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TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Law Department
DATE: July 26, 2023
SUBJECT:
Cancellation of committee meetings in certain circumstances .
PURPOSE:
To require a chairperson of a standing committee to cancel meetings which would essentially be held for the sole purpose of approving minutes of a previous meeting.
BACKGROUND:
When the City Council reorganized its committee system in 2019, expanding from four standing committees to five, it attempted to provide each of the committees jurisdiction over approximately the same amount of legislation. While this approach has worked, not every committee is equally busy at all times of the year, and from time-to-time, a committee may not have any business to conduct at a regularly scheduled meeting other than to approve the minutes of an earlier session.
The City Code currently vests standing committee chairpersons with the authority to cancel meetings but does not supply any guidance as to when this authority is best exercised. Some standing committee chairs have routinely cancelled meetings when no agenda items were present, while others desired to hold meetings on a regular, predictable schedule because, at a minimum, they afford an additional opportunity for public comment or for the committee to informally discuss a topic when no legislation is pending.
DISCUSSION:
At the request of the Rules, Administration, and Procedures Committee the Law Department has prepared an amendment to Sec. 2-125(b) of the Code of Ordinances to provide that a committee chairperson shall cancel a meeting of his or her committee if there are no business items on the agenda, other than the approval of the minutes of a previous meeting unless otherwise required by law. The Open Meetings Act provides that "a public body shall approve the minutes of its open meeting within 30 days after that meeting or at the public body's second subsequent regular meeting, whichever is later."
IMPACT STATEMENT:
Approval of this Ordinance establishes that the official policy of the City is that its standing committees may not meet for the sole purpose of approving minutes, essentially removing any uncertainty as to whether a committee chairperson should do when presented with an agenda containing no other business items. The chairperson, however, retains the discretion to add items to an otherwise "empty" agenda to discuss and if he or she does so, the obligation to cancel the meeting would no longer apply.
Practically speaking, routine cancellation of "minutes only" meetings does conserve City resources, including staff time, that would otherwise be dedicated to managing the meeting - including publishing an agenda, attending the meeting, creating an additional set of minutes, and now - ensuring that the meeting is made available through various media.
Moreover, because the complete audio (and now video) of standing committee meetings are continuously available to the public, the public's need to rely on meeting minutes as the exclusive record of what occurred at a standing committee meeting is greatly diminished. Though meeting minutes continue to be the official record of the transaction of business, there are far better, more detailed and much more immediate ways for the public to learn of the work of the standing committees. So long as the minutes of the standing committees are eventually approved in the manner required by the Open Meetings Act, the committee's obligations are satisfied.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
That the Council deliberate upon the proposed amendment and take the action it deems most appropriate.
cc: Rules, Administration, and Procedures Committee
CITY OF AURORA, ILLINOIS
ORDINANCE NO. _________
DATE OF PASSAGE ________________
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An Ordinance amending Sec. 2-125 of the Code of Ordinances pertaining to meetings of the standing committees of the City Council.
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WHEREAS, the City of Aurora has a population of more than 25,000 persons and is, therefore, a home rule unit under subsection (a) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, subject to said Section, a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has established a system of standing committee to assist it in performing its legislative functions; and
WHEREAS. the City Council has enacted Section 2-125 of the Code of Ordinances, which provides for operating procedures for its standing committees to adhere to in the conduct of their business; and
WHEREAS. from time-to-time a standing committee chairperson may be confronted with the question of whether to cancel a meeting of the standing committee when the sole item of business is the approval of the minutes of a previous meeting; and
WHEREAS, Section 2-125 of the Code of Ordinances provides no direction to a standing committee chairperson as to whether to cancel a meeting under the aforedescribed circumstances; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that convening a meeting of a standing committee for the primary purpose of approving the minutes of a previous meeting is unnecessary, undesirable, and not in the best interest of the City or its residents; )
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Aurora, Illinois, as follows: that Section 2-125 of the Code of Ordinances shall be and hereby is amended as set forth in Exhibit A