CC 03-04-2025 Item No. 9 Amendments to the City Council Procedure Manual_Written CommunicationsCC 03-04-2025
Item No. 9
Councilmember Mohan's
comments for
Amendments to
Cupertino City Council
Procedures Manual
Written Communications
From:Sheila Mohan
To:Lauren Sapudar; Kirsten Squarcia; Christopher Jensen
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:Re: Mohan"s Comments - Council Policies and Procedures
Date:Wednesday, February 12, 2025 4:06:11 PM
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Mohan's Comments - Council Procedures.pdf
VIII.Reports to City Council or Commissions
Mohan's comments: This should be done as part of the Councilmember Reports.
Expense reporting not required here. Councilmember Reports now include events
attended by Councilmembers in their official capacity.
L1 Remove, : No good reason to include these
Mohan's comments: The reason this (4.4) is included is to avoid the revolving door
practice among current officials and to encourage new participants.
L2: Replace: Commission Removal by Council Approval
Mohan's Comments: There are objective standards for commissioners - attendance,
Form 700, etc. It is more efficient when City Clerk removes commission members
when these objective standards are not met. There is nothing discretionary or subjective
in the City Clerk's decision.
L5: CM Provides Options (ICMA suggestion)
Mohan's Comments: City Manager's performance criteria should not be part of Council
Procedures Manual
L6: Assume Suggestion, rather than instruction
Mohan's Comments: I disagree. There is no need for this Add. We should all be able to
tell the difference between a suggestion and an instruction.
L7: Replace: Council may file PRA Request
Mohan's Comments: I disagree that a Councilmember can file a PRA request. PR
Requests have spiraled out of control - 333 requests in 2024! PRA's have the intended
and/or unintended consequence of bringing City operations to a halt because of the time
and huge effort involved in complying with the 10-day response period that the State
requires.
L11: Add 7.7: Written Communication
Mohan's Comments: Non-agenda communications should not be part of the agenda.
Minutes reflect oral communications which include non-agenda comments from prior
council meeting.
L12: Add: When......regular council meeting
Mohan's comments: Start time of Council meeting should be at the discretion of the
mayor and city manager.
L14: Replace: Anyone can pull items.
Mohan's Comments: Disagree. Efficient management of agenda will be
adversely impacted.
L17: Replace: Encourage meaningful discussion
Mohan's Comments: This is unnecessary. Procedure exists now.
L18: Add: Access to Closed session materials
Mohan's Comments: Need clarification.
Revision to Council
Procedures Manual
2025-02-03
CONFIRM: “CM shall keep Council informed of the City
response”
5.4 Responses to Public.
It will be the responsibility of the City Manager to ensure a response is provided to
public correspondence for informational requests addressed to the Council. Staff
shall respond to all requests for services as appropriate, and the City Manager
shall keep Council informed of the City response.[LC1]
[LC1] It seems the responses to residents have not been forwarded to
Councilmembers in practice. I seem to have to request that the city’s response is
forwarded to me.
CONFIRM: CM shall place requests on Agenda
6.6 Councilmember Access to Information. ….it more appropriately be assigned
to staff through the collective direction of the City Council, based on the guidelines set
forth in Cupertino Municipal Code section 2.17.043. The City Manager shall place
requests that impose a significant workload on staff on the Council agenda for
review by the full Council, along with a statement from that Councilmember as to
why the information is needed.