Oakland City Attorney
the Council ofthe City of Oakland hereby declares that the business ofthe City is to be conducted in an orderly and efficient manner to facilitate sound City Council and public deliberation and decision making; and
the City Council hereby declares that the proper operation of democratic government requires that public officials are bound to observe, in their official acts, the highest standards of performance and to discharge faithfully the duties of their office, regardless of personal considerations. Recognizing that the public’s interest must be their primary concern, their conduct in both their official and private affairs should be above reproach; and
the following Rules of Procedure seek to provide for: (1) reasonable time for public input and comment on agenda items at the Committee and City Council meetings; (2) in-depth study of policy proposals, for problem-solving opportunities among staff, Council members and the public and development ofpolicy alternatives at the committee level; (3) more focused (and fewer) City Council agenda items by limiting items to those a Committee has had the opportunity to discuss and as to which a Committee has developed recommendations; and (4) an agenda that is managed more efficiently and effectively and for predictable discussion times for debate regarding agenda items in order to avoid long waits by the public as the Council considers procedural, ceremonial and consent items (as defined herein); and
in recognition ofthese goals, the City Council desires to establish Rules of Procedure for the Conduct ofCity Council Meetings and a Code ofEthics; and
City Charter section 210 mandates that the Council provide by resolution for the order ofbusiness and the rules ofprocedure for the conduct ofCouncil meetings; and
the Brown Act (Government Code section 54950, et seq.) authorizes the Council to prescribe reasonable rules and regulations for public speakers; and
Resolution No. 86034 C.M.S., passed March 1, 2016, sets forth the current Council Rules of Procedure Rule except for Rule 19, which was amended by Resolution No. 86862 C.M.S., passed July 18, 2017, to revise procedures for Rules Committee review of certain appointments to boards, commissions and other bodies; and
Council Rule of Procedure 4 provides, among other things, that the President ofthe Council appoints council standing committees and committee chairs for two years subject to confirmation by Council resolution; and
the City Council wishes to amend Rule 4 to provide the Council President independent authority to appoint council standing committees and committee chairs; and
Council Rule of Procedure 7.6 provides, among other things, that during modifications to the agenda “[a]ny Councilmember by motion that is seconded by another Councilmember, may pull a consent item from the Consent Item Calendar and place the item on the next City Council meeting agenda as a non-consent item” and does not permit consent calendar items to be moved to the non-consent calendar and heard the same night; and
the City Council wishes to amend Rule 7.6 to provide that items pulled from the Consent Calendar by a Councilmember by motion that is seconded by another Councilmember be moved to the Non-consent Calendar portion of the agenda and heard that same evening; now therefore be it
That Resolution No. 86034 C.M.S., as amended by Resolution No. 86862 C.M.S., (Rules of Procedure) is amended and superseded by this Resolution which sets forth the Council’s Rules ofProcedure in their entirety; and be it
That in accordance with Section 208 of the Charter of the City of Oakland, the time and place of Council meetings is hereby determined to be the following: The Council shall meet in regular session on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, commencing at 5:30 p.m. in the Chambers ofCity Hall, One City Hall Plaza, 3rd Floor, Oakland, California. Meetings shall conclude no later than 12:00 midnight, unless extended by majority vote ofthe members ofthe Council in attendance at the Council meeting. FURTHER RESOLVED: That in accordance with Section 210 of the Charter, the following is established as the order ofbusiness for Council meetings:
City Attorney Barbara J. Parker releases a periodic newsletter in which she provides updates about the work of the Office of the City Attorney as well as reflections on current local, statewide, and national legal topics of importance to Oakland residents.
