Public Communications

The City Council receives and reviews many documents in preparation for a Council meeting. Agenda Packets (which include staff reports, resolutions, ordinances, etc.) are usually delivered to the Council the Thursday before the Council meeting to allow time for the Council to review the agenda items for that particular meeting. All the documents that are provided to the Council are uploaded to the City’s website on the same day, so that members of the public can stay up-to-date on the issues facing the Council as well. Hardcopies of the entire agenda packet are also available for public review in the City Clerk’s office and the Mill Valley Public Library Reference Desk.

Public Communications Received After the Production of the City Council Agenda Packet – Best Practices

On certain occasions, members of the public may wish to add additional input to the official record after the date of the publication of the agenda packet. These documents received after the production of the agenda packet, cannot be included in the packet. The following is the processes for disseminating communications received after the agenda packet is published:

• All communications that are received to be presented to the City Council will be collected and considered part of the meeting’s official record until the end of the hearing. It should be noted, however, that communications received after 3:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting will be provided to the Councilmembers at the start of the meeting; Councilmembers may not have the opportunity to review these late received items
• All communications received after the distribution of the agenda packet, but before the 3:00 p.m. meeting date deadline, will be stamped received by the City Clerk, and labeled/numbered to help indicate which agenda item it is discussing. The City Clerk will gather all documents received and email them daily to the Councilmembers in chronological order. The communications will then be posted to the City’s website in the same fashion. If there is an unusually high yield of communications for a particular item, the City Clerk will email multiple batches to the Council throughout the days leading up to the meeting, or provide Council a link to the City’s website where all communications have been stored.
• Two binders will be prepared that will include hard copies of all communications received after the agenda packet distribution date. One binder will be available to the public for review, located at a back table in the Council Chambers. The second binder will be placed at the Council dais so that the Councilmembers may reference received communications throughout the course of the meeting. Councilmembers should note that if there is a specific piece of communication they wish to obtain in hardcopy, they should contact the City Clerk.
• Please note that members of the public may not place any documents on the City Councilmember’s seats at the dais before the start of the meeting. If a member of the public wishes to hand out a piece of correspondence the night of the meeting, they may do so. However, these documents should be directed to the City Clerk, who will then stamp the document received, and distribute it to Council.

If you have any questions about the public communications policies listed above, please contact the Kelsey Rogers, City Clerk at krogers@cityofmillvalley.org or 388-4033.