In support of guidelines and procedures, the Councilor’s reference manual is available.
(A) Agenda items. Any Councilor may have an item placed on the City Council agenda.
(1) Any Councilor may request, if responsible for an agenda item, postponement of the item to another meeting if the Councilor cannot be present at the meeting at which time the item is scheduled.
(2) Any two Councilors can request that an item be postponed to the following meeting. Further postponement requires a majority vote of the Councilors present.
(B) General.
(1) Any Councilor may attend any meeting at which the City Council is represented, but only the designated Councilor has the right to vote at meetings where vote is permissible. If the designate can not attend, a proxy may be allowed for the attendance of another Councilor.
(2) The Mayor’s title should be used when appropriate during meetings and functions.
(3) A Councilor should only speak for himself or herself and not for other Councilors, unless authorized to do so by the City Council.
(4) Councilors should avoid personalizing issues; therefore, discussion should be issue-oriented.
(5) Councilors should not create or infer a change in city policy before, during, or after consideration of a particular issue unless the specific issue has been established as policy by vote of the City Council.
(6) During public meetings, Councilors should not attempt to edit or rewrite existing ordinances because of the potential impact on other issues. If changes are necessary, amendments to an ordinance shall be prepared and reintroduced.
(C) Conflict of interest. Generally, conflicts of interest arise in situations where a Councilor, as a public official deliberating in a quasi-judicial proceeding, has an actual or potential financial interest in the matter before the City Council. Under state law, an actual conflict of interest is defined as one that would be to the private financial benefit of the Councilor, a relative, or a business with which the Councilor is associated. A potential conflict of interest is one that could be to the private financial benefit of the Councilor, a relative, or a business with which the Councilor is associated. A relative means the spouse, children, siblings, or parents of the public official or public official’s spouse. A Councilor must publicly announce potential and actual conflicts of interest and, in the case of an actual conflict of interest, must refrain from participating in debate on the issue or from voting on the issue.
(D) Legal advice. Requests to the City Attorney for advice requiring legal research shall not be made by a Councilor except with the majority approval of the City Council. Before requesting research or other action by the City Attorney, the City Council is encouraged to consider consulting with the City Recorder to ascertain whether the request or action can be accomplished more cost-effectively by alternate means. Outside a City Council meeting, a Councilor should make requests of the City Attorney through the City Recorder. Exceptions to this are issues related to the performance of the City Recorder and unique and sensitive personnel that involve city business-related requests. The City Attorney shall in either case provide any written response to the full City Council and City Recorder.
(E) Communication. Communication with staff Councilors shall respect the separation between policy making and administration by:
(1) Attempting to work together with the staff as a team in a spirit of mutual confidence and support;
(2) Not attempting to influence or coerce the City Recorder or department head concerning personnel, purchasing, awarding of contracts, selection of consultants, processing of development applications, or the granting of city licenses and permits;
(3) Addressing all formal inquiries and requests for information from staff to the City Recorder or City Attorney and allowing sufficient time for response. All written information given by the City Recorder or his or her designee to one Councilor should be distributed to all Councilors;
(4) Limiting individual contacts with city officers and employees so as not to influence staff decisions or recommendations, to interfere with their work performance, to undermine the authority of supervisors, or to prevent the full City Council from having benefit of any information received; and
(5) Respecting roles and responsibilities of staff when and if expressing criticism in a public meeting or through public electronic mail messages. Staff shall have the same respect for the roles and responsibilities of City Councilors. All written informational material requested by individual Councilors will be submitted by staff to the entire City Council with a notation indicating which Councilor requested the information.
(F) Confidentiality. Councilors will keep all written materials provided to them on matters of confidentiality under law in complete confidence to ensure that the city’s position is not compromised. No mention of the information read or heard should be made to anyone other than other Councilors, city staff, or the City Attorney.
(1) If the City Council in executive session provides direction or consensus to city staff on proposed terms and conditions for any type of negotiation whether it be related to property acquisition or disposal, pending or likely claim or litigation, or employee negotiations, all contact with other parties shall be made by designated staff or representatives handling the negotiations or litigation. A Councilor will not have any contact or discussion with any other party or its representative nor communicate any executive session discussion.
(2) All public statements, information, or press releases relating to a confidential matter will be handled by staff designated by majority of the City Council.
(3) The City Council, by vote, may reprimand a Councilor who discloses a confidential matter, or take any other appropriate legal action.
(G) Expenses and reimbursement. Councilors will follow the same rules and procedures for reimbursement as those which apply to city employees, as established by city policy. Councilor expenditures for other than routine reimbursable expenses (such as, conference registration, travel, and the like) must require advance City Council approval according to the purchasing rules which apply city-wide.
(1) A Councilor who will be traveling on city business may make his or her own reservations for travel and lodging in accordance with city policy. Upon request to the City Recorder, travel accommodations for Councilors will be made by city staff.
(2) The city does not reimburse Councilors for expenses incurred by their spouses. (Oregon Government Ethics Commission Chapter 199). As provided in O.R.S. 244.020(7)(b)(F), the expenses offered to and accepted by a public official may only be accepted by a public official and not relatives or members of the public official’s household.
(Res. 322, passed 7-2-2003)