Resolutions and the General Assembly

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Developing Cal Cities policy is a dynamic process that engages a wide range of members to ensure that Cal Cities represents California cities with one voice. These policies directly guide Cal Cities' advocacy to promote local decision-making, and lobby against statewide policies that erode local control.

The resolutions process and General Assembly is one way that city officials can directly participate in the development of Cal Cities policy. If a resolution is approved at the General Assembly, it becomes official Cal Cities policy. Here's how resolutions and the General Assembly work.

2023 General Assembly Update: Cal Cities did not receive any petitioned resolutions by the deadline. The Resolutions Committee and General Assembly have been canceled.

Prior to the Cal Cities Annual Conference and Expo

General Resolutions

Sixty days before the Cal Cities Annual Conference and Expo, Cal Cities members may submit policy proposals on issues of importance to cities. The resolution must have the concurrence of at least five additional member cities or individual members. Next step: Policy Committees

Policy Committees

The Cal Cities President assigns general resolutions to policy committees where members review, debate, and recommend positions for each policy proposal. Recommendations are forwarded to the Resolutions Committee. Next step: Resolutions Committee

During the Cal Cities Annual Conference and Expo

Petitioned Resolutions

The petitioned resolution is an alternate method to introduce policy proposals during the annual conference. The petition must be signed by voting delegates from 10% of member cities, and submitted to the Cal Cities President at least 24 hours before the beginning of the General Assembly. Next step: Resolutions Committee

Resolutions Committee

The Resolutions Committee considers all resolutions. General resolutions approved¹ by either a policy committee or the Resolutions Committee are next considered by the General Assembly. General resolutions not approved, or referred for further study by both a policy committee and the Resolutions Committee, do not go to the General Assembly. All Petitioned Resolutions are considered by the General Assembly, unless they are disqualified.²Next step: General Assembly

General Assembly

During the General Assembly, voting delegates debate and consider general and petitioned resolutions forwarded by the Resolutions Committee. Potential Cal Cities bylaws amendments are also considered at this meeting.

¹ The Resolution Committee can amend a general resolution prior to sending it to the General Assembly.
² Petitioned Resolutions may be disqualified by the Resolutions Committee according to Cal Cities Bylaws Article VI. Sec. 5(f).

2023 Resolutions and calendar deadlines

July 22, 2023: Deadline to submit resolutions, 60 days prior to the opening of the annual conference. NOTE: No policy resolutions were received by the deadline for consideration. Petitioned resolutions may still be introduced during the conference, and if qualified, will be considered by the General Assembly.
Aug. 28, 2023: Deadline to appoint a voting delegate.
Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, 8:30 a.m.: Deadline to submit signatures to qualify a petitioned resolution.
Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023: Resolutions Committee meets to consider and make recommendations on general resolutions and petitioned resolutions.
Friday, Sept. 22, 8:30 a.m.: All voting delegates must be checked in prior to the beginning of the General Assembly.
Friday, Sept. 22, 8:30 a.m.: Consideration of general resolutions and petitioned resolutions by cities in the General Assembly Meeting. (Voting delegates must be registered to attend the annual conference and must stay until the conclusion of voting.)

2023 Petitioned Resolution Information

What's new in 2023?

Voting delegates will receive increased communications to prepare them for their role during the General Assembly.
The General Assembly will take place earlier to allow more time for debate and discussion.
Improvements to the General Assembly process will make it easier for voting delegates to discuss and debate resolutions.

Who's who

Cal Cities policy development is a member-informed process, grounded in the voices and experiences of city officials throughout the state.

The Resolutions Committee includes representatives from each Cal Cities diversity caucus, regional division, municipal department, and policy committee, as well as individuals appointed by the Cal Cities president.

Voting delegates are appointed by each member city; every city has one voting delegate.

The General Assembly is a meeting of the collective body of all voting delegates — one from every member city.

Seven policy committees meet throughout the year to review and recommend positions to take on bills and regulatory proposals. Policy committees include members from each Cal Cities diversity caucus, regional division, and municipal department, as well as individuals appointed by the Cal Cities president.

Learn more

Submitting a general resolution

Any elected or appointed city official, individual city, caucus, division, department, policy committee, or the Board of Directors may submit a resolution for consideration at the Annual Conference and Expo. Resolutions must focus on direct municipal issues of statewide importance.

Resolutions must be submitted to Cal Cities via email to Meg Desmond no later than 60 days prior to the opening session of the conference. Any resolutions submitted must have the concurrence of at least five or more cities or city officials from at least five or more cities. Those submitting resolutions must provide written documentation of such concurrence. This may be in the form of a letter from the city or the city official in support. For concurrence by a city official, the official’s city and office held must be included in the letter. All documentation of concurrences must be submitted with the resolution. The deadline to submit resolutions for this year’s conference is July 22, 2023.

Resolutions consideration at the annual conference

The Cal Cities president refers resolutions to Cal Cities policy committees for review and recommendation to the Resolutions Committee. The Resolutions Committee consists of representatives from each caucus, division, department, policy committee, and individuals appointed by the Cal Cities president. If the Resolutions Committee approves the resolution, or if the resolution was approved by a policy committee but not by the Resolutions Committee, the resolution is next considered by the General Assembly. Should a resolution be disapproved or referred back to a policy committee or the proponent by both the Resolutions and policy committees, the resolution will not proceed to the General Assembly. The Resolutions Committee may also amend the resolution, prior to moving it forward for consideration by the General Assembly. Resolutions approved by the General Assembly become Cal Cities policy.

Resolutions Committee

The Resolution Committee meets each year for the purpose of considering any submitted policy resolutions and reporting on those resolutions to the General Assembly. No policy resolution may be considered or discussed by the General Assembly if it has not been reported on by the Resolutions Committee.

The Resolutions Committee is comprised of over 40 city officials from throughout the state. The committee is designed to represent the diversity in Cal Cities membership and is comprised of one appointee from every regional division, municipal department, diversity caucus, and policy committee. Up to ten additional members may also be appointed to the committee by the Cal Cities President to achieve geographic and population balance. Per the Cal Cities Bylaws, the Second Vice President serves as the Chair of the committee and the Vice Chair is appointed by the Cal Cities President.

The members of the 2023 Resolutions Committee can be found here. Given no policy resolutions were submitted to Cal Cities by the July 22 for consideration, the convening of the 2023 Resolutions Committee will be determined by petitioned resolutions. Should Cal Cities staff receive a qualified petitioned resolution by the deadline of Sept. 21 at 8:30 a.m., the Resolutions Committee will meet to consider the resolution during the Annual Conference and Expo on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m.

Voting delegates

A voting delegate is a council-appointed city official — elected or appointed — who represents their city at the General Assembly. Delegates play an important role during the General Assembly by voting on resolutions, which if approved, become Cal Cities policy.

Voting delegates should attend the full conference through the General Assembly, which takes place on Fridays of the annual conference. However, delegates can register for just the Friday portion of the annual conference if they are unable to attend the full conference.

A voting delegate may also want to prepare by reviewing the Cal Cities resolutions process and General Assembly. Read through this information sheet for more details.

Per the Cal Cities bylaws, every member city may designate a delegate and up to two alternates, by approval of the city council. This voting delegate appointment packet is being sent to all mayors, council members, city managers, and city clerks with additional information and an appointment form. The voting delegate form must be filled out and returned to Cal Cities by Monday, Aug. 28. Completed forms should be emailed to votingdelegates@calcities.org.