Title
Recommendation that City Council, Boards and Commissions Annually Review Meeting Schedules for Possible Conflicts that Inhibit Maximum Public Participation. (Community Development 10061831) [Not heard on November 2, 2021; continued from November 16, 2021]
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council directed the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) to consider recommendations for rescheduling future City Council, Board, and Commission meetings that may fall on religious holidays, which may inhibit maximum public participation. At its August 26, 2021 meeting, the SSHRB voted to recommend that the City Council, Boards, and Commissions that hold regularly scheduled meetings survey their members before the meetings are scheduled for the following year to determine potential conflicts, such as non-Federal holidays and other events, that would inhibit maximum public participation and to reschedule those meetings as necessary.
BACKGROUND
The City Council regularly meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month. This year, the third Tuesday of July fell on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and the first Tuesday of September fell on Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana. At the July 20, 2021 City Council meeting, the Council directed the SSHRB to consider policy recommendations for rescheduling future City Council and City Board/Commission meetings that may fall on dates that preclude maximum public participation.
DISCUSSION
At the SSHRB's August 26, 2021 meeting, staff presented the issue regarding regularly scheduled public meetings that conflict with religious holidays. As part of its research, staff contacted the League of California Cities and six nearby cities (Berkeley, Oakland, San Leandro, Hayward, Piedmont, and Pleasanton) about their policies for scheduling public meetings that coincide with religious holidays.
While local municipal offices are closed on national and secular holidays,...
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