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TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Law Department
DATE: July 17, 2020
SUBJECT:
Amendments to various portions of Chapter 2, Article II, Division 4 of the City Code pertaining to City Council business.
PURPOSE:
To modernize and clarify various portions of the City Code pertaining to the conduct of business by the City Council, including a process to handle "routine matters" more efficiently.
BACKGROUND:
Throughout June and July, the Rules, Administration and Procedures Committee and the Committee of the Whole discussed whether and what changes could be made to City Council processes to allow for the more efficient management of business items. While the committees that discussed these topics believe that the existing standing committee -- committee of the whole -- city council process should remain intact for most items of business, they did express willingness to consider modest proposals to allow for more rapid approval of routine matters.
DISCUSSION:
This proposal builds upon the existing authority of the Mayor set forth in the City Code to determine what items may appear on the consent agenda. Currently, Section 2-101 provides that the Mayor may place any item on the consent agenda he considers to be routine. This proposal specifically requires the inclusion of items the committee of the whole deemed appropriate for inclusion on the consent agenda -- a long established practice, but heretofore not part of the City Code. The proposal also allows the Mayor to include categories of items the Council by separate resolution deems to be routine and which do not ordinarily require committee or council deliberation on the consent agenda as well.
The proposal also addresses the question whether an alderman requires a second in order to successfully remove an item from the consent agendas. No second will be necessary unless the item was placed on the consent agenda at the direction of the committee of the whole and the alderman had the chance to request tha...
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