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Council adopts rules allowing weddings and formalizes use policy for council chambers
Summary
The City Council approved an ordinance edit and attendant policy to permit weddings and other specified uses in council chambers, including limits on ceremony size and procedures for scheduling and enforcement.
The City Council adopted an ordinance change and a new usage policy Wednesday that formalize allowable uses of the council chambers and permit wedding ceremonies under specified rules. The council voted to adopt policy language that will allow certain uses by approval, delegate scheduling to the city clerk within policy parameters and permit weddings limited to eight participants and 30-minute ceremonies with 15 minutes between bookings.
Councilor Varela presented the Government Services Committee recommendations and Councilor Stott reviewed the policy details developed with the city solicitor and city clerk. The policy lists allowable uses (mayoral or election department events, election-day overflow, public safety swearing-in and special citations, city-staff events requested by HR, and weddings performed by the city clerk). The committee set logistical rules including check-in procedures, location within the chamber (south side delineated by stanchions), a maximum of eight persons in the immediate ceremony area, and an expectation that guests leave when the ceremony ends.
Councilors discussed accessibility and enforcement. The policy tasks the city clerk with ensuring compliance and authorizes the office to take appropriate action if rules are not followed. The council also noted the policy will rescind a previous order prohibiting weddings in City Hall (order 206) once implemented.
The council voted to adopt the policy; the change immediately permits weddings and clarifies processes for scheduling and enforcement through the city clerk's office.
