Council votes to deny procedural change to petitions; debate centers on default denial via consent agenda

Summary

Council debated the city—s handling of citizen petitions — whether petitions should be placed on the next consent agenda with a default denial unless pulled — and after public comment and council discussion, voted 5-2 to retain the current consent-agenda handling (motion recorded as denial of petition B).

A citizen petition submitted by Ralph Hess was the focus of extended council discussion under Item B. The central issue: council rules place citizen petitions on the next available consent agenda with a default denial unless a council member pulls the item for discussion. Several public commenters and councilmembers said that default-denial treatment undermines the 60-day review period adopted in the 2023 charter amendments.

City Clerk explained the operational reasons for placing petitions on the next consent agenda and described how pulling an item triggers staff work and council discussion. Public commenters and several councilmembers urged clearer language and better public messaging to reflect the charter—s intent and to ensure meaningful review when petitions are substantively supported.

After debate, the council moved to deny (i.e., retain) the current consent-agenda default-denial practice for item B; the motion passed 5-2. Council directed staff to provide options and clarified that petitions may still be pulled for discussion and that council can direct staff to research petitions it considers worthy.