The City Council had a robust discussion Monday on committee attendance, including the possibility of lowering the number of members required to meet a quorum.
Several committees have not met in recent months due to councilmembers work schedules. City Council committees currently have four members and three members must be present for a vote.
The City Council currently has six standing council committees: Finance; Economic Development and Technology; Legislative Policy; Public Safety; Municipal Services; and Housing, Homelessness and Planning.
Councilmembers on Monday said they were opposed to consolidating meetings.
Options include reducing the current six committees to three, four or five.
“I’m not excited about restructuring our committees,” said Rick Cole, who praises the effort by staff. Cole also said he did not favor two-member quorums and supported appointing alternate members to City Council members.
No action was taken on the matter at Monday’s meeting.
Councilmember Steve Madison also said he opposed restructuring committees and said that scheduling could be better accommodate if the City Council Chambers were reserved for City Council committees and meetings.
“I think I would really like to see us get to a place where this room, this diocese is just for the city council so that we have full flexibility in terms of scheduling and all,” Madison said.
According to Acting City Manager Matthew Hawkesworth, cancelled meetings don’t just impact the committee, they also impact staff members assigned to the committee.
But the matter may be a solution in search of a problem as several committees continue to meet without problems, leading to Justin Jones inquiring about lowering the quorum on some committees, but not those that continue to hold meetings without frequent cancellations.
“Perhaps we just look at the committees that are struggling with this. If they’re struggling with getting quorum, then we can look at maybe a two member quorum just for that,” said Jones.
The meeting also exposed a need for more Brown Act training. Several council members appeared to be unsure about discussing items outside of committee and council meetings.
The Brown Act, which governs open meetings of legislative bodies, prevents a quorum of the body from discussing items outside of the meeting.
On Monday, the Pasadena Unified School Board, the City’s other elected body, was forced to end its meeting early after it was discovered that the agenda had not been posted in a public place.
The discussion took place as the city prepares to hold two trial meetings on Tuesdays this month. If the City Council permanently changes its City Council meetings from Mondays to Tuesdays, the change would force adjustments to the existing committee schedule.
“Meetings have often started late waiting for a quorum to arrive and have had to end early due to loss of quorum,” according to the staff report.
Under one proposal, the six committees would have been consolidated into four committees with significantly broader responsibilities.
An Infrastructure, Utilities and Sustainability Committee would absorb much of the Municipal Services Committee’s work, along with capital projects, utility rate-setting and environmental and sustainability issues.
A Housing, Human Services and Economic Vitality Committee would combine housing, homelessness and planning responsibilities with economic development, public health and human services.
Staff said the combination could connect housing and homelessness policy with economic mobility, business climate and community well-being.
A Public Safety and Governance Committee would oversee police and fire matters while absorbing legislative policy and portions of Finance Committee responsibilities, including administrative policy and general fund oversight.
The fourth proposed panel, an Operations, Innovation and Community Services Committee, would handle transportation, technology and departmental operations involving areas including libraries, parks, human resources, rent stabilization and the Office of the Young Child.
Staff is also recommending the council consider standardizing committee meeting times. One possibility would have meetings begin at 5:30 p.m. and target adjournment by 7:30 p.m.
“The proposal gets back to the same problem. We have to commit to being here,” said Councilmember Jason Lyon. “Agreeing to serve on the council and committees means we have to block out the time. If we have trouble showing up, we have to step back or we have to police that.”
Reducing the number of committees would create another issue: ensuring all eight elected officials have meaningful roles. Staff suggested rotating committee memberships and chairs, making assignments based on expertise or establishing cross-committee liaisons.
The proposed four-committee structure could also alter the weekly meeting calendar. Two of the committees could meet twice monthly on alternating Wednesdays, while the other two could meet once a month on Mondays or Thursdays. Some city commissions could also have to change their meeting schedules to avoid conflicts.
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