• City Council policies and procedures provide a valuable operational framework which, though non-legally binding, is generally followed absent more specific, policy-level direction from the City Council.
• The Vancouver City Council meets periodically to review its policies and make amendments as necessary.
• On December 12 and December 19, 2022, City Council reviewed and discussed new opportunities to connect with residents through Community Communication Forums and provided direction to make specific changes to City Council Policy 100-32 as outlined more fully below.

Goal 3: Create new programs that engage people of all ages, cultures, family configurations, educational backgrounds, trades and profession

The City Council’s operating policies and procedures were originally adopted in 1999. Periodic review and update to the policies are necessary to reflect changes in City policy as well as best practices in municipal governance and state law.

On June 6, 2022, the City Council passed Resolution M-4172, amending City Council Policy 100-32 to allow City Staff to pilot new community communication formats at the second Consent meeting of each month. The results of the City’s Community Communication Pilot Series were presented and discussed by City Council under City Manager Communications on December 5, 2022, and within a Workshop held on December 12, 2022. At the December 19th City Council meeting, the Council adopted changes to the City’s format for engaging in communication with community members by:

• Transitioning from the City’s previous practice of holding Community Communication Forum twice per month at City Hall, to holding meetings at various locations throughout the community at least four times per year; while
• Continuing to invite public testimony at each public meeting where action is taken by the City Council in accordance with state law.

At its December 19th meeting, the City Council also expressed interest in seeing further refinements to Policy 100-32. Attached for City Council’s consideration are proposed modifications that, if adopted, would:

• Remove the designation of “Consent Meetings” from meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month, thereby increasing capacity for the conduct of City business by making all regularly scheduled meetings of the Vancouver City Council “Regular meetings” at which public hearings and Council / Manager Communications may be conducted (Sections 5.1, 6.2); and
• Address minor grammatical updates for sake of consistency throughout the policy as indicated in the “track changes” version of Policy 100-32 (attached).

Revisions to Council policies must be made by Resolution.