Title
Consider Directing Staff to Start a Process to Modify the City Charter to Increase the City Council to Have Seven Members. (Vice Mayor Daysog) [Not heard on January 17, 2023]
Body
COUNCIL REFERRAL FORM
The Council can take any of the following actions:
1) Take no action.
2) Refer the matter to staff to schedule as a future City Council agenda item. Concurrence that staff time will be devoted to the item does not signify approval.
3) Take dispositive action only on time sensitive legislative matters if sufficiently noticed such that the public and Council have been provided sufficient information by the published agenda, and no formal published notice of a public hearing is required.
Name of Councilmember(s) requesting referral: Tony Daysog
Date of submission to City Clerk (must be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday two weeks before the Council meeting requested): December 20, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.
Council Meeting date: January 17, 2023
Brief description of the subject to be printed on the agenda, sufficient to inform the City Council and public of the nature of the referral:
Modify the City Charter to expand the City Council from current 5-member Council (including the Mayor) to a 7-member Council (including the Mayor), based on community input with respect to the substantive nature and process by which such a modification to the City Council would occur.
The City Council, at its July 25, 2020 Priority Setting Workshop, established the following 5 priorities for 2021:
1. Preparing Alameda for the future
2. Encouraging economic development across the Island
3. Supporting enhanced livability and quality of life, including addressing the housing crisis and homelessness
4. Protecting core services
5. Ensuring effective and efficient operations
Briefly describe which Council priority the subject falls under and how it relates:
Having more people on City Council ensures more robust discussion amongst City Councilmembers and between Councilmembers and the public, resulting in greater input that would otherwise be achieved with a Council of five, further resulting in improved input with respect to Alameda’s future (#1), responsive City Hall operations (#5 and #4), and enhanced attention to livability and quality of life (#3).