Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hawthorne council votes to require votes on contested directives to staff
Summary
The Hawthorne City Council voted 3–2 on Oct. 20 to require that any council directive to staff be put to an immediate council vote if another member objects, after a lengthy debate over decorum and decisionmaking procedures.
Hawthorne City Council on Oct. 20 adopted a procedural change requiring that any directive from a council member to staff be put to an immediate council vote when another member objects.
The change stems from disagreement earlier this month over how council directives are recorded and enforced. Interim City Attorney Robert Kim (city attorney) read the municipal code governing council directives and explained that the code already limits directives and requires a vote when there is an objection; the council's action formalized that practice by clarifying that an objection triggers an immediate recorded vote.
Council members who supported the change said it will make council direction to staff clearer and reduce confusion about whether a request was intended as a formal instruction. Councilwoman Faye Johnson, who voted in favor, said the rule creates transparency: "If there's an objection, we should be clear and vote so staff knows what to do and so the public knows where we stand." Mayor Pro Tem Alex Montero also supported the motion.
Councilwomen Katrina Manning and Angie Reyes English opposed the change, saying it could slow routine directives and add unnecessary process when the council acts collegially. Manning said the city already retains an economic development consultant (Cosmont) and staff resources that can vet proposals, and she cautioned against adding automatic votes for every directive.
The motion passed on a recorded 3–2 vote (Mayor Vargas, Councilwoman Faye Johnson and Mayor Pro Tem Alex Montero in the majority; Councilwomen Katrina Manning and Angie Reyes English opposed). After the vote the council debated a separate motion to block any further amendments to the city's decorum code; that measure failed to win a majority.
What happens next: the city attorney and clerk will incorporate the clarified voting expectation into council procedure and staff will follow the recorded directives accordingly. The change does not otherwise alter the municipal code's limits on the number of directives each member may make at a meeting.
