Agenda Date: 08/07/2018
Subject:
Title
An ordinance on second reading amending city charter section 27 regarding council meetings
Body
Presented By:
Steve Kemp, City Attorney
REQUESTED COUNCIL ACTION:
Does city council support amending city charter section 27 regarding council meetings?
BACKGROUND:
The Littleton City Charter was adopted in 1959. Amendments were made in 1969, 1975, 1987, 1991, 1997, 2004, 2013 and 2015. The Charter Review Committee of 2015 recommended ten amendments be placed on the ballot, seven of which were approved by the voters. There were an additional 20 amendments recommended to city council that were not placed on the ballot.
PRIOR ACTIONS OR DISCUSSIONS:
Study session was held on May 22, 2018. The ordinance passed on first reading at the July 17, 2018 regular meeting of the city council.
STAFF ANALYSIS:
The proposed amendments pertain to the permitted reasons for executive sessions. As a result of voter approval of a 2013 ballot initiative, the council may only have an executive session for information that is confidential under federal or state statute or to discuss actual litigation filed in a court. These limitations create a number of significant problems, for example:
1. The council may not have an executive session to discuss protocols for dealing with an active shooter in the council chamber or Littleton Center. This type of education would occur in an executive session. The lack of education can result in a lack of knowledge and panic should such an event happen. Education and training in such areas is one of the best ways to prevent panic and save lives.
2. The lack of ability to discuss the purchase and sale of real and personal property and obtain instructions for negotiations from the council as a body. The council does not act as individuals, but as a body. The current practice of holding individual meetings with council members deprives the body as a whole of the discussion and thought processes of eac...
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