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Member questionslinquiries to City staff <br />1. General. Council and board/commission communications with City staff <br />normal City business hours unless the circumstances warrant other <br />Council questions posed outside of normal business hours should be <br />than the next business day. <br />ild be li~ited to <br />Resno ses to <br />earlier <br />2. Routine Reauests for Information and InQUiries. Members may contact taff dir tly for <br />information made readily available to the general public on a regular basis (e.g., " hat are <br />the library's hours of operation?" or "How does one reserve a tee time at th golf c rse?"). <br />Under these circumstances staff shall treat the member no differently tha they w uld the <br />general public, and the member shall not use their elected status to se ure pre rential <br />treatment. The city manager does not need to be advised of such contacts. <br />3. Non-Routine Requests for Readilv Available Information. Members may a so cont ct staff <br />directly for easily retrievable information not routinely requested by the gene I public o long <br />as it does not require staff to discuss the issue or express an opinion (e.g., " ow mariy traffic <br />lights are there in the City?" or "Under what circumstances does the City low r its flag to half <br />mast?") <br />4. Non-Routine Repuests Re4uiring Special Effort. Any member request or inq <br />iry that <br />quires <br />staff to compile information that is not readily available or easily retriev <br />ble an <br />or that <br />requests staff to express an opinion (legal or otherwise) must be directed to t <br />e city <br />nager, <br />or to the city attorney, as appropriate (e.g., "How many Study Issues comple <br />d over <br />e past <br />five years have required 500 or more hours of staff time?", or "What is the <br />logic be <br />ind the <br />City's sign ordinances affecting businesses along EI Camino Real?"). The <br />ity man <br />ger (or <br />city attorney as appropriate) shall be responsible for distributing such reques <br />s to his/ <br />er staff <br />for follow-up. Responses to such requests shall be copied to all Co <br />ncilme <br />ers (if <br />originating from a Councilmember), relevant board or commission memb <br />rs (if ori <br />inating <br />from a board or commission member), the city manager, the city attorney as <br />appropr <br />te and <br />affected department directors. <br />5. Meeting Requests. Any member request for a meeting with staff must be di <br />cted to <br />he city <br />manager or city attorney, as appropriate. <br />6. Public Safetv Restrictions. Under certain circumstances, requests for infor <br />ation r <br />arding <br />operations or personnel of the Department of Public Safety may be I <br />gally r <br />tricted. <br />Applicable statutes include: The Peace Officers' Procedural Bill of R <br />hts ( <br />lifornia <br />Government Code Section 3300, et seq.), Confidentialit of Peace Officer Re <br />ords ( <br />lifornia <br />Penal Code Section 832.5-7), and a number of exceptions to the Californi <br />Public <br />ecords <br />Act, defined in Government Code Section 6254. Providing information in r <br />sponse <br />o such <br />requests could violate the law, and might also violate due process rights <br />that ha <br />e been <br />defined for peace officers in the State of California. Accordingly, it shall be <br />he poli <br />of the <br />City of Sunnyvale to strictly comply with all applicable legal authorities gove <br />ning the <br />release <br />of Department of Public Safety information and records. <br />Do not disrupt City staff from their jobs <br />Elected and appointed officials should not disrupt City staff while they are in eetings on the <br />phone, or engrossed in performing their job functions in order to have their indiv dual ne s met. <br />Do not attend City staff meetings unless requested by staff - even if the elec ed or a pointed <br />official does not say anything, his or her presence implies support, shows part ality, int idates <br />staff, and hampers stafFs ability to do their job objectively. <br />Never publicly criticize an individual employee <br />Elected and appointed officials should never express concerns about the perfo mance f a City <br />employee in public, to the employee directly, or to the employee's manager. ommen about <br />189 <br />