Ridgecrest council agrees to written meeting rules, requires two members to place items on agenda

The Ridgecrest City Council on Thursday moved to adopt a streamlined set of rules of order for council meetings and directed staff to prepare a resolution for formal adoption at the next meeting.

The council’s action followed an extended discussion of two draft templates prepared for the council. City Attorney (provided on the record as the meeting’s legal adviser) told the council the templates had been researched and were intentionally written to give the body options ranging from minimal to more detailed rules. He recommended the council adopt only what it intends to be bound by.

The short template (referred to in the staff report as Exhibit A) won general support. Council members said they preferred the shorter, less prescriptive document over the more restrictive alternative (Exhibit B). Councilman Gorman pointed out a wording problem in one sentence — the word “without” — and asked that the sentence be corrected. Councilman Blight and others debated whether one, two or a majority of council members should be required to place an item on a future agenda; after discussion the council settled on two members as the threshold for placing items on the agenda.

Council directed three specific edits: (1) remove the word “without” from the sentence identified by Councilman Gorman, (2) move the material currently listed as section 17 up so it becomes section 10 (eliminating a duplicated public comment description), and (3) require at least two council members to sponsor or request that an item be placed on a future agenda. The council asked staff to prepare and return a clean resolution reflecting those changes at the next meeting.

Council then acted on a motion to prepare the resolution with those modifications. The motion passed on a roll-call vote with all five members recorded as voting “aye.” Mayor Endicott voted aye. Mr. Gorman voted aye. Mr. Heyman voted aye. Mr. Rajaratnam voted aye. Mr. Blades voted aye. The meeting record shows “5 ayes; motion carries.”

City Attorney and staff said the revised rules would be brought back as a resolution for formal adoption at the next council meeting; staff also advised that the council should solicit public comment before any final vote. The city clerk confirmed staff would prepare a clean draft incorporating the edits discussed.

The move to adopt a short, modifiable code of conduct reflects an effort by the council to clarify internal procedures that members said have caused occasional confusion — for example, about how many members must agree before an item is placed on the agenda. Council members said the change aims to balance ease of placing items before the council with protection against a single member repeatedly placing items that create heavy staff workload.

A formal resolution will appear on a future agenda for final vote.