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5 <br /> POLICY FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION <br /> Effective communications between the Mayor and City Council, the City Manager and City staff <br /> members are crucial to providing sound public policy and high quality City services. <br /> Councilmembers have committed to sharing information with each other and with the City <br /> Manager. The City Council and City Manager have agreed upon certain communications <br /> channels and practices intended to accomplish this. <br /> 1. Structured Channels: The City Manager shall arrange for clear, structured channels and <br /> methods of communication that respect the City Council's need for timely information <br /> about City affairs and the City staff's obligations to perform their daily operational work. <br /> The City Manager has requested that, when the Mayor or Councilmembers have requests <br /> for information or wish to forward citizen inquiries, they send that request through the <br /> City Manager. Councilmembers are requested to indicate the urgent, routine or long-term <br /> nature of the request in order to help staff members judge the priority of all outstanding <br /> requests. All Councilmembers and the City Manager will have access to the same <br /> information and the status of requests. <br /> 2. Agenda Information: Questions regarding Council meeting agenda items or upcoming <br /> issues should be directed to the City Manager. In preparing information and replying to <br /> Councilmembers, staff members will take care to present a report that describes both <br /> sides of an issue and gives the full picture. City Council will nevertheless be interested to <br /> learn the staff's or City Manager's recommendation for action. For Councilmembers <br /> convenience in discussing these materials, the staff member's telephone number should <br /> be included with their report and recommendations. <br /> 3. Direct Staff Contact: While the Mayor and Councilmembers are always at liberty to <br /> speak to any employee of the City, the City Manager has requested that contacts during <br /> work hours be limited to seeking ready information; requests for preparation of answers <br /> or more extensive information should be channeled through the Assistant to the City <br /> Manager. Further, direct contacts should not be in the nature of directing the work of a <br /> City employee or of requesting information that requires an employee to significantly <br /> reschedule his/her work to accomplish. <br /> 4. City Council Priorities: Annually, City Council specifies top priority issues and projects <br /> for focused attention by the City Manager and staff. The City Manager will arrange for <br /> regular update reports, not less frequent than June I and December I each year, to the <br /> Council and staff on the status and progress of each of those top priorities. <br /> 5. Anticipation of Communications Needs: The City Manager, Assistant City Manager and <br /> department heads will anticipate the nature and timing of information that may be <br /> required by city Council regarding current or growing issues and projects. The challenge <br />