Loading...
CC 09-06-2023 Item No. 8 Revisions to Cupertino City Council Procedures Manual_Late CommunicationsCC 09-06-2023 Item #8 Revisions to Cupertino City Council Procedure Manual Written Communications From: Kitty Moore <CMoore@cupertino.org> Sent: Wednesday, September 6, 2023 10:47 PM To: Kirsten Squarcia <KirstenS@cupertino.org> Subject: Item 8 Dear City Clerk, Please add the attached Los Altos Accountability Policy to Item 8. Thank you, Kitty Moore Kitty Moore Councilmember City Council CMoore@cupertino.org (408) 777-1389 4831-0084-6333v2 JH\27697001 ACCOUNTABILITY POLICY OF THE LOS ALTOS CITY COUNCIL Adopted October 12, 2021 PURPOSE The Los Altos City Council adopts this policy for members of the City Council to assure public confidence in the integrity of local governance, to hold itself accountable to each other and the public, and to foster trust from the public. This policy applies only to the City of Los Altos Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Councilmembers serving on the Los Altos City Council (“Council”) for improper conduct that could result in admonition or censure. This policy shall be effective on the date of adoption by the Council (“Effective Date”) and shall not be applied retroactively to any conduct occurring before the Effective Date. Any disciplinary action taken by the Council under this policy shall be a final action and is not subject to an appeal or reconsideration. POLICY It is the policy of the Council that all its members shall abide by federal and state law, City ordinances, and City policies, including the Council Norms and Procedures (hereinafter referred to as Law or Policy). Violations of such Law or Policy tend to undermine the effectiveness of the Council as a whole and foster distrust from the public. Depending on the circumstances of alleged violations of Law or Policy, the Council may initiate an investigation of the allegations prior to the filing of a request for any of the actions described in this policy. An investigation is not required, but any Councilmember may request and be granted an investigation of the alleged violation. Nothing in this policy shall preclude individual Councilmembers from making public statements regarding such alleged conduct. While the Council has broad discretion in deciding certain actions it may choose to take in response to violations of Law or Policy, which would not require the Council to adopt policy, including but not limited to voting to remove a Councilmember from a Committee or Board, or a vote of no confidence in a particular Councilmember, this policy provides definitions and procedures related to two types of actions: admonition and censure. The Council shall only admonish or censure a Councilmember pursuant to this policy if a Councilmember has violated the same Law or Policy more than two times and the 4831-0084-6333v2 JH\27697001 Councilmember has been publicly warned about such violations by another Councilmember or Councilmembers(s) and the Councilmember that received the warning continues to violate the Law or Policy. Admonition An admonition may be informal or formal and is typically directed to a member or members of the Council. An admonition may be issued in response to a particular alleged action or actions in violation of a Law or Policy. An informal admonition may be issued by the Council prior to any findings of fact regarding allegations, and because it is a warning or reminder, it would not require an investigation or separate hearings to determine whether the allegation is true. A formal admonition would follow a public hearing, as further described below. The Council recognizes the right to criticize is protected by the First Amendment, and may be done by an individual Councilmember, or by a Council motion and vote. A Mayor may from time to time remind Councilmembers to comply with any Law or Policy in order to conduct an orderly meeting. Such reminders by the Mayor are not an admonition. Censure Censure is an official reprimand or condemnation made by Council in response to specified conduct by one of its own members. Censure is disciplinary in nature and requires the formal adoption of a resolution setting forth the Councilmember’s alleged violations of Law or Policy. Although not required, censure could involve an investigation and it must protect the due process rights of the Councilmember being investigated. Censure carries no fine or suspension of the rights of the Councilmember as an elected official, but a censure is a punitive action for a Councilmember’s violations of Law or Policy. PROCEDURE Informal Admonition An individual Councilmember can make an informal admonition at any Council meeting during the Public Presentations or Reports of Councilmembers portion of the meeting. The Councilmember making the informal admonition must first ask the Mayor to make the informal admonition and state on the record the basis for the informal admonition, including the previous two or more times that the Councilmember, who would be subject to the informal admonition, had been warned. After doing so, the Mayor must allow the Councilmember to make the informal admonition. If the Mayor would like to make an informal admonition, the Mayor is also required to state on the record the basis for the informal admonition. Formal Admonition or Censure Public Hearing At a public City Council Meeting, three (3) Councilmembers may request a discussion of a formal censure and/or formal admonition action be placed on a future regular meeting Council agenda. At the future meeting that the discussion is heard, a vote by three (3) or more Councilmembers is required to agendize a formal public hearing. The City Clerk shall provide a formal notice of the hearing to the Councilmember who is the subject of the action. The notice 4831-0084-6333v2 JH\27697001 shall contain the specific allegations and/or charges on which the proposed action is based and the date and time that the matter will be heard. At the hearing, the Councilmembers who requested the hearing shall have a cumulative total time of no more than 10 minutes to state the reason(s) they are requesting the formal admonition or censure, and the Councilmember who is the subject of the action shall have up to 10 minutes to respond. Upon hearing the testimony, the Council may take action setting forth its findings and stating the terms of the disciplinary action. Disciplinary Action. If, at the close of the hearing, a majority of the entire membership of the Council finds that the subject member’s conduct violates any Law or Policy, the Council may take one or more of the following measures: (1) Formal Admonition. A Formal Admonition can be in the form of a motion and vote, or an adopted Resolution, and can take any or all of the following forms: (a) The admonition is directed to one or all members of the Council, reminding them that a particular type of behavior is in violation of law or City policy; and/or (b) Direction is given to the subject Councilmember to correct the result of the particular behavior that violated Law or Policy; and/or (c) A reprimand is directed to the subject member of the Council based on a particular action (or set of actions) that is determined to be in violation of Law or Policy but is considered by the Council to be not sufficiently serious to require formal censure. (2) Resolution of Censure. The Council may adopt a resolution of censure that clearly sets forth the facts supporting the allegations of misconduct giving rise to the censure. A resolution of censure requires a majority vote of the entire membership of the Council. A resolution of censure may include the imposition of certain actions against the Councilmember such as removal from a committee or Board.