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ATTY/POLICIES/A GUIDE TO CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS & BUSINESS <br />REV: 09-14-23 VR <br />Page 10 of 16 <br />judgment of the Presiding Officer, each side shall have ten (10) minutes to make a <br />presentation on the appeal. The appellant shall go first, then the applicant, and then <br />individuals may make public comment. <br />5. Where the appellant is the applicant, the appellant-applicant may make a ten (10) <br />minute presentation after the staff report, and public comment on the matter shall <br />follow. <br />6. In case there are two or more appellants, the time allowed for presentation shall be <br />a total of twenty (20) minutes divided among all appellants. In no event will an <br />individual appellant be given less than five (5) minutes for presentation. <br />7. In some cases, a designated spokesperson(s) appears on behalf of an individual or a <br />group to present the case of the applicant or appellant. Because the applicant and/or <br />appellant is given more time than others, applicants and appellants should not <br />additionally speak during public comment, regardless of whether the applicant or <br />appellant spoke or whether represented by a spokesperson, on the item so as to avoid <br />the inequity of some parties obtaining more time than others. A party may have more <br />than one spokesperson such as the applicant and an attorney or an attorney and an <br />engineer, and they may all speak but within the total time allotted to that one party. <br />B. Public Comment. The General Rules for all public comment apply (see above). <br />C. Rules of Evidence Do Not Apply. The City Council and its subordinate agencies as well as <br />staff are not partisans on any side of any land use dispute but are charged with making <br />decisions in the best interests of the entire City after weighing all input, and this process <br />is a means of addressing divergent community interests. Accordingly, the rules of <br />evidence and other such legal procedures do not apply. <br />D. Ex Parte Communications. Constituents have a reasonable expectation that they may <br />engage their elected officials on matters of community concern such as land use matters, <br />which are often controversial. However, interested persons also have a right to know <br />what a Council Member considers as supporting information in making certain decisions <br />and may feel that the proceeding was not fair when a public official has ex parte <br />communications (communications that occur outside of a public hearing) on a matter that <br />is before or likely to come before the City Council. <br />The City Council wishes to balance its commitment to transparency in government and its <br />obligation to provide a fair process. Accordingly, the following are suggested as best <br />practices: <br />1. Legislative decisions. Legislative decisions relate to the City Council’s law-making and <br />policy functions, such as ordinances, zoning, and general plan amendments. The City <br />Council may discuss pending legislative matters freely with its constituents and the <br />public and no disclosure of those contacts is necessary. <br />2. Adjudicative decisions or quasi-judicial decisions. Adjudicative or quasi-judicial <br />decisions relate to evaluations and judgments where the City Council is charged with <br />9.A. - Page 13 of 19 <br />150