council to repeal or amend the ordinance or resolution.



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G. Debate Limited 1. Except as provided in Section V.F.b hereof, consideration of each matter coming

before the Council shall be limited to 20 minutes from the time the matter is first taken up, at the end of which period consideration of such matter shall terminate and the matter shall be dropped to the foot of the agenda, immediately ahead of Good of the City; provided that either of the following two not debatable motions shall be in order:

a) A motion to extend consideration which, if passed, shall commence a new twenty-minute period for consideration; or

b) If there are one or more motions on the floor, the previous question, which, if passed, shall require an immediate vote on pending motions.

2. The time limit set forth in subparagraph a.1 hereof shall not be applicable to any public hearing, public discussion, Council discussion or other especially set matter for which a period of time has been specified (in which case such specially set time shall be the limit for consideration) or which by applicable law (e.g. hearings of appeals, etc.), the matter must proceed to its conclusion.

3. In the interest of expediting the business of the City, failure by the Chair or any council member to call attention to the expiration of the time allowed for consideration of a matter, by point of order or otherwise, shall constitute unanimous consent to the continuation of consideration of the matter beyond the allowed time; provided, however, that the Chair or any council member may at any time thereafter call attention to the expiration of the time allowed, in which case the Council shall proceed to the next item of business, unless one of the motions referred to in subparagraph a.1 hereof is made and is passed.

H. Motion to Lay on Table A motion to lay on the table shall preclude all amendments or debate of the subject under consideration. If the motion shall prevail, the consideration of the subject may be resumed only upon a motion of a member voting with the majority and with consent of two-thirds of the members present.

I. Division of Question If the question contains two or more propositions, which can be divided, the presiding officer may, and upon request of a member shall, divide the same.

J. Addressing the Council Any person desiring to address the Council shall first secure the permission of the presiding officer to do so. Under the following headings of business, unless the presiding officer rules otherwise, any qualified and interested person shall have the right to address the Council in accordance with the following conditions and upon obtaining recognition by the presiding officer:

1. Written Communications. Interested parties or their authorized representatives may address the Council by written communications in regard to matters of concern to them.



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Communications pertaining to an item on the agenda which are received by the City Clerk after the deadline for inclusion in the Council Agenda packet and through 5:00 p.m. seven calendar days prior to the meeting shall be compiled into a supplemental communications packet. The supplemental communications packet shall be made available to the City Council, public and members of the press no later than five days prior to the meeting.

Communications received by the City Clerk after the aforementioned deadline and by noon on the day of a Council meeting shall be duplicated by the City Clerk and submitted to the City Council at the meeting if related to an item which is on the agenda for that meeting. Communications submitted at the Council meeting will be included in the public viewing binder and in the Clerk Department the day following the meeting.

2. Public Hearings. Interested persons or their authorized representatives may address the Council by reading protests, petitions, or communications relating to matters then under consideration.

3. Public Comment. Interested persons may address the Council on any issue concerning City business during the period assigned to Public Comment.

K. Addressing the Council After Motion Made When a motion is pending before the Council, no person other than a council member shall address the Council without first securing the permission of the presiding officer or Council to do so.

VI. FACILITIES


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VI. FACILITIES

A. Council Chamber Capacity Council Chamber attendance shall be limited to the posted seating capacity thereof. Entrance to the City Hall will be appropriately regulated by the City Manager on occasions when the Council Chamber capacity is likely to be exceeded. While the Council is in session, members of the public shall not remain standing in the Council Chamber except to address the Council, and sitting on the floor shall not be permitted. The Council proceedings may be conveyed by loudspeaker to those who have been unable to enter the Council Chambers.

B. Alternate Facilities for Council Meetings The City Council shall approve in advance a proposal that a Council meeting be held at a facility other than the City Council Chambers.

If the City Manager has reason to anticipate that the attendance for a meeting will be substantially greater than the capacity of the City Council Chambers and insufficient time exists to secure the approval of the City Council to hold the meeting at an alternate facility, the City Manager shall make arrangements for the use of a suitable alternate facility to which such meeting may be recessed and moved, if the City Council authorizes the action.

If a suitable alternate facility is not available, the City Council may reschedule the matter to a date when a suitable alternate facility will be available.

Alternate facilities are to be selected from those facilities previously approved by the City Council as suitable for meetings away from the City Council Chambers.

APPENDIX A. POLICY FOR NAMING AND RENAMING PUBLIC FACILITIES


City of Berkeley


Purpose To establish a uniform policy regarding the naming and renaming of existing and future parks, streets, pathways and other public facilities.

Objective A. To ensure that naming public facilities (such as parks, streets, recreation facilities,

pathways, open spaces, public building, bridges or other structures) will enhance the values and heritage of the City of Berkeley and will be compatible with community interest.

Section 1 – Lead Commission The City Council designates the following commissions as the ‘Lead Commissions’ in overseeing, evaluating, and ultimately advising the Council in any naming or renaming of a public facility. The lead commission shall receive and coordinate comment and input from other Commissions and the public as appropriate. Board of Library Trustees Parks and Recreation Commission –Parks, recreation centers, camps, plazas and public open spaces Public Works Commission –Public buildings (other than recreation centers), streets and bridges or other structures in the public thoroughfare. Waterfront Commission –Public facilities within the area of the City known as the Waterfront, as described in BMC 3.36.060.B.

Section 2 – General Policy A. Newly acquired or developed public facilities shall be named immediately after

acquisition or development to ensure appropriate public identity. B. No public facility may be named for a living person, but this policy can be overridden

with a 2/3 vote of the City Council. C. Public facilities that are renamed must follow the same criteria for naming new facilities.

In addition, the historical significance and geographical reference of the established name should be considered when weighing and evaluating any name change.

D. The City encourages the recognition of individuals for their service to the community in ways that include the naming of activities such as athletic events, cultural presentations, or annual festivals, which do not involve the naming or renaming of public facilities.

E. Unless restricted by covenant, facilities named after an individual should not necessarily be considered a perpetual name.

Section 3 – Criteria for Naming of Public Facilities When considering the naming of a new public facility or an unnamed portion or feature within an already named public facility (such as a room within the facility or a feature



City of Berkeley

within an established park), or, the renaming of an existing public facility the following criteria shall be applied:

A. Public Facilities are generally easier to identify by reference to adjacent street names, distinct geographic or environmental features, or primary use activity. Therefore, the preferred practice is to give City-owned property a name of historical or geographical significance and to retain these names.

B. No public facility may be named for a living person, but this policy can be overridden with a 2/3 vote of the City Council.

C. The naming of a public facility or any parts thereof in recognition of an individual posthumously may only be considered if the individual had a positive effect on the community and has been deceased for more than 1 year.

D. When a public facility provides a specific programmatic activity, it is preferred that the activity (e.g. skateboard park, baseball diamond) be included in the name of the park or facility.

E. When public parks are located adjacent to elementary schools, a name that is the same as the adjacent school shall be considered.

F. When considering the renaming of an existing public facility, in addition to applying criteria A-E above, proper weight should be given to the fact that: a name lends a site or property authenticity and heritage; existing names are presumed to have historic significance; and historic names give a community a sense of place and identity, continuing through time, and increases the sense of neighborhood and belonging.

Section 4 –Naming Standards Involving a Major Contribution When a person, group or organization requests the naming or renaming of a public facility, all of the following conditions shall be met: A. An honoree will have made a major contribution towards the acquisition and/or

development costs of a public facility or a major contribution to the City. B. The honoree has a record of outstanding service to their community C. Conditions of any donation that specifies that name of a public facility, as part of an

agreement or deed, must be approved by the City Council, after review by and upon recommendation of the City Manager.

Section 5 –Procedures for Naming or Renaming of Public Facilities A. Any person or organization may make a written application to the City Manager

requesting that a public facility or portion thereof, be named or renamed. 1. Recommendations may also come directly of the City Boards or Commissions,

the City Council, or City Staff. B. The City Manager shall refer the application to the appropriate lead commission as

defined in Section 1 of the City’s policy on naming of public facilities, for that commission’s review, facilitation, and recommendation of disposition.

1. The application shall contain the name or names of the persons or organization making the application and the reason for the requested naming or renaming.

C. The lead commission shall review and consider the application, using the policies and criteria articulated to the City Policy on Naming and Renaming to make a recommendation to Council.

1. All recommendations or suggestion will be given the same consideration without regard to the source of the nomination



City of Berkeley

D. The lead commission shall hold a public hearing and notify the general public of any

discussions regarding naming or renaming of a public facility. 1. Commission action will be taking at the meeting following any public hearing on

the naming or renaming. E. The commission’s recommendation shall be forwarded to Council for final

consideration.

The City of Berkeley Policy for Naming and Renaming Public Facilities was adopted by the Berkeley City Council at the regular meeting of January 31, 2012.

Attachment 2

Amendments to Chapter III Agenda, Sections C.3, C.4 and Section D.1

C. Procedure for Bringing Matters Before City Council

3. Submission of Agenda Items. a) City Manager Items. Except for Continued Business and Old

Business, as a condition to placing an item on the agenda, agenda items from departments, including agenda items from commissions, shall be furnished to the City Clerk at a time established by the City Manager.

b) Council and Auditor Items. The deadline for reports submitted by the Auditor, Mayor and City Council is 5:00 p.m. on Monday, 22 days before each Council meeting.

c) Time Critical Items. A Time Critical item is defined as a matter that is considered urgent by the sponsor and that has a deadline for action that is prior to the next meeting of the Council and for which a report prepared by the City Manager, Auditor, Mayor or council member is received by the City Clerk after established deadlines and is not included on the Agenda Committee’s published agenda.

The author of the report shall bring any reports submitted as Time Critical to the meeting of the Agenda Committee. Time Critical items must be accompanied by complete reports and statements of financial implications. If the Agenda Committee finds the matter to meet the definition of Time Critical, the Agenda Committee may place the matter on the Agenda on either the Consent or Action Calendar.

d) The City Clerk may not accept any agenda item or revised agenda item after the adjournment of the Agenda Committee meeting, except for items carried over by the City Council from a prior City Council meeting occurring less than 11 days earlier, which may include supplemental or revised reports, and reports concerning actions taken by boards and commissions that are required by law or ordinance to be presented to the Council within a deadline that does not permit compliance with the agenda timelines in BMC Chapter 2.06 or these rules.

4. Submission of Supplemental and Revised Agenda Material. Berkeley Municipal Code Section 2.06.070 allows for the submission of supplemental and revised agenda material. Supplemental and revised material cannot be substantially new or only tangentially related to an agenda item. Supplemental material must be specifically related to the item in the Agenda Packet. Revised material should be presented as revised versions of the report or item printed in the Agenda Packet.

Supplemental and revised material may be submitted for consideration as follows:

a) Supplemental and revised agenda material shall be submitted to the City Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. seven calendar days prior to the City Council meeting at which it is to be considered. Supplemental and revised items that are received by the deadline shall be distributed to Council in a supplemental reports packet and posted to the City’s website no later than 5:00 p.m. five calendar days prior to the meeting. Copies of the supplemental packet shall also be made available in the office of the City Clerk and in the main branch of the Berkeley Public Library. Such material may be considered by the Council without the need for a determination that the good of the City clearly outweighs the lack of time for citizen review or City Council member evaluation.

b) After 5:00 p.m. seven calendar days prior to the meeting, supplemental or revised reports may be submitted for consideration by delivering a minimum of 42 copies of the supplemental/revised material to the City Clerk for distribution at the meeting. Each copy must be accompanied by a completed supplemental/revised material cover page, using the form provided by the City Clerk. The material may be considered only if the City Council, by a two-thirds vote, determines that the good of the City clearly outweighs the lack of time for citizen review or City Council member evaluation of the material.

D. Packet Preparation and Posting

1. Preparation of the Packet. Not later than the thirteenth day prior to said meeting, the City Clerk shall prepare the packet, which shall include the agenda plus all its corresponding duplicated agenda items. No item shall be considered if not included in the packet, except that a correction or supplement to an item already included in the packet may be consideredas provided for in Section III.C.4 and Section III.D.4., if the City Council, by a two-thirds vote, determines that the good of the City clearly outweighs the lack of time for citizen review or City Council member evaluation of an item. Reports carried over as Continued Business or Old Business need not be reproduced again.

Attachment 3

Amendments to Chapter V. Procedural Matters, Section J.1:

J. Addressing the Council

1. Written Communications. Interested parties or their authorized representatives may address the Council by written communications in regard to matters of concern to them.

Communications pertaining to an item on the agenda which are received by the City Clerk after the deadline for inclusion in the Council Agenda packet and through 5:00 p.m. seven calendar days prior to the meeting shall be compiled into a supplemental communications packet. The supplemental communications packet shall be made available to the City Council, public and members of the press no later than five days prior to the meeting.

Communications received by the City Clerk after the aforementioned deadline and by prior to noon on the day of a Council meeting shall be duplicated by the City Clerk and submitted to the City Council at the meeting if related to an item which is on the agenda for that meeting. Communications submitted at the Council meeting will be included in the public viewing binder and in the Clerk Department the day following the meeting.

Redistricting commission – charter amendment [6-10-15]

(e) The candidate receiving the highest number of votes for the offices, respectively, of Mayor, Auditor and Councilmembers of the City shall be elected to such offices, provided that such candidate receives at least 40% of the votes cast for each such office. In the event that no candidate for Mayor, Auditor and Councilmember for one or more Council offices receives at least 40% of the votes cast for that office, then there shall be a runoff election between the two candidates receiving the most votes, which runoff election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in February of the odd numbered year following the initial election. No other issues shall appear on the ballot of any runoff election. The successful candidate in any runoff election shall assume office on March 1, after the election results have been declared by the Council. If the provisions of Article III, Section 5, Paragraph 12 related to instant runoff voting are operative, the vote threshold requirements in this section shall have no application to municipal elections. (f) Should any provision of this Section be held invalid, the remainder of this Section shall not be affected thereby, and such word, phrase, sentence, part, section, subsection, or other portion shall be severable, and the remaining provisions of this Section shall remain in full force and effect. The voters hereby declare that they would have passed this Section and each subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases had been declared invalid.

Section 2. Section 9.5 of Article V of the Charter of the City of Berkeley is added

to read as follows:

Section 9.5 Citizens Redistricting Commission. [New charter section – no redlining.] The purposes of this Section are to: (1) establish a redistricting process that is open and transparent and allows public comment on the drawing of district boundaries; 2) ensure that City Council district boundaries are drawn according to the redistricting criteria set forth in this Charter and applicable State and Federal laws; and 3) ensure that the redistricting process is conducted with integrity, fairness, and without personal or political considerations. In order to accomplish these purposes, a Citizens Redistricting Commission (Commission) is hereby created. (a) Duties and authority of Commission and City Council. (1) The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall be solely responsible for drawing City Council district boundaries in accordance with state and federal law and this Charter, and shall make adjustments as appropriate, taking into consideration public comment at public meetings and public hearings. The City Council shall have no role in developing or adopting a redistricting plan, and its sole responsibilities in redistricting shall be to: adopt an ordinance establishing procedures to implement this Section; adopt a redistricting ordinance as set forth in subdivision (d)(3); submit a final redistricting plan to the voters as set forth in subdivision (d)(4); submit a redistricting ordinance that is the subject of a referendum to the voters as set forth in subdivision

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(d)(5); and to adopt the redistricting plan determined by a special master as set forth in subdivision (d)(4).

(2) The City Council, as part of the adoption of the City Budget, shall allocate sufficient funds to support the work of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, including funds necessary for community outreach, costs for city staff time associated with supporting the work of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, and the hiring of any necessary consultants or outside counsel.

(3) The City Clerk or his or her designee shall serve as Secretary to the Commission.

(4) The City Council, by a two-thirds vote, shall adopt an ordinance establishing procedures to implement this Charter section. An implementation ordinance cannot be modified by the Council for a period of five years after initial adoption, and without a two-thirds vote of the Council. (b) Appointment of Commission.

(1) Membership. The Commission shall consist of thirteen members, each of whom is a registered voter in the City of Berkeley. The application and selection process set forth below and by ordinance is intended to produce a Citizens Redistricting Commission that is independent from legislative and political influence, and reasonably representative of the City’s population. (2) Term. Members of the Citizens Redistricting Commission shall be appointed following each decennial federal census as set forth below. The term of office of each member of the Commission shall expire upon the effectiveness of a redistricting plan for that decennial federal census period. (3) Qualifications and eligibility. All registered Berkeley residents who have voted in the last two General Municipal elections, unless ineligible to do so by reason of age, are eligible for membership on the Citizens Redistricting Commission, subject to the following limitations. (i) The following individuals are prohibited from serving on the Citizens Redistricting Commission: (A) any individual who currently holds, has held, or who has been a qualified candidate for the office of Mayor or City Councilmember within the two years preceding the date of application; (B) any other individual who holds or has held any City of Berkeley elective office identified in this Charter within the two years preceding the date of application;

(C) the immediate family of the Mayor or any Councilmember, as well as of staff to the Mayor or Councilmember;

(D) any employee of the City of Berkeley; (E) any person performing paid services under a contract with

the City of Berkeley, including employees of subcontractors; (F) any individual who has served as an officer, paid staff, or

paid consultant of a campaign committee of a candidate for Mayor or City Council within the two years preceding the date of the application;

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(G) any individual who is currently, or within the two years preceding the date of application has been, a paid staff member or unpaid intern to the Mayor or any Councilmember;

(H) any individual ineligible to serve in public office under Government Code sections 1021, 1021.5, 1770, or the Constitution and laws of the State of California. (ii) If an applicant currently serves on a City of Berkeley board or commission whose members are appointed by the Mayor, a City Councilmember, or the full City Council, he or she may serve on the Citizens Redistricting Commission if selected, provided he or she resigns from the board or commission and he or she agrees not to serve on another City of Berkeley board or commission during his or her term of office on the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Such an applicant shall also be ineligible to serve on a City of Berkeley board or commission for a period of two years following the expiration of his or her term as a voting member of on the Citizens Redistricting Commission. (iii) If an applicant has made a disclosable monetary or non-monetary contribution to a candidate for Mayor or Councilmember, he or she shall be permitted to serve on the Citizens Redistricting Commission if selected, under the condition that he or she discloses under penalty of perjury all monetary and non-monetary contributions made within the four years prior to the date of application to a candidate for Mayor or Councilmember in the City of Berkeley. (iv) No person, within two years after the termination of his or her service on the Commission, will be eligible for employment as a paid staff member for the Mayor or any Councilmember or to serve on a City of Berkeley board or commission. (4) OutreachThe City shall widely publicize the fact that a Citizens Redistricting Commission will be appointed during the following year, the date by which applications for appointment to the Commission must be received, and such other information as will adequately inform potentially interested residents of the Commission. The City shall conduct outreach throughout the City of Berkeley in order to solicit a large pool of applicants and applicant diversity by race, ethnicity, gender, and geography.

(5) Application process. The City Clerk shall initiate and advertise a 30-day nomination period for appointment to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The nomination process shall be open to all registered Berkeley voters, be conducted in a manner that promotes a diverse and qualified applicant pool. (6) Selection process.

(i) The City Clerk shall screen all applications submitted to ensure that each applicant satisfies the eligibility criteria of subsection (b)(3)(i). Procedures to implement the nomination and screening process that are not specified in this Section will be specified in the implementing ordinance adopted by Council. (ii) At a time and place open to the public, and subject to at least ten days public notice, the City Clerk shall select the initial eight members of the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The City Clerk shall randomly select one person from each of the eight council districts. The first person chosen from each pool shall be appointed to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The City Clerk shall then randomly select one additional individual from each of the eight council districts to serve as an alternate for

Comment [ZC1]: Whether or not persons who have served on boards or commissions within two years prior to the date of application should be eligible has been identified as an issue for further discussion by the full commission. A related issue that has been identified for discussion by the full commission is whether the prohibition on serving for two years after termination of membership on the redistricting commission should apply to all other commissions or just some (e.g., ZAB, LPC, PC, HAC, etc.)

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the individual who has been appointed from that district. To implement this paragraph, the City Clerk shall determine a randomized method that meets professional standards and best achieves a random selection. (iii) The Citizens Redistricting Commission, consisting of the initial eight (8) members, shall then convene within ten days for the purpose of selecting the remaining five members and five alternates from the pool of eligible applicants. In appointing the remaining (“at-large”) five members, the Citizens Redistricting Commission shall attempt to achieve community representation by taking into consideration geographic diversity, race, age and gender. At-large alternates shall be appointed as voting members as the at-large commissioners leave office for any reason. The order in which the alternates shall be seated on the Commission as voting members shall be established by a random method at the time they are selected. All appointments under this paragraph shall be at a noticed meeting of the Citizens Redistricting Commission open to the public. (c) Commission procedures. (1) The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall establish and implement an open process for public input and Commission deliberation that shall be promoted through a thorough outreach program to solicit broad public participation in the redistricting process. All Citizens Redistricting Commission meetings shall be open to the public unless necessary to convene in closed session under California Government Code sections 54950 et seq. Members of the public shall have the opportunity to provide written and oral comments to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The Commission’s process must be designed to provide the widest public access reasonably possible to draft redistricting maps and to provide ample opportunity for the public to observe and participate in the redistricting process. (2) The City Manager shall produce redistricting plans and maps based on specific direction from the Commission. The Commission shall also accept and consider maps that are submitted by the public. (d) Commission redistricting proceedings. (1) The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall adopt City Council district boundaries no later than February 1st of the second year after the year in which each decennial federal census is taken, or nine months after final adjustments are made to the census data, whichever is later. The boundaries shall be effective until the adoption of new district boundaries following the next decennial federal census. The City Council may not rescind, supersede or revise the district boundaries adopted by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. (2) Decisions by the Citizens Redistricting Commission to adopt a redistricting plan shall be by nine votes of the Commission.

(3) Concurrently with its adoption of a redistricting plan, the Commission shall issue a report that explains its decisions in achieving compliance with the criteria listed in this Section and shall include definitions of the terms and standards used in drawing the final City Council districts map. The redistricting plan adopted by the Commission shall be submitted to the City Council at its next regular or special meeting consistent

Comment [ZC2]: The subcommittee has identified this issue for further discussion by the full commission.

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with Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 2.06, and the City Council shall at that meeting adopt a redistricting ordinance that implements the redistricting plan without change.

(4) Impasse procedure. If the Commission is unable to achieve nine affirmative votes to adopt a redistricting plan, then the Commission shall submit to the City Council the map which received the most votes of the Commission to be placed on the ballot. In the event that redistricting plan is rejected by the voters, the Commission shall have 30 days to adopt a new redistricting plan by nine affirmative votes. If the Commission, after rejection of the map by the voters, cannot adopt a final redistricting plan by nine affirmative votes, then the Commission shall request that the City Clerk recommend a list of at least three special masters to develop a redistricting plan. The Commission shall consider the recommendations of the City Clerk and select a special master, by majority vote, to develop a redistricting plan. The City Council shall adopt by ordinance the redistricting plan determined by the special master.

(5) A redistricting ordinance adopted by the City Council shall be subject to referendum in the same manner that an ordinance is subject to referendum pursuant to state law and Article XIV of the City Charter. The date of final adoption of the ordinance by the City Council shall be deemed the date of final passage for the purposes of Section 93 of the Charter. The procedures of Section 93 shall apply to a referendum of a redistricting ordinance, except that if a referendum petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified electors the City Council shall submit the ordinance to the voters at the next General Municipal Election. (e) Removal of Commissioners. (1) Commissioners should apply the law in a manner that is impartial and reinforces public confidence and integrity in the redistricting process. (2) In the event of substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office or inability to discharge the duties of office, or if it is determined that a commissioner is ineligible under subdivision (d)(3), a Commissioner may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, after having been served written notice and provided with an opportunity to respond. (3) Any vacancy, whether created by removal, resignation, or absence pursuant to Berkeley Municipal Code Section 3.02.020 or its successor, shall be filled by the alternate for that Commission seat selected at the time of the original selection. If the alternate is unable to serve, the Citizens Redistricting Commission shall fill the vacancy by selecting an applicant from the original pool of applicants by a two-thirds vote at a noticed meeting open to the public. If the seat to be filled is one representing a specific City Council district, the Citizens Redistricting Commission shall appoint an individual who resides in that City Council district. (4) No disqualification of a commissioner shall have any effect on the validity of any action by the Commission or any redistricting map it may adopt. (f) Criteria for redistricting. (1) The Commission shall adjust the boundaries of City Council districts in a manner that complies with the Constitution and statutes of the United States and the State of California, in order that the eight City Council districts shall be as nearly equal

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in population as may be according to the most recent decennial federal census, except where deviation is required to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. (2) In establishing and modifying district boundaries, the Citizens Redistricting Commission shall take into consideration topography, geography, cohesiveness, contiguity, integrity and compactness of territory of the districts, as well as existing communities of interest as defined below, and shall utilize easily understood district boundaries such as major traffic arteries and geographic boundaries to the extent they are consistent with communities of interest as defined in Article XXI, section 2(d)(4) of the California Constitution. The geographic integrity of a neighborhood or community of interest shall be respected to the extent possible without violating State or Federal law or the requirements of this Section.

(3) Districts shall not be drawn for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against an incumbent, political candidate, or political party.

(4) The Citizens Redistricting Commission may consider existing district boundaries as a basis for developing new district boundaries. Should the Commission deviate substantially in its redistricting plan from the previous district boundaries in order to reflect population growth, protect communities of interest or better comply with the redistricting criteria in the Charter, it shall issue a report explaining its reasons for doing so.

(5) The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall not consider the residence of sitting Councilmembers.

(6) If the Citizens Redistricting Commission adopts a redistricting plan that removes the residence of a sitting Councilmember from his or her then-current district, that Councilmember shall continue to serve on the City Council until the expiration of his or her term. (g) Severability. Should any provision of this Section be held invalid, the remainder of this Section shall not be affected thereby, and such word, phrase, sentence, part, section, subsection, or other portion shall be severable, and the remaining provisions of this Section shall remain in full force and effect. The voters hereby declare that they would have passed this Section and each subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases had been declared invalid.

Section 3. Section 10 of Article V of the Charter of the City of Berkeley is

amended to read as follows:

Section 10. Eligibility of Mayor, Auditor, Councilmember, and School Director. [Existing charter section, changes redlined.] To be eligible for the office of Mayor, Auditor, Councilmember, or School Director, a person must, at the time of filing nomination papers for the office, be a citizen of the United States and a qualified elector of the State of California and of the City of Berkeley. Any person who has served as a voting member of the Commission shall be ineligible to file nomination papers for the office of Council member in his or her district

7


of residence or Mayor in the next occurring general municipal election in which said office appears on the ballot after his or her service on the Commission terminates under Sections 9.5(b)(2) or 9.5(e).

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Redistricting commission -- ordinance [6-10-15]

2.10.030 Duties of City Clerk A. Beginning no later than September 1st of the year in which the decennial federal census is taken, the City Clerk shall widely publicize the fact that a Citizens Redistricting Commission will be appointed during the following year, that the date by which applications for appointment to the Commission must be received, by March 1st of the following year, and such other information as will adequately inform potentially interested residents of the Commission. The City Clerk shall conduct outreach throughout the City of Berkeley in order to solicit a large pool of applicants and applicant diversity by race, ethnicity, gender, and geography. B. No later than February 1st of the year after the decennial federal census is taken, the City Clerk shall initiate and advertise a 30-day nomination period for appointment to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The nomination process shall be open to all registered Berkeley voters and be conducted in a manner that promotes a diverse and qualified applicant pool. Applications for appointment to the Citizens Redistricting Committee shall be submitted by March 1st of the year after the decennial federal census is taken. C. The City Clerk shall develop an initial budget for the Commission, including the outreach, application and selection processes. D. The City Clerk or his or her designee shall serve as Secretary to the Citizens Redistricting Commission. E. The City Clerk shall make available for public viewing the applications and disclosures of all current members of the Commission at each of its meetings and public hearings. 2.10.040 Application and selection A. All applicants shall submit their application on a form provided by the City Clerk, which shall include a declaration under penalty of perjury that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria set forth in Charter Section 9.5 and this Chapter. The Commission application form shall include a section in which applicants shall disclose if they have previously made a monetary or non-monetary contribution to a candidate for Mayor or Councilmember within the four years prior to the date of application. B. All applicants shall execute a written agreement that, if they are selected, they will comply with the requirements of the Charter applicable to members of the Commission. not: 1. run for the office of City Councilmember within the two (2) years immediately after the expiration of their term on the Commission;

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2. serve on any City of Berkeley legislative body during their term of office on the Citizens Redistricting Commission, or in the two (2) years immediately following the expiration of his or her term of office on the Commission; 3. make a monetary or non-monetary contribution, serve as paid staff or as a paid consultant to, or volunteer for, any candidate for Mayor or Councilmember, or any person currently holding the office of Mayor or Councilmember, during their his or her term of office on the Citizens Redistricting Commission. C. Applicants shall file a Statement of Economic Interests, a written statement of qualifications not longer than 300 words expressing why he or she believes he or she is qualified to serve on the Citizens Redistricting Commission, and consent to a for police background check. Promptly after reviewing a background check to determine eligibility, the Clerk shall either return it to the applicant or destroy it. To the extent permitted by law, all application forms and materials shall be kept confidential, and shall not be released to the public until after all 13 members of the Commission have been appointed. The Commission application form shall include a section in which applicants shall disclose if they previously made a monetary or non-monetary contribution to a candidate for Mayor or Councilmember. D. The City Clerk shall review all applications submitted during the 30-day nomination period to ensure that each applicant satisfies the eligibility criteria of Charter Section 9.5(b)(3)(i) and (ii) and has voted in the last two General Municipal elections, unless he or she was ineligible to do so by reason of his or her age. Applicants who do not satisfy these criteria shall be removed from the applicant pool. E. After the initial screening by the City Clerk, the City Manager shall appoint a panel of three (3) City employees to evaluate all remaining applications to ensure that remaining applicants have a high degree of competency to carry out the responsibilities of the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Based on this review, the pool of applicants shall be narrowed to no more than 64 applicants. FE. The City Clerk shall then divide the final pool of applicants into eight (8) separate pools, one for each then-existing City Council district in which the applicant resides. GF. When selecting the five at-large members, if the remaining applicant pool of eligible applicants is exhausted or if the Commission believes that it should conduct a new nomination process in order to achieve a more diverse applicant pool, it may direct the City Clerk, by a majority vote, to conduct a new, accelerated, nomination and selection process. The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall then, by a two-thirds vote, select five (5) additional individuals from the remaining pool to serve as at-large members and five (5) more individuals to serve alternates for the at-large commissioners. At-large alternates shall be appointed as voting members as the at-large commissioners leave office for any reason. The order in which the alternates shall be seated on the Commission as voting members shall be established by a random

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method at the time they are selected. All appointments under this subdivision shall be at a noticed meeting of the Citizens Redistricting Commission open to the public. 2.10.050 Commission procedures A. Upon selection of the five (5) at-large members pursuant to Charter Section 9.5(b)(6)(iii), the Commissioners shall elect one of their members to serve as the Commission Chair and one to serve as the Commission Vice-Chair. B. Once all Commissioners and alternates have been appointed, the Citizens Redistricting Commission shall convene for the purpose of training regarding the federal Voting Rights Act and applicable federal and state laws, the Brown Act, and regarding their duties and the requirements of this Charter. Once training is completed the Commission shall convene for the purpose of drawing City Council district boundaries. C. The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall comply with any relevant provisions of the Open Government Ordinance (Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 2.06). The Commission shall hold at least three public hearings at varied locations throughout the city to solicit public input on redistricting priorities, allow for submission of redistricting proposals by members of the public and public review of and input on any map proposed to be adopted by the Commission. Hearings may be supplemented with other activities as appropriate to further increase opportunity for the public to observe and participate in the review process. The Citizens Redistricting Commission shall display draft redistricting maps for public comment in a manner designed to achieve the widest public access reasonably possible and shall provide ample opportunity for public input. D. Voting Mmembers of the Commission shall be compensated at a rate of one hundred dollars ($100) per meeting for attendance at a regular meeting of the full Commission, adjusted as needed based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index, to compensate for the time the Commissioner is engaged in Commission business. Members of the Commission who meet eligibility requirements may also receive reimbursement for expenses for child care, dependent care, or disabled support services in the same manner as members of City boards and commissions. E. Commissioners are strictly prohibited from communicating with or initiating or receiving communications about redistricting matters from anyone outside of a public meeting or hearing; however communications outside of a meeting between Commissioners, staff, legal counsel, and consultants retained by the Citizens Redistricting Commission, that are otherwise permitted by the Brown Act (California Government Code Section 54950 et seq.-54963) or its successor, are not prohibited. The receipt of written communications (whether through paper or electronic format) from the public submitted at a public meeting of the Citizens Redistricting Commission or submitted prior to a Citizens Redistricting Commission meeting to the Secretary and made part of the public record are not prohibited. Any communication received by a Commissioner inconsistent with this subsection shall be promptly disclosed to the Secretary for the public record. Failure to disclose received communications or a

Comment [ZC1]: The subcommittee has identified the issue of whether to provide stipends in addition to reimbursement for low income members as an issue for further discussion by the full commission.

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Commissioner’s response to such communications may be considered gross misconduct. F. All alternates may attend participate in all Citizens Redistricting Commission meetings other than closed session meetings under the Brown Act, and may participate in Citizens Redistricting Commission discussions, but may not vote. G. Upon the expiration of 30 days after final approval of the redistricting ordinance, the City Clerk shall submit the new district boundaries to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters for implementation starting with the next General Municipal Election. 2.10.060 Impasse procedure In the event that the City Clerk is required to recommend, and the Commission is required to select, a special master pursuant to Charter Section 9.5(d)(4), the City Clerk and Commission shall consider retired judges, professors with knowledge about redistricting and reapportionment law, experts with experience advising government agencies on redistricting, and other persons with appropriate knowledge, expertise and experience. 2.10.070 Severability Should any provision of this Chapter be held invalid, the remainder of this Chapter shall not be affected thereby, and such word, phrase, sentence, part, section, subsection, or other portion shall be severable, and the remaining provisions of this Chapter shall remain in full force and effect. The voters hereby declare that they would have passed this Chapter and each subsection, sentence, clause and phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases had been declared invalid. Section 2. Copies of this Ordinance shall be posted for two days prior to adoption in the display case located near the walkway in front of Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Within 15 days of adoption, copies of this Ordinance shall be filed at each branch of the Berkeley Public Library and the title shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation.

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agenda for open government commission · pdf file6. review of may 21, ... you may deliver...

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