12/08/2003 Council Minutes (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MINUTES DECEMBER 8, 2003 APPROVED .96 Councilmember Reinert thanked Councilmember O'Donnell for putting these together, noting he has 97 been working on them for months. 98 99 Councilmember Reinert moved to adopt the City Council Ethical Guidelines presented with the 100 change suggested by Mayor Bergeson and noted by Councilmember O'Donnell. 101 102 Councilmember Carlson stated she had additional questions before this matter goes to motion. She 103 indicated her greatest concern has to do with obtaining information. She stated one point has been 104 clarified. The guidelines said Councilmembers shall forward requests to the City Administrator, 105 whereas the letter received tonight from Duke Addicks says they should be sent to the Responsible 106 Authority, which is the City Clerk. She stated there was also a point of clarification that the City 107 Council could get information just as any citizen can get under the Data Practices Act. She indicated 108 she is wondering how this would work, since Staff has five days to provide information under Data 109 Practices, but if they have a work session on Wednesday and have to vote on the topic on Monday, 110 she may not have the information she needs to vote. 111 112 City Attorney Sullivan indicated he does not recall the Data Practices Act saying five days for all 113 information; he believes it says reasonable time. Councilmember Carlson agreed it may say 114 reasonable time. City Attorney Sullivan stated the City receives requests all the time for public 115 information, often at the police department where someone is looking for a copy of a police report, 116 and Staff usually provides it very quickly. He noted that in his opinion some civil matters at City 117 Hall may take more time to provide. He stated two suggestions; to ask the City Administrator for the 118 information, or to ask for it under the Data Practices Act. He noted the Ethical Guidelines are not •19 meant to interfere with Data Practices. 120 121 Councilmember Carlson stated that any information available to the public must be available to the 122 City Council, and should be requested by contacting the Responsible Authority. She indicated that 123 would not be the City Administrator. She stated time is a concern because they do not have a lot of 124 time between discussing topics at the work session and voting at the City Council meeting. She 125 indicated the guidelines say the City Administrator may either grant the request and advise the other 126 City Councilmembers accordingly, or shall refer the request to the City Council. She questioned how 127 that would work if they are not having a meeting. 128 129 City Attorney Sullivan indicated this assumes the data is public. He stated you could add to the 130 wording that the City Administrator could also refer it to the City Clerk for Data Practices review. 131 132 City Clerk Blair commented that hopefully the two provisions are not inconsistent. She stated it says 133 the Responsible Authority can allow others to distribute information, and as noted in her memo, it has 134 been her practice to let other staff members distribute data specific to their areas. 135 136 Councilmember Reinert moved to adopt the City Council Ethical Guidelines presented with the 137 change suggested by Mayor Bergeson and noted by Councilmember O'Donnell. Councilmember 138 O'Donnell seconded the motion. 139 140 Councilmember Carlson stated she did receive the letter just tonight from Duke Addicks, and it says 141 this merely reflects guidelines of the City Council, and any City Councilmember who does not wish 042 to follow them should make it clear which guidelines they do not wish to follow and why. She noted 3