Prescott council directs staff to draft mayoral proclamation policy, keep in-chamber presentations and allow council certificates

The City of Prescott City Council on Feb. 11 directed staff to draft a formal proclamation policy that would codify how the city issues proclamations and recognitions. Council members said proclamations should generally be mayoral, the mayor should have the right to edit or deny requests, requests should show a clear Prescott connection and an online submission form should be created; staff will return the draft policy to council for inclusion in the rules of procedure.

Council members said codifying proclamation procedures is intended to reduce confusion and controversy about recurring proclamations, clarify who may request and present them, and ensure relevance to Prescott residents and organizations. Several council members and staff cited examples from Scottsdale, Phoenix, Peoria and Chandler while recommending a mayoral-proclamation approach with an alternative certificate of recognition available when two council members request it.

City staff opened the discussion by noting the council currently follows Rule 4(c) of the council rules of procedure: a proclamation request normally goes to the mayor, and if the mayor declines two council members may place the item on an agenda. The staff memo offered options including (a) leave the current informal practice as-is and codify it, (b) make all proclamations mayoral only, (c) place proclamation requests on the consent agenda for majority vote, or (d) limit proclamations to certain categories or to those with a local connection. Staff proposed making the request form available online and adding guidance about whether the requestor or honoree must be a Prescott resident.

Councilmembers repeatedly said the mayor should retain authority to edit verbiage or deny a request because the mayor’s name appears on a mayoral proclamation. Councilmember Roosin suggested keeping the ability for any two council members to place a recognition on the agenda but referred to that as a certificate of recognition rather than a mayoral proclamation. Councilmember Freeworth and others said proclamations should be presented in front of council to provide public recognition and awareness.

Several council members favored requiring that the requester or honoree have a local Prescott connection. Councilmember Ferrerth proposed an online form that requires complete information from requesters, and Councilmember Hussain suggested a 60-day public comment period before the policy is finalized; council direction was to have staff draft the policy and return it for council action at the next meeting (staff said they could have a draft ready at the next council meeting). Council members also recommended a 21–30 day lead time on the form so staff and the council have adequate time to process requests.

Staff said the draft policy will include both a mayoral proclamation pathway and a certificate-of-recognition pathway (two councilmembers), a required local connection for proclamations, an online request form linked from the City Clerk page, and a minimum lead time for scheduling. The council did not take a final vote on the policy; instead the direction to staff was to prepare the ordinance/rules amendment and return it to council for formal adoption.

The council’s guidance leaves open the exact text of any future restriction on topics (for example, whether certain political, ideological or religious matters would be excluded), but multiple members said they favored excluding items with no direct relationship to the city and limiting routine annual proclamations so they retain community significance.