By Jorge Casuso

October 2, 2024 -- The City Council on Tuesday will once again vote on a measure to curb the number of items its members place on the agenda, which have increasingly focused on major policy issues.

Under the amended rules, proposed Councilmember discussion items -- 16 items -- must be reviewed by the City Attorney and City Manager before being placed on the agenda.

The City Attorney would review the proposed item to ensure it "requests a policy direction or action that is lawful," according to the proposed amendment.

The City Manager would review it "to ensure the policy direction or action is feasible, or reasonably possible given available resources."

Then the two top staff officials can suggest changes to bring the item into compliance, according the amendment placed on the September 10 agenda as a 16 item by Councilmember Gleam Davis.

In addition, under the amended rules, once a particular 16 item "is heard and considered, the same or substantially similar item may not be placed on a subsequent Agenda for reconsideration for 12 months."

The only exception would be if the item "is sponsored by one of the Councilmembers on the prevailing side" that initially rejected the item.

Councilmember discussion items -- and efforts to curb them -- proliferated after the "Change" slate ousted three incumbents backed by Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR), which has controlled local politics for most of the past 40 years ("SPECIAL REPORT -- Who Runs the City?" September 20, 2024).

Mayor Phil Brock, who led the Change slate in 2020, notes that 16 items are the only way Councilmembers can discuss pressing issues during meetings.

If approved, the items can lead to adopting policies and ordinances that are otherwise placed on the agenda by the City Manager and staff.

"I will not vote for this," said Brock, who is running for reelection in November. "I understand the purpose of this, but it's overreach and overkill."

The proposed changes were placed on the agenda by Davis two weeks after members of the Council majority placed three discussion items on the August 27 agenda that address hot-button issues.

Two of the items were efforts to eliminate the County's needle exchange program in City parks, while a third sought to replace a supportive housing project for the homeless with a senior building ("Homeless Housing, Needle Distribution on Council Agenda," August 23, 2024).

One of the items asked the City Attorney and City Manager to eliminate the distribution of "of all drug paraphernalia and equipment" in parks and near schools and other non-profit facilities.

City Manager David White noted at the meeting that local law already addressed the item, which was placed on the agenda by Councilmember de la Torre, the other Change incumbent running on November 5.

The changes proposed on Tuesday's agenda come after previous measures have failed to curb the constant flow of 16 items.

The first major change to the rules was made in September 2021, after the number of Councilmember items had reached 20 over the previous four regular meetings under the new Change-led majority.

The amendment, which was unanimously approved, required the sponsors of a 16 item to consult with the City Manager before placing staff administrative items on the agenda.

Eight months later, the Council attempted to stem last-minute items by moving up the submission deadline, but the practice continued, prompting Davis to address the Councilmember items themselves.

The 16 item she proposed asked staff to clarify that Councilmember items "are to provide Policy direction only" and that no ordinances or resolutions (except those for advocacy) "should be developed or drafted until a majority of Council gives direction."

Two years after the first rule changes were made, 16 items were still a common practice, with nine items placed on one August 2023 Council agenda alone.