The Board and Commission Handbook (“handbook”) serves as a comprehensive guide outlining the roles, responsibilities, and operational procedures for various boards and commissions within the city. The current handbook was last updated in 2020.

At the request of the City Council, the current handbook has been revised and updated by the City Attorney in alignment with the Council priorities. The revisions made to the handbook were aimed at streamlining information and ensuring clarity in operational guidelines. The revisions primarily focus on enhancing accessibility and relevance to current practices, as well as providing more comprehensive training and guidance to both new and experienced Board and Commission members. The Council also requested that the Board and Commission members receive “refresher” training upon adoption of the new handbook and utilize the new handbook in the onboarding and training for new members.

Attachment 2 of this staff report is the “redline version” of the updated handbook to show changes made, with additions highlighted in yellow. The clean version of the updated handbook is included as Attachment 3.

Overview of Updates:

• References City Policies:
  • #C89-03 - Appearances at City Commissions, Boards, or Committee Meetings by Members of the City Council.
  • #C89-06 - Appointment to Boards and Commissions 
  • #C94-02 - Dual membership on City Boards, Commissions, and Committees
• Additional guidance incorporated into the “General Guidelines”, “Relationships with Council”, and “Relationships with Public and Staff” sections.
• “Rules of Order and Debate” incorporated into the “Meeting Basics” section, in lieu of the Ralph M. Brown Act appendix.
• Streamlined the “Ethics and Conflicts of Interest” guidance.
• Deletions of Appendices:
  • Appendix B (Open & Public IV: A Guide to the Brown Act) and Appendix C (Rosenberg Rules of Order) have been removed from the handbook. These deletions were made to reflect the current status of city regulations and practices. 
  • While we can reinstate these appendices upon request, it's worth noting that the adoption of Rosenberg Rules by the City Council is pending. Until a decision is made regarding the adoption of Rosenberg Rules, we propose holding off on including them in the handbook.
• Revision of References to Municipal Code:
  • Sections of the Municipal Code that were previously included following the description of each Board and Commission have been omitted. Instead, we now reference the relevant Code Section and indicate that it is available online. This adjustment aims to streamline the handbook while ensuring accurate reference to municipal regulations.