Recommendations from Lead versus Secondary Referrals
When a committee considers a file, the outcome is that the committee makes a recommendation. Staff enter recommendations while recording meeting minutes. It is important to know whether the committee is the lead referral or secondary referral, as this determines who the committee makes the recommendation to.
Summary
- The lead referral makes the recommendation to the Council
- Secondary referrals make recommendations to the lead referral
NOTE: if you are unsure which committee is the lead referral, you can check the file’s History tab. The first entry that is listed includes the referrals, which are located in the CC Note field. The lead referral is whichever committee appears first in the list of referrals.
In the image above, Finance Committee appears first in the list of the referrals and is the lead referral.
Lead referral
The lead referral makes the recommendation to Council. When entering minutes, the recommendation from a lead referral should begin with “RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL...”.
In Legistar, there are over 65 options available for recommendations from the lead referral to Council, although not all of these options will be available in each situation.
IMPORTANT: Do not select any recommendations which include the text "...adopt under suspension of rules 2.04, 2.24, & 2.25..." as these recommendations are no longer current. Current recommendations include the text "...adopt under suspension of MGO 2.055..."
- Recommend to Council to Accept... (3 options)
- Recommend to Council to Adopt... (23 options)
- Recommend to Council to Confirm... (3 options)
- Recommend to Council to Deny... (7 options)
- Recommend to Council to Disallow
- Recommend to Council to Grant... (11 options)
- Recommend to Council to Non-Renew... (2 options)
- Recommend to Council to Place on File... (6 options)
- Recommend to Council to Reject-Report of Officer
- Recommend to Council to Re-Refer... (3 options)
- Recommend to Council with the Following Recommendations... (4 options)
NOTE: Recommendations with conditions ("with conditions" or "with the following recommendations") require additional steps when recording meeting minutes. Refer to Recommendations with Conditions and Roll Call Votes for more information.
Secondary referrals
Secondary referrals make recommendations to the lead referral. When entering minutes, the recommendation from a secondary referral should begin with “Return to Lead with the Recommendation…”
In Legistar, there are 9 options available for the recommendation from a secondary referral.
- Return to Lead with No Recommendation
- Return to Lead with the Following Recommendations... (2 options)
- Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Approval
- Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Common Council to Adopt
- Return to Lead with the Recommendation for Denial
- Return to Lead with the Recommendation to Approve as Substituted
- Return to Lead with the Recommendation to Place on File
- Return to Lead with the Recommendation to Place on File without Prejudice
Deadline for Entering Recommendations
For files which are returning to the Common Council, recommendations need to be entered no later than 12:00 pm the Wednesday before the Council meeting.
For committees which meet Wednesday before the Council meeting, recommendations should be entered no later than 9:00 am on Thursday. For committees which meet after Wednesday and before Tuesday, recommendations should be entered no later than 9:00 am on the Tuesday of the Council meeting.