Title
Recommendation to Consider Adoption of a City Council Code of Conduct and Councilmember Handbook, and Code of Conduct, Providing Guidelines for Councilmembers to Follow in Conducting City Business and Fulfilling Their Responsibilities as City Elected Officials. (City Manager/City Attorney)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council, agreeing with recommendations from the Alameda Civil Grand Jury, directed staff to return with a draft Councilmember Code of Conduct/Handbook in order to provide additional guidance for Councilmembers in the conduct of the City's business and fulling the duties of their public office. Staff now presents a proposed Handbook/Code of Conduct for Council consideration. Staff anticipates that the City Council will consider making both additions and deletions to the draft code of conduct/handbook.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (City) has had longstanding commitment regarding transparency, open government, and high functioning local governance. Consistent with these commitments, the City has adopted numerous policies that provide guidance for Councilmembers in the conduct of their public office. Examples of such policies include, the Sunshine Ordinance, the Council Rules, the Policy Prohibiting Harassment, Discrimination & Retaliation, and the Conflict of Interest Code. However, these policies were never consolidated into a master document for ease of access.
On June 11, 2019, the Alameda County Grand Jury recommended that the City more formally establish a Councilmember Code of Conduct/Handbook. On July 16, 2019, the Council agreed with this recommendation and directed staff to return with such a Code of Conduct/Handbook.
DISCUSSION
Following the Council's direction on July 16, staff from the City Manager's Office and the City Attorney's Office have been consolidating existing City policies and reviewing best practices from other jurisdictions in order to create a Co...
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