Governance and Ethics Committee Meeting - April 13, 2026

The City of Santa Clara Governance and Ethics Committee held a meeting on April 13, 2026, primarily focused on reviewing and prioritizing their work plan for the year. Key procurement-related discussions included the scheduling and management of committee meetings, the need for additional staff support to handle the workload, and the use of outside consultants for ethics program reviews and performance evaluations of council appointees. The committee debated the challenges of agenda management, public participation policies (notably council policy 030 regarding agenda item submissions), and the feasibility of televising committee meetings. A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to discussing a proposed formalized performance review process for council appointees, including the hiring of external facilitators and compensation consultants, with a suggested fixed annual review schedule and inclusion of 360-degree feedback potentially involving public input. The committee voted to keep ethics commission review and council policy reconsideration items on the April 30 agenda and discussed the need for study sessions on meeting scheduling and management policies. The meeting highlighted ongoing concerns about staff capacity, transparency, and democratic participation in governance processes, with no final decisions on many items but clear direction to continue addressing these issues in future meetings.