Berkeley Municipal Code Art. 1 Meetings

A. The regular meetings of the City Council shall be held on the day of the week and at the time fixed by resolution, provided that if any one of the days set shall be a legal holiday, then the meeting shall be held the next day thereafter at the time fixed by said resolution.

B. The City Council shall meet at the council chamber in the City Hall except that when the council chamber is not available, or in cases of necessity or emergency, the council may meet at any other place in the City, provided that said place shall be designated in a notice affixed to the door of the council chamber. (Ord. 3213-NS § 1, 1951; Ord. 1976-NS § 1, 1936; Ord. 1117-NS § 1, 1925)

A. Special meetings of the council may be held at any time upon the call of the Mayor or any five members of the council, upon filing same with the City Clerk, and upon notice given in the manner herein provided. The City Clerk, upon receiving a call for such meeting, shall prepare and address to each member of the council a copy thereof and deliver the same to each member of the council personally, or in lieu of such service, mail to each member a copy of said call addressed to them at their last known place of residence. Such notice shall be received at least twenty-four hours before the time of such meeting as specified in the notice. The notice, if mailed, shall be deposited in the post office in Berkeley, California, or in any United States mailbox in the City. Such notice shall also be personally delivered or mailed to communications media organizations requesting notice in writing and shall be received at least twenty-four hours before the time of such meeting.

B. The call and notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. No other business shall be considered at the meeting.

C. Special meetings may be held by the council at any time upon the unanimous consent of its members. Notice of these special meetings, including the business to be transacted, shall be delivered to communications media organizations as set forth above. (Ord. 5618-NS § 1, 1984; Ord. 4860-NS § 1, 1976; Ord. 1117-NS § 2, 1925)

That the following procedure is hereby established for recording closed sessions of the City Council:

A. A minute record of all closed sessions shall be kept.

B. The City Clerk, or a designated representative, shall be the clerk of all such sessions.

C. The Clerk shall attend the complete closed session and have the duty to keep a minute book of each meeting.

D. The minute book shall be a written record and not a recording taken by mechanical means.

E. The minute book shall include the following:

1. A record of the names of all persons in attendance for each topic discussed.

2. A record of the beginning and ending times and dates of each session.

3. A record of each topic discussed in specific terms.

4. A record of the decision(s) made in the session, if any, by name of the councilmember.

F. The record book shall be confidential and available only to the members of the legislative body, the City Manager, the City Attorney, a department head who attended a particular closed session, or, if a violation is alleged to have occurred at a closed session, to a court of general jurisdiction wherein the local agency lies.

G. In the summary of the council meeting wherein the closed session occurred and in the subsequent minutes for that meeting, the item(s) of the closed session shall be listed. A brief description of the general topics discussed in the session shall be included, said description to be as specific as possible without violating the confidential nature of the session.

H. Any board, commission or committee which holds a closed session shall follow the same procedure. (Ord. 5396-NS § 1, 1981; Ord. 5349-NS § 1981)