We’ll be dealing with the usual “first meeting of the year” stuff at this meeting, for the most part. We start the evening with a study session to discuss school enrollment rates and how the city and the schools project enrollment growth. There has been a lot of discussion about this in the community, in light of the Cumberland and Cherry Chase schools’ enrollment issues. This study session will be in Council chambers due to the expected public interest in the topic.
There are no special orders or presentations, so we get right to it. The consent calendar is small, just the minutes of our last meeting, the list of bills, and a grant involving NOVA.
Item 2 is our annual selection of the Vice Mayor. At our previous study session, Councilmembers Martin-Milius and Hendricks expressed an interest in the position. But anything can happen on Tuesday.
Item 3 is the approval of our 2015 calendar. Mostly, it’s an opportunity to point out when meetings will conflict with outside events – conventions, planned vacations, whatever. Usually, this item is pretty quick, since meetings tend to take precedence over outside events.
Item 4 is the big issue on the agenda – the annual public hearing on potential study issues. This is when members of the public express interest in already proposed study issues or suggest additional issues to study. We currently have 31 proposed study issues for this year, and no proposed budget issues. Note that I’ll be doing my annual study issues survey again this year, which I should roll out on Friday the 9th.
Item 5 is ratification of this year’s council appointments to intergovernmental and internal committees (IGRs). These assignments are chosen by the Council, by outside agencies, or by the Mayor, depending on the body. But regardless of who makes the appointment, the full Council must ratify all appointments, since an appointee is expected to represent the position of the full Council on the body in question, and since each appointment includes approval for travel expenses.
Item 6 has us looking at our 2015 priority issues and legislative advocacy positions. These are set positions on issues of interest to Sunnyvale, which authorizes staff and the Mayor to express support or opposition to issues without additional full Council approval.
And then item 7 is our annual seating selection. Per council policy and tradition, the Mayor sits in the center, the Vice Mayor selects one of the seats adjacent to the Mayor (usually the one to the Mayor’s right, so the speaker lights are visible), and the rest are chosen in seniority order.
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