During a study session on Sept. 17, the City Council reviewed its policy manual, a document that has been under revision since 2021. The council discussed which policies need further review and decided to appoint Ad Hoc committees to work through the remainder of the manual.
The policy manual is a document that directs the City Council how to proceed with responsibilities such as elections, social media, public comment and the organization of formal meetings. It was designed 15 years ago, but at a meeting in August 2021, the City Council began reviewing the manual to keep it up to date. At that meeting, the policy was split into two separate documents—the policy manual and the handbook, for non-policy information. Then, on Feb. 6 of this year, the City Council reviewed the manual again, to make sure that they were all in agreement on the policies, but they only got through the first 13 pages. At that time, they agreed on provisions regarding the role of the mayor, regular formal City Council meetings, public comment at meetings and the addition of references to the Beverly Hills Municipal Code, to explain why such policies make sense for the city. They approved the handbook at that time.
