Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 08/20/2002 - ITEMS RELATING TO RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR ALTERNATE AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 20 A-B FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: August 20, 2002lip STAFF: Steve Roy SUBJECT: Items Relating to Rules of Procedure for Alternate Ethics Review Boards and Open Meetings. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinances on Second Reading. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 110, 2002, Amending Chapter 2, Article VI, Division I of the City Code Pertaining to the Rules of Procedure for Alternate Ethics Review Boards. B. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 111, 2002, Amending Section 2-26 of the City Code Pertaining to Meetings of the City Council. These Ordinances,which make certain amendments to Chapter 2 of the City Code modifying various substantive rules and rules of procedure pertaining to: (1) opinions of an alternate ethics review board;and(2)e-mail communications among Councilmembers,were unanimously adopted on First Reading on July 16, 2002. AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY ITEM NUMBER: 38 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL DATE: July 16, 2002STAFF Steve Roy SUBJECT: Items Relating to Confidential Communications and Open Meetings. RECOMMENDATION: ID Staff recommends adoption o e Ordi ces Fist Readin EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A. First Reading of Ordinance No. 109, 2002, Amending Section 2-568 of the City Code Pertaining to Ethical Ru o B. First Reading of Ordi ce No. WO, 20 ending apter 2, Article VI, Division l of the City Code Pertainin R ure fo ernate Ethics Review Boards. C. First Reading of Ordinance No. 111, 2002, Amending Section 2-26 of the City Code Pertaining to Meetings of the City Council. These three Ordinances present for Council's consideration certain amendments to the City Code that would modify various substantive rules and rules of procedure pertaining to: (1) the receipt and disclosure of confidential information by Councilmembers; (2) the ability of a Councilmember to participate in an executive session if he or she has a conflict of interest; (3) opinions of an alternate ethics review board; and (4) a co" members. BACKGROUND: At two retreats earlier this year, the City Council discussed at some length a number of issues regarding confidential information, executive sessions and related topics. At the conclusion of its second retreat,the City Council directed the City Attorney to bring forward several proposed changes to the City Code. Three ordinances have been prepared which propose those changes. They are as follows: Ordinance No.109,2002,Amending Section 2-568 of the City Code Pertaining to Ethical Rules of Conduct. If approved by the City Council, this Ordinance would: DATE: July 16, 2002 2 [ITEM NUMBER: 38 • Clarify that a member of the City Council is an "officer or employee" of the City within the meaning of Section 2-568 of the City Code and is subject to the ethical rules of conduct contained in that section. • Add a definition of"confidential information"to Section 2-568 of the Code to clarify the kind of information that should be considered to be confidential. 0 Specify the circumstances under which confidential information can be disclosed by an officer or employee of the City. • State that an al io fPa 68 1) by a member of the City Council shout a revie d by aon ' ' ethics review board rather than being prosecut in Mu ipalmisd eanor criminal offense; and • Add a provision allowing the Council, by a two-thirds vote, to determine that a Councilmember should not receive confidential information or attend executive sessions pertaining to a particular topic if the Council first determines that the Councilmember has a conflict of interest with regard to that topic. Ordinance No. 110, 2002, Amending Chapter 2, Article VI, Division 1 of the City Code Pertaining to the Rules of Procedure for Alternate Ethics Review Boards. Under Section 2-569(d)(1)c. o e Ci de,a 1 a et s view board is to be convened by the Council if a complaint is d with Ma alleg an ethical violation on the part of four or more Councilmembers. d c o amend t rocedures of such a board in the following respects: • The opinion and recommendation of the alternate ethics review board would be final and would not be submitted to the City Council for review or adoption by the Council; and • City Council and City staff would be required to make available to the alternate ethics review board all information in the possession of the City that is reasonably necessary to t o '01imor n, th release of that information is prohibited by s e or fed ing discussing such information, the board would requi a y any to state or federal confidentiality requirements that ighto i it the re ease of such information to third parties. Ordinance No. 111, 2002,Amending Section 2-26 of the City Code Pertaining to Meetings of the City Council. This ordinance would clarify that an electronic mail communication among City Councilmembers should not be considered a"meeting"of the City Council unless a quorum or three or more members of the Council or Council committee (whichever is fewer) arrange in advance to simultaneously participate in such communication, as in a "chat room" setting. The reason for this proposed amendment is that"meetings"of the City Council that are attended by four or more Councilmembers are subject to public notice requirements. Such requirements would be impractical if applied to e- mail communications. The public's interest in knowing the subject matter of e-mail communications DATE: July 16, 2002 3 I UEM NUMBER: 38 is satisfied by reason of the fact that a-mails are "public record" within the meaning of the Colorado Open Records Act, subject to the privileges and exceptions contained in the Act. In addition to the amendments to the City Code that would be made by these ordinances, City staff is continuing to process two other recommendations that emerged from the Council retreat. These are: • A protocol for going into and coming out of executive sessions, which will include admonitions about the permissible scope of, and procedures for, executive sessions; and • An e-mail poli which 1 incl t o pr ures for creating and maintaining e-mail commu ations t also i lines for kinds of e-mail communications that are approprt Co a rs. These topics will be discussed at the City Council Governance Committee meeting on July 16 and draft policies on these subjects,as approved by the Committee,will be subsequently presented to the full Council for its consideration. Attached to the Agenda Item Summary is a report from the City Attorney describing in greater detail the subjects addressed in the ordinances and proposed policies.