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CC - CONSENT ITEM: Recommendations from the Ad Hoc City Council Policies Subcommittee, Including: (1) Adoption of a Resolution Adopting Council Policy 3406 (Donor/Contributor Naming and Sponsorships of City Facilities); (2) Adoption of a Resolution Combining Council Policies 4003 and 4006 into an Updated Council Policy 4006 (Code of Ethics; Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities) and Rescinding Council Policy 4003; (3) Adoption of a Resolution Amending Council Policy 1001 (Adoption of Council Policy Statements); and (4) Adoption of a Resolution Rescinding Redundant and Outdated or Obsolete Council Policies 3203 (Relationship Between Council Members and Employees), 3205 (Administrative Resolutions of MOU Interpretation Problems), 4401 (Service Awards), and 4701 (Intergovernmental Liaison).
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Meeting Date: October 27, 2025
Contact Person/Dept: Heather Baker/City Attorney
Jeremy Bocchino/City Clerk
Phone Number: 310-253-5660
310-253-5851
Fiscal Impact: Yes [ ] No [X] General Fund: Yes [ ] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [X] No [ ]
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (10/22/2025)
Department Approval: Heather Baker, City Attorney (10/21/2025); Jesse Mays, Assistant City Manager (10/16/2025)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff, with the concurrence of the Ad Hoc City Council Policies Subcommittee, recommends the City Council (1) adopt a Resolution adopting Council Policy 3406 (Donor/Contributor Naming and Sponsorships of City Facilities); (2) adopt a Resolution combining Council Policies 4003 and 4006 into an updated Council Policy 4006 (Code of Ethics; Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities) and rescinding Council Policy 4003; (3) adopt a Resolution amending Council Policy 1001 (Adoption of Council Policy Statements); and (4) adopt a Resolution rescinding redundant and outdated or obsolete Council Policies 3203 (Relationship Between Council Members and Employees), 3205 (Administrative Resolutions of MOU Interpretation Problems), 4401 (Service Awards), and 4701 (Intergovernmental Liaison).
BACKGROUND
The Ad Hoc City Council Policies Subcommittee was created for the purpose of working with staff to conduct a comprehensive review of existing City Council policies and make recommendations to City Council as appropriate. The current Subcommittee consists of Council Members Albert Vera and Bryan “Bubba” Fish (“Subcommittee”).
Over the course of the City Council Policies review project (“Project”), a total of 28 policies have been considered by the City Council. Of these policies, some have been updated, some have been rescinded after being combined with other policies, some have been rescinded and transitioned to administrative policies due to their administrative nature, and there have been five newly adopted policies (see Attachment 1 for a list of policies considered by the City Council thus far during this Project).
This Project has been delayed on multiple occasions due to other Council-directed priorities and work plans, as well as the unexpected and significant operational workload created by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly during 2020-2021.
City staff, after working with the Subcommittee, is presenting several additional City Council policies for recommended action by the City Council at this time. Additional policies are currently in review and targeted for completion over the next few months with the goal of bringing them to City Council for consideration in February 2026.
DISCUSSION
Council Policy 3406 (Donor Naming and Sponsorships of City Property and Facilities)
Former City Council Policy 2006-001 outlined the process for both commemorative naming and donor naming of City facilities. In 2017 the Ad Hoc City Council Policies Subcommittee constituted at that time, made recommendations to revise the policies and procedures for commemorative naming and move the policies and procedures for donor naming into a separate policy. The City Council adopted a new Policy 3403 (Commemorative, In Memoriam, Naming of City Property and Facilities) in 2017, which was subsequently updated in 2018. At this time, there is no formal policy for donor naming.
Staff has been working with the current Subcommittee to develop a policy relating to donor naming and sponsorship of City facilities. The purpose of this new Policy 3406 (Donor Naming and Sponsorship of City Property and Facilities) is to define the policies, responsibilities and procedures associated with the naming of City property and facilities based on donations or bequests to the City or sponsorships of City property and facilities. This policy does not apply to commemorative naming of City property and facilities, which is addressed in Council Policy 3403, mentioned above, or City sponsorships of third party events and activities, which is addressed in Council Policy 2502. The following is a summary of key provisions of Policy 3406 (See Exhibit A to Attachment 2):
• Naming criteria. Potential names may be based on one of the following:
o Individual, entity or group in recognition of a donation of land or money for maintenance of land, facilities or amenities.
o Individual, entity or group via a sponsorship agreement.
• Sponsorship criteria, including restrictions on sponsors. For example:
o No sponsors that promote or support programs or activities detrimental to public health, safety, or well-being.
o No sponsors that promote or derive a substantial amount of revenue from products that are detrimental to public health, safety, or well-being, including but not limited to drugs, alcohol, tobacco or fossil fuels).
o Restrictions on names that are discriminatory or are derogatory or offensive by contemporary community standards.
• Duration of name.
o Intention to retain long-standing names unless certain criteria have been met.
o Sponsorships limited to 10-year terms.
o City reservation of rights to change the name.
o Criteria to be considered before changing a name.
• Naming and renaming process.
o Minor Facilities to be considered by the Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) Commission.
o Major Facilities to be considered by the City Council.
• Minimum monetary donation requirements for Minor Facilities.
As set forth in the Policy, the City Council will establish, by resolution, minimum monetary donation requirements for Minor Facilities. The Subcommittee has recommended the City Council receive input from the PRCS Commission on setting the monetary donation requirements. If the City Council adopts this Policy, PRCS staff will discuss and receive recommendations from the PRCS Commission regarding such monetary requirements and present to City Council for consideration at a future meeting.
Staff recommends the City Council adopt the proposed Resolution adopting Policy 3406 (Attachment 2). The Subcommittee concurs with this recommendation.
Council Policy 4006 (Code of Ethics; Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities)
Council Policies 4003 (Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities) and 4006 (Code of Ethics) (Attachments 3 and 4, respectively) have not been updated in about 30 years. The purpose of these policies is to encourage public officials and employees to observe a personal code of ethical conduct and to discourage gifts and gratuities. Much of these policies are already covered by California conflict of interest laws and other state and federal laws. Staff recommends adoption of an updated Policy 4006 (Code of Ethics; Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities) which combines certain provisions from Policy 4003 into Policy 4006 for one comprehensive policy, updates outdated language, streamlines the policy provisions to incorporate state conflict laws by reference, and removes items that are covered by other city policies and state and federal laws (i.e., nondiscrimination). (Attachment 5 reflects the foregoing revisions in redline format.)
Staff recommends adoption of the proposed Resolution adopting an updated Policy 4006 and rescinding Policy 4003 (Attachment 6). The Subcommittee concurs with this recommendation.
Council Policy 1001 (Adoption of Council Policy Statements)
Council Policy 1001 (Attachment 7) is out of date and requires that all City Council Policies become effective by a 4/5ths vote. Staff is recommending this be changed to a simple majority. Other revisions are proposed that will bring this policy in line with current practice. (Attachment 8 reflects the proposed revisions in redline format.) This Policy has been moved up in priority for the overall project, since there are numerous policies being updated and also new policies being considered. Staff recommends the City Council adopt the proposed Resolution amending Council Policy 1001 (Attachment 9). The Subcommittee concurs with this recommendation.
Rescission of Redundant/Outdated Policies
As part of this comprehensive review/clean-up project, staff continues to recommend the rescission of redundant and outdated or obsolete policies which are no longer needed. At this time staff has identified an additional four policies for proposed rescission.
• Policy 3203 (Relationship Between Council Members and Employees): This Policy (Attachment 10) has been out of date since the Charter update to a Council-Manager form of government almost 20 years ago in 2006. The current Policy states that there is nothing in the Charter or Culver City Municipal Code outlining the relationship between Council Members and City employees. That is no longer the case. With the 2006 update to the Charter, which changed the organizational structure to Council-Manager form of government, Charter Section 701 (Attachment 11) sets forth the relationship between City Council and employees, among other things. It is recommended that Policy 3203 be rescinded, as the topic is covered by the City Charter.
• Policy 3205 (Administrative Resolutions of MOU Interpretation Problems): This Policy (Attachment 12) is being recommended for rescission. The Human Resources Director has confirmed this process is already addressed in all six labor group MOUs making this policy redundant and no longer needed.
• Policy 4401 (Service Awards): This Policy (Attachment 13) is being recommended for rescission. Employee service awards are already addressed in Civil Service Rule 15 (Attachment 14). As the City Council may recall, the Council Recognition policy was also recently amended to make it clear that the employee recognition and reward for outstanding job performance of City employees is governed by Rule 15 of the Civil Service Rules. The recission of this policy would be consistent with that prior action.
• Policy 4701 (Intergovernmental Liaison): This Policy (Attachment 15) is being recommended for rescission. Since 2006, the Culver City Legislative and Policy Platform (formerly known as the Legislative Advocacy Program) has been in place with the most recent update being adopted by the City Council in November of 2024. The Legislative and Policy Platform, which is updated on an as-needed basis, is the most up to date guiding document for the role of the Mayor and Council for legislative advocacy activities. Also, Council Members serve on several outside bodies to represent the City’s interests regionally, statewide and at the federal level. In the past, the City has retained lobbyists to represent the City in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Those consultants have been hired on an as-needed basis and only if the Council and staff determine the City’s budget can fund those contracts. For as long as staff can recall, it does not appear this Policy was ever implemented. This Policy is redundant in light of the foregoing.
Staff recommends the City Council adopt the proposed Resolution rescinding Council Policies 3203, 3205, 4401 and 4701 (Attachment 16). The Subcommittee concurs with this recommendation.
Next Policies In Review
As mentioned earlier in this report, additional City Council policies are currently in review and targeted for completion over the next few months with the goal of bringing them to City Council for consideration in February 2026, including but not limited to:
• Policy 2402 (Code Enforcement, Illegal Property Conversions), which will require significant updating in light of current housing laws, including ADU law;
• Policy 2503 (Community Organizations), which may be obsolete in light of the Special Events Grant Program;
• Policy 4002 (Endorsement of Commercial Products);
• Policy 4101 (Travel, Attendance at Conferences, and Special Events or Meetings, and Reimbursement for Expenses), which is being recommended for transition to an Administrative Policy;
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no additional fiscal impact associated with the adoption of the proposed Resolutions. There may be fiscal impacts with the implementation of Policy 3406 based on donations and sponsorships; however, such impacts would be speculative at this time.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2025-10-27_ATT 1_Status of Council Policies Review Project
2. 2025-10-27_ATT 2_Proposed Resolution and New Council Policy 3406
3. 2025-10-27_ATT 3_Current Council Policy 4003
4. 2025-10-27_ATT 4_Current Council Policy 4006
5. 2025-10-27_ATT 5_Updated Council Policy 4006 in redline format
6. 2025-10-27_ATT 6_Proposed Resolution and Updated Council Policy 4006
7. 2025-10-27_ATT 7_Current Council Policy 1001
8. 2025-10-27_ATT 8_Updated Council Policy 1001 in redline format
9. 2025-10-27_ATT 9_Proposed Resolution and Updated Council Policy 1001
10. 2025-10-27_ATT 10_Current Council Policy 3203
11. 2025-10-27_ATT 11_City Charter Section 701
12. 2025-10-27_ATT 12_Current Council Policy 3205
13. 2025-10-27_ATT 13_Current Council Policy 4401
14. 2025-10-27_ATT 14_Civil Service Rule 15
15. 2025-10-27_ATT 15_Current Council Policy 4701
16. 2025-10-27_ATT 16_Proposed Resolution Rescinding Policies 3203, 3205, 4401 and 4701
MOTION
That the City Council:
1. Adopt a Resolution adopting Council Policy 3406 (Donor/Contributor Naming and Sponsorships of City Facilities);
2. Adopt a Resolution combining Council Policies 4003 and 4006 into an updated Council Policy 4006 (Code of Ethics; Acceptance of Gifts and Gratuities) and rescinding Council Policy 4003;
3. Adopt a Resolution amending Council Policy 1001 (Adoption of Council Policy Statements); and
4. Adopt a Resolution rescinding redundant and outdated or obsolete Council Policies 3203 (Relationship Between Council Members and Employees), 3205 (Administrative Resolutions of MOU Interpretation Problems), 4401 (Service Awards), and 4701 (Intergovernmental Liaison).