Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : City Council Puts a Limit on Marathon Meetings : Ordinances: Frustrated by sessions that have lasted until 3 a.m., Palmdale makes it law to adjourn at 11:30 p.m. But the new rule has an escape clause.

The City Council will now try to end its meetings at a reasonable hour. It’s the law.

The council, frustrated by marathon meetings that often lasted into the early morning hours, has approved an ordinance mandating that its meetings end by 11:30 p.m. The council approved the measure Thursday night at a meeting that, to the surprise of all who were there, ended about 10 p.m.

The new law, however, does have an escape clause. The meetings can go beyond 11:30 if a majority of the council agrees to keep going.

To meet its goal, the council will change its longstanding meeting day from the second Thursday of the month to the second Wednesday. The change was made so any unfinished business from Wednesday night can be carried over to Thursday. The meeting start times will continue to be 7 p.m.

The change will begin with the council’s meeting on Sept. 8.

Palmdale’s council has been criticized for years for its late-night meetings, which more often than not extended into the early morning hours. One meeting last summer adjourned after 3 a.m.

Council agendas typically contain dozens of items to be voted on and the public portion of the meetings are almost always followed by a closed-door session.

After hours of patient waiting, bleary-eyed residents would leave the meetings in despair before the item they had come for was discussed. And as time worn on, staff reports on agenda items would get shorter, as would council debate.

About 1:30 a.m. during a council meeting a few months ago, a tired and hungry Mayor Jim Ledford finally decided enough was enough. Nobody’s best interests, he said, were being served by the lengthy meetings.

A proposal for two scheduled meetings a month was rejected because of the extra costs that would result for legal noticing, city clerk’s preparation time and the like. Council members also feared that it would just mean two marathon meetings each month.

“I hope this helps us,” said Ledford after the council unanimously approved the urgency ordinance with Councilman Jim Root absent. “I think it will.”