Discussion and Direction: December lobbying trip to Washington D.C. and practice for determining Council attendees for future lobbying trips.

1. Direction on which Councilmembers will be representing the City in upcoming Washington D.C. Lobbying Trip
2. Direction on the inclusion of a practice for determining Council attendees for future lobbying trips in the Council Rules of Procedure.

It has been the City Council's practice since roughly 2010 that there must be two Councilmembers in attendance at any meetings with state and federal representatives. The purpose of this practice was to ensure that messaging is consistent and focused. There has also generally been a limit of only three Councilmembers in attendance at these meetings. The reason for this limit is to ensure compliance with Open Meeting Law. If a quorum of the Council is present there has to be an official meeting called with an agenda posted and minutes prepared. This in turn necessitates additional staff to assist in the official meeting, which will span multiple days, and greatly increase costs associated with the travel.

The Mayor typically attends these meetings, and this practice should continue insofar as the Mayor, pursuant to the City Charter, serves as the Chairperson of the Council. The Mayor is typically accompanied by two other Councilmembers as well as City staff. Again, this prevents issues with a quorum of the Council being present and provides for manageable logistics in terms of travel, delivery of messaging, and staying on schedule. It is a travel consortium that is strongly recommended by our lobbyist. 

These practices have never been officially codified and staff recommends including Council's direction on the matter in the next update to the Council Rules of Procedure.

The following are the attendees for the last four trips to Washington D.C.:

March 2019 - Mayor Evans, Councilmember Whelan, and Councilmember Salas
September 2018 - Mayor Evans, Councilmember Odegaard
March 2018 - Mayor Evans, Councilmember Odegaard, and Councilmember Putzova
March 2017 - Mayor Evans, Councilmember Overton, and Councilmember McCarthy