Berkeley Municipal Code Art. III Conduct of City Council Meetings

A. The City Council shall hold a minimum of twenty-four (24) meetings, or the amount needed to conduct City business in a timely manner, whichever is greater, each calendar year.

B. Regular City Council meetings shall begin no later than 7:00 p.m.

C. Except at meetings at which the budget is to be adopted, no public hearing may commence later than 10:00 p.m. unless there is a legal necessity to hold the hearing or make a decision at that meeting or the City Council determines by a two-thirds vote that there is a fiscal necessity to hold the hearing. (Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)

Councilmembers who represent the City on regional bodies and commissions shall provide to the City Council and the public a report that briefly summarizes the discussion and any action on any item that affects the City of Berkeley subject to the following provisions:

A. If the webpage containing the Agendas and Minutes of the Regional Body is directly linked from the City of Berkeley web site, no additional report from the Councilmember is required.

B. If the Agendas and Minutes of the Regional Body are not linked as described in paragraph A., the Councilmember must submit the required summary report to the Council agenda process no later than 15 days after the minutes of the Regional Body meeting have been approved and the report will appear on the next available Council agenda. Such reports shall state where additional information about the issues summarized may be obtained. (Ord. 7395-NS § 1, 2015; Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)

A. All regular and special meetings of the City Council, Redevelopment Agency, Rent Stabilization Board, and Zoning Adjustments Board, when held in the venue regularly used, shall be recorded, televised and video-streamed live as well as archived for replay. The live broadcasts shall be captioned.

B. It is the intent of the City to broadcast the meetings of the Planning Commission, Landmarks Preservation Commission, and Housing Advisory Commission, in the same manner as specified in paragraph A, as City resources become available.

C. The broadcast requirements shall not apply if necessary equipment malfunctions or if a public meeting is changed to a location that does not have the technological capacity to accommodate the broadcasting needs. (Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)

Whenever a Legislative Body holds a public hearing on a zoning, landmarks, subdivision or other adjudicative matter, following any staff presentation, each member of the Legislative Body shall verbally disclose all ex parte contacts concerning the subject of the hearing. Members shall also submit a report of such contacts in writing prior to the commencement of the hearing. Such reports shall include a brief statement describing the name, date, place, and content of the contact. Written reports shall be available for public review in the office of the secretary to the Legislative Body prior to the Meeting and placed in a file available for public viewing at the Meeting. (Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)

A. Before any Closed Session, a Legislative Body shall meet in open session for the purpose of taking public comment solely on the subject(s) of the Closed Session.

B. Any member of a Legislative Body attending a Closed Session by teleconferencing is required to state at the beginning and end of the Closed Session that they are participating with no other person present and to file a signed statement to that effect under penalty of perjury, except that if a member of a Legislative Body is disabled and needs assistance to participate in a Closed Session, the City shall provide a staff assistant who is authorized to attend the Closed Session. Any specialized attendant or assistant, whom a disabled Council Member needs to have present in order to participate fully in the Closed Session shall be allowed to attend the Closed Session.

C. Immediately following the end of the Closed Session, the Legislative Body shall make a report in open session describing any final action taken as required by state law, as well as any other matter or statement the City Council decides to make. If the Closed Session is not followed the same day by a regular meeting of the Legislative Body, the report shall also be made at the next regular meeting.

D. The location of reports to the public after a Closed Session has ended shall be in a venue that is open to the public, and where practicable, one that supports video transmission, audio, and video-streaming.

E. Any report on final approvals taken in Closed Session shall be posted no later than the end of the following business day to the City’s website.

F. When litigation involving the City is finally adjudicated or otherwise settled, the text and terms of any settlement shall be subject to disclosure. No attorney representing the City shall solicit or agree to any settlement provision that would restrict disclosure of terms or communications between each party after settlement and any such provision shall be void.

G. When settlements are authorized by the City Council at a Closed Session but are not reported out immediately following the end of the Closed Session, the City Attorney shall prepare an information item for the City Council Agenda promptly upon execution of the settlement, which shall include a copy of any settlement agreement. (Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)

Members of the public may use City equipment for audio/visual presentations for items on the meeting agenda of the City Council if the presentation is provided to the City Clerk no later than seven (7) days before the meeting, or five (5) days before for items carried over from a meeting that occurred the week immediately prior. Requests for presentation tools are subject to reasonable availability of any equipment that the proposed presentation would require. Presentations from the public shall comply with the time limits set forth in the City Council Rules of Procedure. (Ord. 7166-NS § 1 (part), 2011)