Council reaches consensus to hold workshops at 5 p.m.; add proposed future agenda items to regular meeting

City staff and councilmembers debated the start time for workshop meetings on Sept. 2, with staff outlining the trade-offs between earlier starts for lengthy items and later starts to accommodate members' work schedules.

"When we first discussed it, I thought we were discussing it just for the budget season," Councilmember Paul (last name not specified) said, noting difficulty reliably arriving at a 4 p.m. start. Other councilmembers said 5 p.m. had worked previously and allowed most items to be discussed without creating an overly long day.

Davin (staff) provided context that workshops can be scheduled at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. depending on agenda needs and recommended adding items on proposed future agendas to the regular 6 p.m. meeting packet so councilmembers could identify which items needed discussion. By the end of the exchange the mayor and council reached consensus to try a 5 p.m. workshop start and to include proposed future agenda items on the regular meeting agenda for brief discussion and potential pull for deliberation.

Nut graf: The change is procedural: staff will schedule upcoming workshops at 5 p.m. when practicable and will add a future-agenda section to the 6 p.m. regular meeting so councilmembers can flag items that require extended workshop discussion.

Discussion details: Councilmembers emphasized the need to balance members’ work schedules with the time necessary for complex items such as the budget and presentations; one councilmember noted the charter requires two meetings per month, so eliminating a second meeting was not an option. Staff said the monthly ADC update will be placed under regular presentations if necessary.

Ending: The council's direction was procedural; no vote was taken. Staff will implement the 5 p.m. workshop scheduling approach and include proposed future agenda items on the regular meeting agenda for council review.