Beaverton council adopts comprehensive council rules and updates city code on council procedure

The Beaverton City Council adopted a resolution adopting a new set of council rules and an ordinance amending Beaverton Code Chapter 2.11, completing a yearlong governance subcommittee effort to codify rules for council conduct, committees and advisory body interactions.

City staff and the city attorney presented the package, explaining that substantive content was moved into the council rules (a document the council can update by resolution) while the ordinance retains charter‑required procedural items that are harder to change. The city attorney said the approach was intended to allow easier periodic updates to council rules while keeping charter‑mandated items in ordinance form.

Key elements in the package include an ethics and reimbursement clarification for council stipends; guidance on council meetings, proclamations and advisory‑body work plans; a framework for council subcommittees, task forces and liaison roles; social‑media guidelines; and a censure process that provides a framework for addressing alleged violations.

Council discussion focused on several areas: how to address perceived conflicts of interest when councilors serve on nonprofit boards or represent external organizations, whether some liaison appointment decisions should be discussed in a public work session, and how to balance social‑media guidance with First Amendment concerns. Council members repeatedly praised the subcommittee and staff for the work. “This document is complete,” Mayor Beatty said during the discussion, thanking the subcommittee and staff for their work.

Councilor Hartmeyer Prigg moved adoption of the resolution and ordinance; the motion was seconded and approved on a recorded roll call vote of 7‑0.