CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
title
Review options to improve meeting efficiency and direct staff accordingly
body
DEPARTMENT: City Manager’s Office
SUBMITTED BY: Pam Gallahue, PhD, Deputy City Manager
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
Under New Business at the June 4, 2024 City Council meeting, the Mayor explained that over the past year staff has made changes at the board/commission level to increase meeting and procedural efficiency. Council members discussed having staff conduct a similar evaluation at the City Council level and, by consensus, Council directed staff to present recommendations for meeting and procedure efficiencies on a future agenda.
DISCUSSION:
Council Rules: Section 1-5-6-3
As stated in Council Rules, all regular open session meetings shall begin at 7:00 p.m. and conclude at 11:00 p.m. unless a majority of City Council members vote to extend the meeting by a certain time.
A history of improvements
Staff continuously evaluates meetings to identify opportunities to improve agenda management and meeting efficiency. In order to maximize the four hours the Council has to conduct City business and hear from the public, the following improvements have been made over the years:
• Speaker sign-up and participation
o Sign-up expanded from in-person only for 30 minutes prior to the meeting to online for six days prior to the meeting
o Added options to submit written comments and position statements instead of addressing the Council in person
• Agenda management
o Increased City Manager purchasing authority from $50,000 to $100,000
o Upcoming topics monitored to ensure no one meeting has multiple major agenda items
o Informs Council of upcoming major agenda items by quarter
o Removed Employee of the Month, department team awards, and career observance weeks/months (e.g., Public Works Week) as these are now hosted by individual departments
o Limit awards/recognition items to three per meeting
Specifically, over the past year, the following new processes have been introduced, and existing processes reinforced, to further improve meeting efficiency:
• Speaker sign-up
o Sign-ups accepted by phone
• In-person speaker participation
o Introduced timer on side dais
o Strictly adhere to three-minute time limit
o Speakers called in groups of four
o Seating area designated to queue speakers
• City Council comments
o Adherence to Council Rule #1-5-6-7-3-3.3 regarding the number of times a Council member may speak on any one agenda item and the related time limit
o Clearly defined topics that are appropriate to discuss in Public Forum and New Business
Council direction from June 4, 2024
In response to City Council direction, staff surveyed municipalities located fully and partially in DuPage County and researched their meeting agenda processes. While the agenda structure differed, one item present across all agendas was the opportunity for the public to address the governing body. However, the rules applied to the public participation component varied by time limit per speaker, maximum time limit for the agenda item, and location on the agenda.
Of the 18 cities staff reviewed, nine placed public participation at the beginning of the agenda and nine placed it at the end. Time limits per speaker ranged from three to five minutes and five municipalities capped public participation at 30 minutes. Lastly, one municipality requires that if more than five speakers wish to speak on the same topic and hold the same position, they must pick one or two spokesperson(s) and have all those who agree raise their hands.
Given the variability of the public participation component of area municipalities, staff decided to further evaluate how Naperville’s Public Forum agenda item is managed.
Public Forum - Naperville
The current ordinance states that Public Forum is held at the beginning of the meeting with no time limit and that speakers shall limit remarks to no more than three minutes.
This year, the City Council began to bifurcate Public Forum after 60 minutes. At the one-hour mark, Public Forum is paused so the Council can conduct City business on the agenda. Public Forum then resumes at the conclusion of the regular agenda and before New Business.
Using this agenda management strategy, the Council has successfully heard from all speakers in Public Forum and on agenda items, completed all City business on the agenda, and introduced items under New Business within the four-hour meeting limit.
Recommendation
To realize additional meeting efficiency, the City Council can elect to reduce the time of Public Forum before it is bifurcated. By hearing and voting on agenda items sooner, petitioners, attorneys, consultants, and other interested parties are free to leave. Also, while staff works diligently to keep major topics to a minimum on any one agenda, timing outside of the City’s control can dictate when an item is before the City Council. In these circumstances, Council may wish to hear items earlier in the evening to not risk needing to extend the meeting past 11:00 p.m. for the purposes of deliberation.
Staff recognizes that reducing the three-minute speaker time limit would also gain efficiencies, however such a change would not only be inconsistent with area municipalities but would also make it difficult for speakers to present thoughtful and complete comments. As such, no changes to the speaker time limit are being recommended.
The decision matrix below is provided to guide discussion and give the Council options to modify the Public Forum agenda item. Once consensus is reached on an option, Council can direct staff to draft an ordinance codifying the change.
|
Public Forum |
|
Current Ordinance |
Recent Practice |
Option A |
Option B |
|
Public Forum held at the beginning of the meeting with no time limit |
Limit Public Forum to 60 minutes at the beginning of the meeting and continue Public Forum to before New Business |
Limit Public Forum to 10 speakers at the beginning of the meeting and continue Public Forum to before New Business |
Move all Public Forum speakers to before New Business |
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A