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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 25-0109INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 25-0109 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council September 23, 2025 Page 1 of 3 i i7 Y SUBJECT: PROPOSED 2026 COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE AND rrn CONFORMING CHANGES TO COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE This informal report outlines the Council Meeting Schedule being proposed for 2026 and identifies proposed minor revisions to the City Council Rules of Procedure to conform to such schedule and make other minor changes, primarily due to recently effective state law. 2026 Schedule The schedule consists of 58 scheduled Council meetings as follows: • 10 — Council/Public Comment Meetings • 21 — Council Work Sessions • 11 —Zoning Council Meetings • 9 — Day Council Meetings (11 AM) with Council Work Sessions (9 AM) • 7 — Budget Work Shops The schedule takes into consideration the following: • No meetings following a Monday holiday • No meetings during Spring Break or the month of July • Scheduling to accommodate National Night Out, National League of Cities and the Texas Municipal League Conferences • Scheduled Budget Work Sessions for Council on: • April 21 st • May 12t" and 19tn • June 2nd and 16tn • August 11t" and 18tn Notes: • Day meetings will start at 11 AM and be preceded by a Work Session which starts at 9 9 AM. • City Council Public Comment meetings may also include a limited number of business items for consideration, generally to be limited to consideration of a consent agenda. • The Texas Municipal League Conference will be held November 11-13 in San Antonio, and the November Zoning Meeting is November 10tn Revisions to the City Council Rules of Procedure Presently the Rules do not contemplate any business items being considered at a designated City Council Public Comment meeting. Therefore, the Rules currently include a limit of "three (3) minutes per City Council Public Comment meeting." ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 25-0109 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council September 23, 2025 Page 2 of 3 SUBJECT: PROPOSED 2026 COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE AND CONFORMING CHANGES TO COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE To the extent business items are added to what would otherwise be a designated "City Council Public Comment meeting," the intent would be for the public to have the same amount of time to address the Council with respect to those business items as at other business meetings but to also retain their three minutes for general public comment, which may be on "any matter related to City business or affairs that is in the scope of the authority and legislative functions of the City Council." In addition to the conforming changes tied to the proposed schedule, other minor revisions would update room labelling ("work session room" instead of "City Council conference room") and eliminate a vestigial reference to ad hoc Council Committees requiring City Council approval. (All standing committees of the City Council are simply appointed by the Mayor following revisions approved by the City Council in October 2021.) Finally, slight revisions are proposed in multiple places to adjust the timing of requests and other actions related to the posted agenda in order to reflect a recently effective change in state law. Prior to September 1, 2025, the Texas Open Meetings Act required an agenda be posted seventy two (72) hours prior to a meeting's start time. As of the first of this month, agendas must now be posted three business days prior to the date of the meeting. Under the old law, an agenda for a meeting at 6PM on a Tuesday could have been posted as late as 6PM on the preceding Saturday. Now that same agenda must be posted by the preceding Wednesday (technically before the business day starts on the preceding Thursday). To reflect the revised posting deadlines, the proposed revisions generally move the deadlines for items (such as distribution of packets) that previously happened on the Friday before a meeting to the preceding Wednesday. One notable exception involves requests for reconsideration. For those, the deadline is proposed to remain unchanged at 4PM of the first Friday after the meeting at which the action took place. Prior to the state law change, this timing allowed the reconsideration to be added to the immediately following meeting's agenda. After the state law change, the only way to make the succeeding meeting's agenda would be to set the deadline for requesting reconsideration early on Wednesday (the day immediately after initial action is taken) because that is the posting deadline. Rather than overly rush City Councilmembers and the M&C Center staff who must process agendas and get them ready to post, it is proposed that the current deadline remain. This approach would mean that in months where business meetings are scheduled one week after the other, reconsideration could occur at the second meeting after the initial action rather than the first meeting that follows. While this timing is not ideal, it is considered to strike a reasonable balance. ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 25-0109 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council September 23, 2025 Page 3 of 3 SUBJECT: PROPOSED 2026 COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE AND CONFORMING CHANGES TO COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE If you have questions regarding the proposed 2026 schedule, please contact Jannette Goodall at extension 6161. For questions about the proposed changes to the Rules, please contact Denis McElroy at extension 7600. Jesus "Jay" Chapa City Manager Attachment ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS S 4 MIT 5 1 61 W 7 14 21 28 1 T 1 8 15 22 29 � F 2 9 16 23 30 S 3 10 11 12 13 17 18 19 20 24 25 26 27 31 S I M T W T F S 1 2 3r2E 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 20 21* 22 23 24 261 27128 1 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 7 1 8 9 to 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 S I M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 1 6 1 7 8 9 to 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 S IM T IW T F IS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 S IMIT IW T F S 1 2 3 4 1 51 6 7 8 9 10 11 12* 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 S M T IW T F S 1 2 31 4 1 5 6 7 8 9 1 10 11* 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18* 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1311 S M 2 T 3 W T F 4 5 6L 11 12 13 18 19 20221231 25 26 27 S 1 8 9 15 16 2 23 j 29 30 M T IW T F 1 1 2 3 4 5 b 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16* 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 S I M T 1 W T F S 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 to 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 M T IW T F 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 to 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 �7 28 29 30 31 Jan 01 New Year's Day Jan 19 M L King Day Jan 20 Day after Holiday/No Mtg Mar 15-21 FWISD Spring Break/No Mtg Mar 16-18 NLC/Washington, DC May 2 Election Day May 25 Memorial Day Holiday May 26 Day after Holiday/No Mtg Jun 19 Juneteenth Holiday Jul 1-31 No Council Meetings Sep 07 Labor Day Holiday Sep 08 Day after Holiday/No Mtg Oct 6 National Night Out/No Mtg Nov 3 Election Day Nov 11-13 TML—San Antonio Nov 19-21 NLC/Nashville Nov 26 Thanksgiving Week/No Mtg Dec 15, 22 & 29 No Meeting Dec 25 Christmas Holiday MEETING LEGEND Executive Session (Noon) Work Session (1 PM) Council Consent Mtg/Public Comment (6 PM) Council Meeting/Zoning (6 PM) Work Session (9 AM) Council Meeting (11 AM) No Council Meeting *Budget Work Sessions 4/21/26; 5/12/26; 5/19/26; 6/2/26; 6/16/26; 8/11/26; 8/18/26 City Holiday/Conference Executive Session Work Session