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<br />6 <br />The City Council does not wish to impose a rigid structure upon the thoughts and <br />ideas of any board or commission, but instead believes that creative and innovative <br />ideas can come from many different sources. <br /> <br />As a part of the biannual budget process, the City Council creates its goals for the year. <br />Those goals can serve as a good starting point for a board when considering new <br />projects or policies. Ask your staff liaison for the list of goals and the annual work plan <br />if you are interested in the details. <br /> <br />The normal channel for communication between the City Council and the boards and <br />commissions is through the staff liaison to the board. In addition, advisory boards have <br />City Council liaisons who will report to the Council the deliberations and <br />recommendations of the board. The boards and commissions, and their individual <br />members, are always free to communicate directly with the City Council on any matter <br />concerning their areas of responsibility, except there should be no communications <br />with the City Council or other quasi-judicial decision makers concerning any pending <br />quasi-judicial matters. For example, board members must not contact City <br />Councilmembers regarding zoning applications outside of the zoning hearing. <br />Similarly, quasi-judicial board members may not discuss pending applications amongst <br />themselves or with others outside of the hearing. <br /> <br />Please remember that when considering recommendations from boards and <br />commissions, the City Council attempts to balance the many diverse interests in our <br />community. <br /> <br />MEETINGS <br />All meetings at which any public business is discussed where a quorum, or three or <br />more board members, are present are considered public meetings and are open to <br />the public at all times. No board or commission shall conduct any closed meeting. <br /> <br />A meeting is defined as follows: <br /> A “meeting” is “any kind of gathering, convened to discuss public business, in <br />person, by telephone, or by any other means of communication.” <br /> All meetings of three or more members or a quorum of a public body, <br />whichever is fewer, are public meetings open to the public at all times. <br /> All meetings shall occur in public buildings and public facilities accessible to all <br />members of the public. <br /> All meetings must be preceded by proper notice. <br /> <br />When board members are acting as volunteers carrying out a program or service of a <br />board or commission, such as manning a booth or recycling stations at City events or <br />helping with set up of a board event, agenda and open meeting rules do not apply. <br />However, board members must take care when acting in these types of volunteer <br />roles to ensure that they are not engaging in board policy discussions to which these <br />rules do apply. Policy making can only occur in a public meeting that is open to the <br />public, proper notice is posted, and the meeting conforms to open meetings laws. Any <br />questions regarding whether a proposed gathering, event or activity requires as an