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HomeMy WebLinkAboutres1992-047WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL AGENDA BILL NO. 92 -192 CLEARANCES Initial Date Date Received in Council Office: Agenda date Assigned to. originator. Clerk of the Council 10/91 6/9/92 Council - Intro Division Head: 6/23/92 Finance/Council Dept. Head: 7/7/92 Finance Council Prosecutor. % Purchasing/Budget: Executive: SUBJECT Resolution stating the Council's policy for acceptance and scheduling of agenda items ATTACHMENTS: Resolution with Exhibit A and flow chart SUMMARY STATEMENT- Please complete sections of box as appropriate & explain the item below. Related County contract #: N/A Should Clerk schedule a hearin . NO YES Requested date: Amount budgeted for this item /project: S N/A Is it or will it be within bud et? YES NO lease explain below Budget line item number(s): , During the review of the 1992 budget, the Executive and Council Members agreed that a written policy outli ning ;defines for presenting information to the Whatcom County Council would be useful. A draft was prepared and has been under review for some time. At one time it was amended to change the agenda deadline date, in order for the Council packets to be prepared farther in advance of meetings. That change has been dropped. ORIGINATOR'S RECOMMENDED AC77OX. The Clerk recommends that the Council pass this resolution COMMITTEE_ ACTION TAKEN: COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN 9/92: Introduced 6/23/92: in corrm�ittee until 7/7/92. 7- 7 -92:� Council approved the resolution. 7-0. Related File Numbers: Ordbumce or Resolution Number (this item only): R92 -047 howitenues 12,46p! s i! o W 5/18/92 SPONSORED BY: Warner PROPOSED BY: Council Clerk INTRODUCTION DATE: -619192 1 RESOLUTION NO. 92 -047 2 STATING THE COUNCIUS POLICY FOR ACCEPTANCE AND 3 SCHEDULING OF AGENDA ITEMS 4 WHEREAS, the County Administration, junior taxing districts, boards and 5 commissions may all submit items to the Council for consideration; and 6 WHEREAS, written guidelines for departments and agencies to follow in 7 presenting information to the Whatcom County Council does not exist, although the 8 Council and Executive agree that a written process would be beneficial; 9 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Whatcom County Council that 10 the written policy and flow chart included as Exhibit A to this resolution is hereby 11 adopted as the Council's statement of policy for acceptance and scheduling of agenda 12 items; and 13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the Council is directed to send 14 a copy of this resolution to all departments, agencies, and boards and commissions which 15 may have cause to bring items before the County Council. 16 APPROVED this 7th day of July , 1992. 17 18 ATTEST: 19 20 Ramona Reeves, Council Clerk 21 APPROVED AS TO FORM: � Is WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON Daniel M. Warner, Chairman Exhibit AA to AB92 -192, adopted as Resolution 92_Q47 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM GUIDE 1 GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 Maintenance of These Procedures and Guidelines. 1.1.1 The Clerk of the Council is responsible for periodically revising these procedures and guidelines and ensuring that all departments and agencies are informed of changes. Amendments to these procedures and guidelines will be made by resolution of the County Council. 1.1.2 Department and agency heads should keep an up -to -date file of these procedures and guidelines. This file should be made available to all employees responsi- ble- for preparing items for Council consideration. 1.2 Items Requiring Council Action. 1.2.1 The Council, as the County Legislative Authority, is endowed with certain powers and responsibilities under State law, Whatcom County Code, and the Whatcom County Charter. The Prosecutor's Office should be consulted to determine if an item requires Council consideration. 1.2.2 Items requiring Council action include but are not limited to ordinances, resolutions, budget revisions and budget appropriations, matters relating to zoning and County -owned property, County legislative policies and actions, changes to Whatcom County Code, matters affecting the health, safety and welfare of County residents, and enactment of penalties, fees and regulations impacting the public. 1.2.3 Items possibly requiring Council action include but are not limited to contract authorizations and bid awards. RR, 12/6/91, rev. 5/18/92 \pol \howitem.pol Agenda Item Guidelines, Page I 1.3 Originator's Responsibilities, 13.1 If routed through the proper channels, items may be scheduled for consideration or action by the County Council. Please see the sections on clearances. 1.3.2 The originator is responsible for abiding by these guidelines and for obtaining necessary clearances prior to an item's presentation to the Council. 2 AGENDA BILL, ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION PREPARATION 2.1 Format. Written guidelines for ordinance, resolution and agenda bill preparation are available from the Council Office, as are computer - generated forms (for Wordperfect 5.1). 2.2 SVIe Guidelines. Documents presented to the County Council are official county records, and are widely circulated. Format and style guidelines established by the Council Office must be adhered to in order for official County documents to be consis- tent. They are as follows: 2.2.1 All documents, including agenda bills, should be typewritten with no typographical errors. 2.2.2 Repetitive, "filler" language should be avoided. Extensive back- ground or detail associated with an item should be included in an attached memo or report. 22.3 First person terms (such as 'wve," "I," or "our ") should be avoided. Descriptive terms such as "department," "staff," "Administration," or "the County" are preferred. 2.3 Agenda Bills — Overview. Agenda bills are one -page documents providing a description of a request, ordinance or resolution that is being proposed to the Council. RR, 12/6/91, nn,. 5118192 \poi \hoMtem.pol Agenda Item Guidelines, Page 2 Items appearing on the Council's agenda must be accompanied by an agenda bill prepared by the originator. Agenda bills are reference tools, not legal documents. They are not adopted by the Council. 3 CLEARANCES 3.1 Clearances required. Clearances must be obtained as appropriate prior to an item's submittal to the Council. If clearances are not obtained prior to delivery to the Council Office, action on the item may be delayed. 3.2 Documentation of clearances. The originator will indicate, either on the agenda bill or an attached memo, which departments /agencies were consulted in the development of the resolution or ordinance. 3.3 Clearance by Executive 3.3.1 Agenda bills and items originating from Administrative departments or agencies must be cleared by the Executive Office prior to submittal to Council. 3.3.2 Agenda bills and items from independently- elected officials, the Planning Commission, the Hearing Examiner, Prosecutor's Office, Council Committees, Council staff, and junior taxing districts do not require Executive clearance. However, these agencies /bodies should provide the Executive's Office with a copy of the docu- ments prior to their submittal to the Council for consideration. 3.4 Clearance by Prosecutor. The Prosecutor's Office will review all ordinances, resolutions and contracts prior to presentation to the Council. The originator must specify what type of review is desired. 3.4.1 A request for approval as to form means the Prosecutor will review the format of the resolution or ordinance to determine if it meets accepted stan- dards. RR, 12/6/91, rev. 5/18/92 \pol \howitem.pol Agenda Item Guidelines, Page 3 3.4.2 A request for review of the content means the Prosecutor will review the content of the document to determine if, in his /her opinion, it is legal, enforceable, and properly worded. 3.5 Special Clearances, The Budget Director must review all items of a financial nature, including proposed budget revisions, bid awards, and contracts; the Purchasing Department must review all items relating to bid awards; and the Information Services Director must review all items relating to computers, phone service, and records manage- ment 3.6 Other Clearances. Prior to presentation of an item to the Council, the originator is responsible for seeking review by other departments or agencies which may be impacted. 4 CONSIDERATION BY COUNCIL 4.1 Routine Scheduling Guidelines. 4.1.1 All agenda bills and agenda items must be presented in time to meet the Council packet deadline of 10 a.m. Wednesday. This allows for the packet to be prepared and printed in the week prior to each Council meeting. If not submitted in final form, the item will not be scheduled. 4.1.2 In weeks when holidays occur, deadlines will be adjusted. Please contact the Council Office for specifics. 4.1.3 The Executive's Office will set its own deadlines for receiving agenda items, and should be contacted for more information. 4.1.4 Keep in mind that it may take a week or more to obtain clearances. Departments /agencies should be contacted as far in advance of the Executive's agenda deadline as possible. RR, 12/6/91, rev. 5/18/92 \pol \howitem.pol Agenda Item Guidelines, Page 4 4.2 Emergency Situations. In some cases, the Council will consent to acting on items on the same night as they are introduced, if it is an emergency situation. 4.2.1 To qualify as an emergency, the Executive or Council must request that it be treated as such. The Council Chairperson must consent to treating it as an emergency. 4.2.2 An item to be added to the agenda (on an addendum) will not be accepted unless it is an emergency situation or unless the Chairperson consents to the addition. 4.3. Hearings -- Determining Need For. The originator is responsible for determining (through consultation with the Prosecutor) whether a hearing is required prior to action on an agenda item, and shall indicate this determination on the agenda bill. 4.4 Hearings -- Scheduling: The Clerk of the Council will schedule hearing dates, taking into consideration recommendations and desires of the originator and guide- lines /restrictions placed upon such hearings by law. 4.5 Council Action. The Council will act upon items in accordance with County and State laws. Procedures for processing official Council documents after Council action will be established by the Clerk of the Council in cooperation with the County Executive's Office. 4.6 Filing and Indexing in the Council Office. The Clerk of the Council will assign an agenda bill number to all items brought before the County Council, and will maintain indexes of agenda bill items. Copies of the indexes of agenda bill files shall be provided to the Executive's Office. xx, 12/6/91, rev. 5/18/92 \pol \howitem.pol Agenda Item Guidelines, Page 5 HOW ITEMS RECEIVE ;OUNCIL REVIEW ORIGINATOR and DEPT /DIV HEAD prepare documents l _ Is the item related to the budget? / l l l YES NO Must be cleared by budget l and /or purchasing director l � 1 - 1 1 Is it in resolution or ordinance format? l l YES NO Prosecuting Attorney review for content, form, hearing I EXECUTIVE & IMPACTED DEPTS review /comment . The Executive will either: •Seek revisions from originator; or • Not send the item forward *; or •Approve and send item forward l CLERK of the Council • Recommends placement on agenda(s) •Consults with Chairperson •Sets hearing date /routine publication l COUNCIL consideration takes place (approval /denial) l ALL DEPTS notified of Council actions l Resolutions /ordinances SIGNED and PROCESSED *If originator is an elected official or non- county dept. rules will differ. Please see guidelines for more detail.