Saratoga News Council decides to change policy for getting new items on agenda By Sarah Lombardo Council newcomer Evan Baker made his first mark on the way things are done in the city of Saratoga. At Baker's suggestion earlier this month, the Saratoga City Council decided to take a look at the city's policy for how councilmembers go about getting issues on the agenda. And what they saw was that there was no policy. "It appears that there has just been an accepted procedure," city manager Larry Perlin said. "But there has never been any sort of written policy." But that changed Dec. 8 when the council agreed to have staff members draft a policy. Baker asked at his first council meeting Dec. 2 that the topic be discussed as early as possible. Baker did not voice any opinion on the city's current policy or on a policy he'd like to see drafted, but vice mayor Stan Bogosian did advocate making it easier for councilmembers to put topics on the agenda. The current procedure calls for a councilmember to bring the topic before the council and seek support for placing it on an upcoming agenda. Bogosian told the council Dec. 2 he'd like to allow councilmembers to put items on the agenda for action themselves, with only a call to Perlin. But councilmembers didn't agree and, instead, decided on a policy that permits councilmembers to place items on the agenda for discussion only. Items on which councilmembers will take a vote must be discussed in a council session first. "I think that it strikes a very logical balance between the political process and the administrative process here at the city," Perlin said. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.