Brendan Salisbury, the Somerville City Council’s legislative and policy analyst, presented a proposed legislative-drafting manual aimed at standardizing ordinance style, formatting and process.

Salisbury said the manual is the product of 18 months of work with the city clerk’s office and staff and explained principles that include plain language, short sentences, present tense, defined terms, consistent list structures, and specific rules on capitalization, numbers, and punctuation. He noted that Home Rule petitions and state law are outside the manual’s direct authority but recommended applying consistent drafting standards for clarity and interpretability.

Councilors thanked Salisbury for the work, asked questions about specific items such as directing orders to named departments, and discussed incorporating the manual into Councillors’ College training. Councilor McLaughlin moved to place the drafting manual on file and send a copy to the Legislative Matters committee; the council agreed and the item was placed on file with a copy forwarded to committee.