Minutes 1996 0112 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes - San Leandro City Council Meeting - January 12, 1996 Page - 2 - 4. MATTER OF FORMATION OF AND APPOINTMENTS TO COMMITTEES: A. City Council Committee on Council Procedures and Relations. B. City Council Committee to Review Composition and Mission of Council Committees. Mayor Corbett recommended the formation of two committees to look at, work on, and improve. In response to questions by Council Member Polvorosa, she described the committees. She said the Policies and Relations Committee would look at the Charter, which gives the Council its operating rules and discusses the Council's role, the City Manager's role, etc. Council Member Perry said the Policies and Relations Committee should clarify the Charter and propose processes for appointments to Council committees and for subcommittee reports to the full City Council. She said the City Manager follows priorities the Council has given him and has been doing what the Council told him to do. She suggested reviewing procedures for how public concerns come to the Council and the information that comes to the Council from subcommittees, including both majority- and minority - committee opinions. Council Member Perry said the Committee Composition and Mission Committee should look at whether current committees relate to current priorities of this Council or future Councils. Vice Mayor Kerr said he would like to see processes established for Council committees. He said Council Members should be assigned to City departments and meet three to four times a year to see what is being done and planned by the departments and communicate to the rest of the Council. He said the committees would not be intended to get involved in the day -to -day operation of the departments but would work on policies of each department. He said the Budget Committee should be comprised of the full Council, not just three members. He asked if these committees would be ad hoc? Mayor Corbett said they would. Vice Mayor Kerr said they should be permanent committees. Council Member Myers said these committees should report to the Council, on the agenda, once a month. Regarding Vice Mayor Kerr's comments, he said the Council must be very careful when they start dealing with departments; the Charter is very firm that the Council can set policy but cannot have direct input to the departments. He said the Council currently gets 30 pages every two months about what's going on in building and planning, but is guilty of not reading all the information.