The Pasadena City Council will be trying out Tuesday nights for its regularly scheduled meetings this month as it prepares to make the permanent switch.
An ordinance amending Pasadena’s municipal code is required to make the change. The ordinance had its first reading at the Monday, Aug. 31, City Council meeting. Special meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and Tuesday, Sept. 29, will serve as trial runs for holding meetings on Tuesdays going forward.
“Members of the City Council have expressed challenges with regular meetings on Monday evenings,” the staff report read about the switch.
According to a city staff report, in 1994, City Council meetings were moved from Tuesdays to Mondays.
City officials recommended Tuesday as a new meeting day because it appeared to be the least disruptive to city business. City Council posting schedules for agendas and meeting materials could stay the same and it would give council members one extra day to review meeting materials and prepare for the meeting.
The switch to Tuesday also allows City Council to hold a meeting the week a national holiday that falls on a Monday.
“A lot of cities, aside from starting on time, do have their meetings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for council and one of the reasons is, what we talked about before, it gives Monday as a ramp up day to answer questions and be responsive,” Interim City Manager Matthew Hawkesworth said.
At the Aug. 31 meeting, members of city staff said the change would become permanent if the ordinance was passed after its second reading, which is scheduled for the Tuesday, Sept. 15, meeting.