Resolution No. 19-08 CITY OF TIGARD, OREGON
TIGARD CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. 19-69
A RESOLUTION AMENDING THE COUNCIL GROUND RULES AND SUPERSEDING
RESOLUTION NO. 17-01.
WHEREAS,the Council Groundrules were reviewed and updated on January 3,2017,with the adoption of
Resolution 17-01;and
WHEREAS,newly elected officials and mid-term elected officials reviewed the ground rules during a special
council meeting held February 13,2019;and
WHEREAS, the City Council determined at the February 13,2019 meeting that updating the groundrules
was desired.
NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED by the Tigard City Council that:
SECTION 1: Council Groundrules as outlined in Exhibit A represent the agreement of the Mayor and City
Councilors and are hereby adopted.
SECTION This resolution is effective immediately upon passage.
PASSED: This day of M CL/AA 2019.
May -A'
tty of Tigard
ATTEST:
Deputy City Recorder—City of Tigard
RESOLUTION NO. 19-psi
Page 1
Exhibit A — Resolution No. 19- 08
Tigard City Council Ground rules
The Tigard City CoundI hereby adopts the following rules for government of its membersand
proceedings. (Tigard City Charter, Chapter IV, Sgdion 13). These rules will be reviewed and signed
by each councilor annually.
1. M andates are not discretionary. Any council or councilor who fails to abide by these is at risk
of serious trouble and/or dysfunction.
2. Processes and Procedures are the rules the council sets to manage its own business.
3. Mutual Expectations reflect agreements and understandings among councilors to behave in
certain ways. Once agreements are made, councilors who do not abide by them are likely to be
mistrusted by their colleagues.
4. General Guidelines for Effective, Respectful Councils are basic rules of courtesy and respect
that should guide any CoundI...or any other group.
1. M andates
■ I n no case should coundlorsdirect the work of staff. Take issues to the city manager first, giving
as much information aspossibleto ensure a thorough response.
■ Council members will not contact aboard member to lobby on behalf of an individual, business
or developer. Council members may contact the board member in order to clarify a position
taken by the board. Council members may respond to inquiriesfrom board members.
Communications should befor information only.
■ Board members do not report to individual council members. Individual councilors have no
authority to remove board members.
■ Be aware of the public nature of written notes, calendars, voicemail mom, and e-mail. All
written or recorded materials including notes, voicemail, text messages and e-mail created as part
of ondsofficial capacitywill betreated as public communication.
■ Respect the professional duties of city staff. Council members should refrain from disrupting
staff from the conduct of their jobs; participating in administrative functions including directing
staff assignments; attending staff meetings unless requested by staff; and impairing the ability of
staff to implement policydedsons.
■ ORS 244.025 prohibits any publ i c off i d al to sol idt or receive any gift of $50 or more from
anyone reasonably known to have a legislative or administrative interest.
■ ORS Chapter 244 governs conflicts of interest among Councilors and requires disclosure of ail
potential or actual conflicts of interest prior to that Councilor's participation in the
matter. Councilorswith actual conflictsof interest shall not participatein thedecison except
when allowed by law. Councilorswith concernsor questions regarding conflictsof interest are
encouraged to contact the Oregon Government Ethics Commission or city attorney.
■ Protect confidential information concerning litigation, personnel, property, or other affeirsof the
city.
■ Usepublic resources, such asstaff time, equipment,suppliesor facilities, onlyfor city-related
busi ness.
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Exhibit A — Resolution No. 19- 08
■ A council member maybe censured by the other council members for misconduct,
nonperformance of duty or failure to obey the la/vs of thefederal, state, or local government.
2. Processes and Procedures
EndingTimefor Council Meetings
■ The char or other members if the char fails to remember may call for a point of order at or
around 9 p.m. to review remaining agenda items. The council may reset or reschedule items,
which it feels may not be reached prior to the regular time of adjournment.
■ The coundI's goal is to adjourn prior to 9:30 p.m. unless extended by majority consent of
council members present. If not continued by majority consent, the meeting shall be adjourned
to the next scheduled meeting or the meeting shall be continued to another regular or special
meeting at another date and time.
Citizen Communication
■ The"Citizen Communication" portion of the agenda is a regular feature of a council busyness
meeting. To manage the agendas to allow council time to consider the remaining agenda items
scheduled for the business meeting, this agenda item will be allotted a maximum of 20 minutes.
This item will be placed near the beginning of the council agenda to give citizens a chance to
introduce a topic to the City Council. The mayor or the council president (if the mayor is
absent) may ask speakers to keep their remarks to about two to five minutes. If a large number
of speakers have signed up, the mayor might ask speakers to keep their comments closer to two
minutes.
■ At the conclusion of the Citizen Communication period, the mayor, a council member or staff
member will comment what, if any, follow-up action will betaken to respond to each issue. At
the beginning of Citizen Communication at the next business meeting, staff will updatethe
council and community on the review of the issue(s), the action taken to address the issue, and a
statement of what additional action is planned. Council maydecideto refer an issueto staff
and/or schedule the topic for alater council meeting.
Budget Decisions
■ Budget cuts or increases are policy decisions. Budgets will not be cut "piece meal" or"across
the board," but rather should be made in service or program areas, giving staff full opportunity
to provide data dearly defining the anticipated impact of the action.
Council Liaisons
■ Council liaison assignments are determined by consensus of City Council. The goal is to have
assignments evenly divided between council members. When making assignments consideration
should be given to continuity and the background, experience and expertise of individual
councilors. Should two or more Council members seek appointment to a position, preference of
the longest serving Council member maybe a consideration.
■ Theroleof thecouncil liaison isto periodically attend board meetings, listen to the board
discussion, set context for the board regarding council decisions/goals/ policies and city
priorities, answer questions and carry concerns and information to report back to the ful I
council. Council liaisons should consult the board char regarding the frequency of their
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Exhibit A — Resolution No. 19- 08
attendance. Councilors should make their role dear to the board when attending a meeting as a
council liaison.
■ Council liaisons are not to direct the business or decision-making process of the board and do
not vote of matters before the board.
■ Council liaisonsdo not initiate, proposeor advocatefor their personal position on a matter
before the board.
■ Council liaisonsat times may advocatecouncil actionson behalf of their assigned board. Great
care must betaken to avoid the appearanceof unfairness, conflict of interest or circumstances
where such possibilities may exist (e.g., Planning Commission quasi-judicial matters).
■ Council liaisons are expected to represent the city positively and promote constructive
relationships with community volunteers and city partners. Failure to maintain positive
relationships can result in the removal of a Councilor from committee assignments.
City Coundl Compensation
Today(2019), Section 2.44.020 of the Tigard Municipal Code provides for compensation for
attendance Coundl meetings and meetings for an intergovernmental board, committee or agency.
The code states that the amount of the compensation for Cound I members may be reviewed and set
annually by resolution of the City Coundl as part of the budget cycle. This Tigard Municipal Code
section needs to be changed to meet Oregon Government Ethics guidance that it is a perceived and
actual conflict of interest for Councilorsto approvetheir current official compensation. Thecurrent
ground rulealso stetesthet Council mayelect to enter into an agreement with the Mayor or one City
Councilor to assume additional responsibilitiesfor additional compensation. The additional duties
shall relate to representing the city on regional, state or federal issues and committees or task forces,
and is set by agreement between the Mayor or Councilor and the Council members. (For 2019,
Mayor Snider and Council President Good house halve agreed that the annual Mayor's stipend will be
split between them.)
3. Mutual Expectations
Communication among Councilors
■ Information received by a council member that affects the council should be shared with the
wholecouncil. Thecity manager isto decideon "gray areas," but too much information is
preferableto too little.
■ Councilors and the dty manager agree to report and discuss any contact that might affect labor
relationswith theentirecouncil in Executive Session.
■ No surprises or ambushes.
■ Bounce ideas off each other by phone or informal conversation, always mindful not to form a
quorum.
■ Snare substantive information that is relevant to a matter under consideration from sources
outsi de t he pub I i c ded si on-maki ng process wi t h f el I ow cou n ci I mem bersand staff.
■ It is the coundl'sjobtogovern itself. If adiscussion is going overly long or if adiscussion
becomes heated or tense, a council member may consider calling for a point of order to suggest
taking a break or deferring the discussion to afuture meeting.
■ The presiding officer should invite each councilor to express his or her opinion.
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Exhibit A — Resolution No. 19- 08
Communication with Staff
■ Councilors are encouraged to avoid substantive contact with staff below the department head
level to avoid possible disruption of work, confusion on priorities and limited scope of
responses.
■ The city manager shares information equally with councilors.
Communication with Boardsand Commissions
■ Council members may attend any board meeting, which is open to any member of the public.
Howe-ver, council members should be sensitive to theway their participation could be viewed as
unfairly affecting the process.
Communi cati on wi th Other Publ i c Agend es
■ Council members will be dear about representing the city or personal interests. If acouncil
member appears before another governmental agency or organization to give a statement on an
issue, the coundI member must dearly state whether the statement reflects personal opinion or
is the official position of the city.
■ 1 f a sound I member is representi ng the city on a board, committee or at a publ is meeti ng, that
council member will consistently support and advocate the city's official position on an issue and
cannot foster or further a personal viewpoint that is inconsistent with the official city position.
Communi cation on Behalf of the City or the Counci I
■ Do not provide the official response to communications directed to the fulI council. The city
manager or mayor wi 11 coordinate the response on behalf of the city. I t is appropriate for
coundlorsto acknowledge receipt of communication and thank the sender.
■ It is the policy of the coundI that if councilors are contacted regarding labor relations during
labor negotiations or conflict resolution proceedings, the councilors have no comment.
■ Communication that represents the city's position on an issue should come through city hal I and
be provided by the city manager. Direct submittals or inquiries to the council or individual
councilors should be referred to the city manager, or councilors may ask the city manager to
look into an issue.
■ Makeno promiseson behalf of thecouncil in unofficial settings. Council memberswill
frequently beaked to explain acouncil action or to givetheir opinion about an issueasthey
meet and talk with citizens. It is appropriate to give abrief overview. Overt or implicit
promises of specific action or promises that city staff will take a specific action are to be
a/oided.
Use of Electronic Communications Devices During Council Meetings
■ Councilors shall not use electronic communication devices to revieN or access information
regarding matters not in consideration before the council during acouncil meeting.
4. General Guidelinesfor Effective, Respectful Councils
■ Recognize that you are seen as a councilor at all times, no matter how you see yourself at any
particular time. Thus, councilors are always treated by administration as council members.
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Exhibit A — Resolution No. 19- 08
■ Whenever you put anything in writing, assume that Everyone in the city is looking over your
shoulder.
■ If acommunication is directed to an individual councilor, you may choose to respond as an
individual or refer to the city manager.
■ Councilorsare encouraged to maintain open communications with the city manager, both asa
group and individually.
■ Councilors are encouraged to take issuesto the city manager-first, giving as much information as
possible to ensure a thorough response. I n the absence of the city manager, councilors are
encouraged to contact the assistant city manager. I n the absence of both the city manager and
the assistant city manager, councilors are encouraged to contact the department head, realizing
that the department head will discuss any such inquiries with the city manager.
■ Communicate dearly, directly and respectfully. Focus on problems and solutions, not people.
■ Our goal is mutual confidence and respect with staff. Compliment staff members when they
makegood presentations. Befriendly. Attend staff occasionswhen you can.
■ Be courteous.
■ Honestly share concerns and opinions with each other.
■ Don't blurt it out on TV.
■ If you hold back in a meeting,follow up later with fellow councilors or the City Manager.
■ S3pendingcasual timetogether is allowed and encouraged.
■ Practice civility, professionalism and decorum in discussionsand debate. Difficult questions,
tough challengesto aparticular point of view, and criticism of ideasand information are
legitimate elements of democratic governance. This does not allow, however, council members
to make belligerent, personal, slanderous, threatening, abusive, or disparaging comments.
■ Avoid personal commentsthat areintended to, or could reasonably beconstrued to, offend
other members or citizens. If a counciI member is offended by the conduct or remarks of
mother member, the offended member is encouraged to address the matter early with the
offending member.
■ Continue respectful behavior in private. The same level of respect and consideration of
differing poi ntsof view deemed appropriate for public discussion should be maintained in
private conversations.
■ Even private conversations can have a public presence. Council members should be aware than
they arethefocusof the public's attention. Even casual conversation about citybusiness, other
public officials or staff may draw attention and be repeated.
■ Understand proper political involvement. Council members, as private citizens, may support
political candidates or issues but such activities must be done separatefrom their role as a
council member.
■ Bewelcoming to speakers and treat them with respect by giving them full attention
demonstrated by Eye contact and active listening; avoid interrupting them with questions or
comments. For many citizens, speaking in front of the council is a new and difficult experience.
■ Council members should commit full attention to the spec ker. Comments, questions, and non-
verbal expressions should be appropriate, respectful and professional.
■ Be honest with fellow council members, the public and others.
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Exhibit A — Resolution No. 19- 08
■ Credit others' contributions to moving our community'sinterestsforward.
■ Make independent, objective,fair and impartial judgments by avoiding relationships and
transactions that give the appearance of compromising objectivity, independence, and
honesty.
■ Review materials provided in advance of the meeting.
■ Make every effort to attend meetings
■ Be prepared to make difficult decisions when necessary.
■ Contributeto astrong organization that exemplif ies transparency.
■ Makedecisions after prudent consideration of their financial impact, taking into account the
long-term financial needsof thecity.
■ Promote meaningful public involvement in deddon-making processes.
■ Treat council members, board members, staff and the public with patience, courtesy and civility,
even when wediWeeon what is best for the community.
■ Conduct myself in acourteousand respectful manner at all times
■ Encourage participation of all persons and groups
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