21-Deliberate and possibly act on adoption of a code of ethics for City Council, boards, commissions and committees

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Member questionsllnquiries to City staff 1. General. Council and board/commission communications with City staff should be limited to normal City business hours unless the circumstances warrant otherwise. Responses to Council questions posed outside of normal business hours should be expected no earlier than the next business day. 2. Routine Requests for Information and Inauiries. Members may contact staff directly for information made readily available to the general public on a regular basis (e.g., "What are the library's hours of operation?" or "How does one reserve a tee time at the golf course?"). Under these circumstances staff shall treat the member no differently than they would the general public, and the member shall not use their elected status to secure preferential treatment. The city manager does not need to be advised of such contacts. 3. Non-Routine Requests for Readily Available Information. Members may also contact staff directly for easily retrievable information not routinely requested by the general public so long as it does not require staff to discuss the issue or express an opinion (e.g., "How many traffic lights are there in the City?" or "Under what circumstances does the City lower its flags to half mast?") 4. Non-Routine Requests Requirinp Special Effort. Any member request or inquiry that requires staff to compile information that is not readily available or easily retrievable and/or that requests staff to express an opinion (legal or otherwise) must be directed to the city manager, or to the city attorney, as appropriate (e.g., "How many Study Issues completed over the past five years have required 500 or more hours of staff time?", or "What is the logic behind the City's sign ordinances affecting businesses along EI Camino Real?"). The city manager (or city attorney as appropriate) shall be responsible for distributing such requests to his/her staff for follow-up. Responses to such requests shall be copied to all Councilmembers (if originating from a Councilmember), relevant board or commission members (if originating from a board or commission member), the city manager, the city attorney as appropriate and affected department directors. 5. Meetinq Requests. Any member request for a meeting with staff must be directed to the city manager or city attorney, as appropriate. 6. Public Safetv Restrictions. Under certain circumstances, requests for information regarding operations or personnel of the Department of Public Safety may be legally restricted. Applicable statutes include: The Peace Officers' Procedural Bill of Riqhts (California Government Code Section 3300, et seq.), Confidentialitv of Peace Officer Records (California Penal Code Section 832.5-7), and a number of exceptions to the California Public Records Act, defined in Government Code Section 6254. Providing information in response to such requests could violate the law, and might also violate due process rights that have been defined for peace officers in the State of California. Accordingly, it shall be the policy of the City of Sunnyvale to strictly comply with all applicable legal authorities governing the release of Department of Public Safety information and records. Do not disrupt City staff from their jobs Elected and appointed officials should not disrupt City staff while they are in meetings, on the phone, or engrossed in performing their job functions in order to have their individual needs met. Do not attend City staff meetings unless requested by staff - even if the elected or appointed official does not say anything, his or her presence implies support, shows partiality, intimidates staff, and hampers staff's ability to do their job objectively. Never publicly criticize an individual employee Elected and appointed officials should never express concerns about the performance of a City employee in public, to the employee directly, or to the employee's manager. Comments about