The City Council is the Legislative Branch of Newton City Government.

The City Council has the power to:

• make, amend or repeal City Ordinances;
• approve the city budget;
• approve the Mayor’s expenditure of funds;
• approve land use issues;
• and confirm the Mayor’s appointments to Newton boards and commissions.

The City Council Process

Every item that comes before the City Council can be tracked by using documents found on this website.

The Docket

When an item is submitted for consideration to the City Council it is “docketed” with the Council. Docketing involves giving the item a unique number, assigning it the appropriate committee/s for discussion, and placing the item on the “Docket.”

The Docket is the list of all new business that has come to the Council since the last Council meeting. All items are given a unique number and assigned to a committee based on the Council's assignment rules. The Council approves the docketing of the items and the committee assignments at their board meeting.

Click on the Council Meetings button to the left to see the years available on-line and then choose a specific date.

Committee Agenda

Once it has been accepted to a docket, an item is placed on a Committee’s Agenda and the chair of that committee assigns it a date to begin discussion. Committee Agendas are posted in Newton City Hall, and here on the web, by the Friday before a Committee meeting. The public is invited to attend the committee meetings to see the presentation and hear the discussions. The chair of the committee may allow comments from the public.

A Committee Agenda lists the items that are currently before the committee and identifies those that will be discussed at a particular meeting.

To see an Agenda, click on the Standing Committee link to the left and choose a committee.  Choose a year, then pick a specific date  to view the specific Agenda.

Committee Report

After a committee has discussed an item a report of those discussions will be found on the Committee Report. Once a committee has finished it’s deliberations it will vote on the item and the vote will be reported in the next City Council “Reports Docket.” If the Committee needs additional information, or wants more time to discuss an item, they may vote to hold the item in committee.

A committee report provides a description of the discussions that took place at a committee meeting and the action that the committee recommends.

To see a Report, click on the Standing Committee link to the left and choose a committee.  Choose a year, then pick a specific date  to view the specific Report.

Reports Docket

Once an item has been voted on in Committee, it is moved to the “Reports Docket” where the committee’s recommendation is listed for action by the full City Council. The Reports Docket, also known as a “consent agenda” lists all of the items that the board will take action on and the committee in which it was discussed. At the full Council meeting the chair of each committee is asked to report on the items that their committee has taken up and the vote that they recommend. Once all of the committees have reported, the City Council votes to accept the committee’s recommendations (known as First Call) and to approve the docket. If any Council member would like to have further discussion on an item, or an item that was assigned to two or more committee has conflicting reports, that item is placed on Second Call and is discussed further by the full Council and voted on individually.

The Reports Docket lists all of the items that committees discussed during the previous two weeks with the committee’s recommended actions.

Click on the Council Meetings button to the left to see the years available on-line and then choose a specific date.

Board Actions

After the City Council has voted on an item, the Council’s vote can be found in the Council Actions report which is usually posted on-line the day after the Council meeting. The Council Actions report lists the votes on all items that were before the at a meeting. Those items that were placed on second call are listed first, then all of the items that were voted as part of first call.

The Council Actions report lists the final vote taken by the Council at a particular Council meeting.

Click on the Council Meetings button to the left to see the years available on-line and then choose a specific date.

Meeting Audio On-line

Listen to the discussions that took place at City Council meetings. The audio of a meeting can be found along side the report of each Council meeting.