pages: CityCouncil/2010-04-20.pdf, 7
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CityCouncil | 2010-04-20 | 7 | ordinance. Councilmember Tam stated the Sunshine Task Force is suggesting developing a Sunshine Ordinance by September but is not saying what the ordinance should contain; Council is suggesting that separate guidelines can be a subset to the Sunshine Ordinance or a chapter within the ordinance; inquired whether it is Mayor Johnson's understanding that [guidelines] are not necessarily part of the ordinance being development by the Sunshine Task Force. Mayor Johnson responded in the affirmative; stated everything could be in the same chapter of the Municipal Code. Councilmember Tam stated the five priorities are: 1) provide direction under the Public Records Act requests regarding costs and turnaround time; 2) extend the noticing requirement for public meetings beyond 72-hours; 3) develop guidelines regarding the minimum radius that must be used when notifying neighbors about land use matters; 4) campaign finance reports; and 5) lobbyist registry; according to the original staff report, the campaign finance issue was more about ensuring that the campaign finance documents that every elected official and ballot measure committee file with the City are easy to access. Vice Mayor deHaan stated that he suggested contribution limits; other cities take the Sunshine Ordinance as a separate ordinance. The City Attorney stated there is not a generic Sunshine Ordinance; the generic term is used for a variety of regulations that encourage and enforce open government and citizen accessibility; suggested that she start with the five Council priorities; the idea is for the Sunshine Task Force to identify issues at the three meetings and bring the issues back to Council in a final report; Council can review the issues and make policy direction as a result of the input and give direction to the City Attorney to craft one or more ordinances that come under the general rubric of Sunshine or open government principles; she can bring back draft ordinances on lobbying and campaign reform. Mayor Johnson stated that she is fine with the City Attorney's suggestion; she is fine with coming back with a good model of another city's ordinance with changes. The City Attorney stated that she would be happy to have any kind of additional ordinance samples that speak to what Alameda needs; ultimately, it will be a Council policy decision. Mr. Knox White stated the City Attorney's suggestion is exactly what the Sunshine Task Force is recommending. Vice Mayor deHaan stated the direction is a little different than coming to an overall Sunshine Ordinance; that he is hearing that the Sunshine Task Force would look at various other ordinances to see what is a good array and make a suggestion, then Regular Meeting Alameda City Council 7 April 20, 2010 | CityCouncil/2010-04-20.pdf |