City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MARCH 26, 2024
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of City Council Calendar.
BODY
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ISSUE: City Council Calendar.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1. Receive and approve the FY 2024 City Council Calendar; and
2. Receive the proposed FY 2025 City Council Calendar, which includes:
• Proposed Dates for Legislative meetings;
• City Holidays;
• VML Conference, October 13 to October 15, 2024; and
• The City Council Installation on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
3. Schedule the Proposed FY 2025 City Council Calendar for approval on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
BACKGROUND: The city has made significant efforts not to schedule meetings on religious holidays. During preparation of the Proposed FY 2025 City Council Calendar, staff noted two proposed dates on the FY 2025 Calendar, that will coincide with religious holidays.
The City Council Installation is scheduled for January 2, 2025, in accordance with the City Charter, “Sec. 3.07 - Induction of members”. This section states that the first meeting of the newly elected Council will take place on the second day of January following their election, or if such a day shall fall on Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, then on the next business day following the second day of January. Staff would like to note, in this instance, January 2, 2025 is the last night of Chanukah and during winter break for Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).
The proposed date for the Public Hearing on April 12, 2025 is also the first night of Passover and the Saturday before the start of spring break for ACPS. If the meeting ends earlier in the day, staff believes that the current date will not conflict with the Passover holiday, which begins at sunset. However, it is impossible to predict the length of the docket at this time. Therefore, staff recommends moving the Public Hearing to Saturday, April 26.
DISCUSSION: Legislative Meetings and Public Hearings of the Alexandria City Council are being held in the Council Chamber (301 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314) and electronically. Members of City Council and staff are participating either in-person or from remote locations (under the electronic meeting policy). This will give the public the ability to provide public comment to City Council through a video conference call on Zoom or in-person. The meetings can be accessed by the public in the City Council Chamber, through the live broadcast on the government channel 70, streaming on the City's website, and can be accessed via Zoom.
Please Note: Staff is now going to reference the official City Calendar that is on the City’s website in this docket item so that City Council will be reviewing the official calendar. Staff will provide a list of the City Council meetings from that calendar for Council’s review and approval at each legislative meeting. The full calendar can be reviewed on the City’s main webpage, and the City Council filtered calendar on the City Council’s webpage.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. City Council Calendar
2. Proposed FY 2025 City Council Calendar
STAFF:
Kilo Grayson, Documents and Records Coordinator