HomeMy WebLinkAbout76-45 council meeting procedures 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
30
31
32
R~SOLUTION NO. 76-45
A RESOLUT'rr~, ' .
.~,~ OF THE CI'~Y COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF UXIAH ESTABLISHING PROCEDURES
t;DR THE Ce~uUC~ OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
NHEREAS.. no procedures currently exist governing conduct.
of City Council meetings and
~9HEREAS, the City Council believes that the adoption of 'the
foilowinq rules ~:ill expedite the conduct of business,.
NOW, THEREFORE BE iT RESOLVED that the following rules of
procedure are adopted:
Section i. Specia': Meetings~ Time and Place: Notices
Special Council meetings may be called at any time ~,, the
Mayor or by three (3) members of the Council by directing the
City Clerk to deliver or mail a written notice to each Council-
man and to each local newspaper of general circulation ~nd radio
and Uelevision station requesting a notice in writing. Such
notice shall be delivered personally, or by mail at least
uwenty-four (24) hours before the time of such meeting as set
forth in the nitice. Ti'~e call and notice shall be set forth
the time and place of the special meeting (which may be at a ti.~r
and place d.i~ferent from the regular meeting ti. rue or place) and
the business to De transacted ~ copy f the notice shal~
. .c~ O -~ ~l. SO
oe post. ed at or near the door to the City Hall Council Chambers.
~o other Ousiness shall be considered at such meetings. Such
· ,
wrztt:en notice may_ be disoensed~ w~-h~ as to any ~ounci~ -n~ma who,
at er prior to the time the meet~ ~iles witil ti~e
mn{i' co}lvenes,
City Clerk a written waiver ef not[ice. Such waiver may be
given Dy telegram "~ ~-- ~
~ .. in~ written notice may also be ~:ksnenseo
with as te any Ceunc~zman whe is actual~,~ eresent at the
meeting at the time it cenvenes.
Section 2. Open to the Public: Exception
All regular and special meetings of 'the Council shal'i be
public; provided, however, the Council may hold executive
sessions during a regular or special meeting,
public may be excluded, fur the purpose ef considerina the
matters set ferth in Sectons 54957 and 541957.6 ef the ~overnment
Code of the Stabs.
Section 3. Executive Sessions- Disclosure of information
No member of the Council, employee off the City, or any
other person present during an executive session of the Council
s~all disclose to art?' person the content or substance., of any
discussion which took place during such executive session
unless the Council ,qhall, by a ma]ori.~l- vote,
.. ~./ authorize the
disc!esure of such information.
Section 4. Presiding Officer'.
The Nayor shall be the presiding officer at all meetings
of the Council. In the absence of the Mayor, the Vice-Hal, or
shall preside. In the a.osence of both the Mayor and the Vice
Hayor, the City Clerk shall call. the Council to order, where
upon a tem])orary presiding officer shall be electe,] ~y ti~e
Councilmen present to serve until the arrival of the Plavor or
Vice ....
-~,~al;or or until, adjournment. Wherever ~_n this arkic!e the
'~ ~ _ it shall apply ~ual.lv to tl~e prc,.sidi~o~
ue~m }iayor i.s used, _ ~..~. .....
efficer as set forth in this sec/ion.
Section 5. Powers and Duties.
(a) Participation. The presiding officer may move, second, debate,
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Section 6. Agenda.
All reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract
documents, or other matters to be submitted to the Council at a regular
meeting shall be delivered to the City Clerk not later than 12:00 noon on
Thursday five (5) working days preceding the meeting. The City Clerk
shall prepare the agenda of all such matters under the direction of the
City Manager. The agenda shall be delivered to the Councilman on the Friday
preceding the Wednesday Council' meeting to which the agenda pertains and it
shall be made available to the public on the Monday preceding the Council
meeting to which the agenda pertains but, in any event, no later than
8:30 a.m., on the day of the meeting.
When it is in the best interests of the City or its citizens, a~enda
items may be added at any time at the request of any Councilman, the C~cy
Manager or the City Attorney.
Section 7. Order of Business.
The business of the Council and the order of its agenda shall be in
such form as the Council may from time to time adopt by resolution.
Section 8. Council Correspondence.
(a) Availability to the public. Correspondence addressed to the
Council and received by the City Clerk or any other officer or employee of
the City shall not become a public record until received and filed by the
Council at a regular, special, or adjourned meeting of the Council.
Correspondence shall not be read aloud at a Council meeting unless requested
by a majority vote of the Council.
(b) Authority of the City Manager. The City Manager is hereby
authorized to open and examine all mail or other written communications
addressed to the City and to give them immediate attention to the end that
all administrative business referred to in such communications, and not
necessarily requiring Council action, may be acted upon between Council
meetings; provided, however, mail addressed to individual Council members
shall not be opened witilout the consent of the Council member to do so.
Section 9. Minutes' Preparation' Changes
The City Clerk shall have the exclusive responsibility for the
preparation of the minutes of Council meetings, and any directions for changes
in the minutes shall be made only by majority action of the Council.
and vote from the Chair.
(b) Signing of documents. The presiding officer shall sign all
ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and other documents necessitating his
signature which were adopted in his presence, unless he is unavailable, in
which case the signature of all al terante presiding officer may be used.
(c) Sworn testimony. The presiding officer may require any person
addressing the Council to be sworn as a witness and to testify under oath,
and the presiding officer shall so require if directed to do so by a majority
vote of the Council.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
30
31
32
Section 10. Minutes- Reading.
Unless the reading of the minutes of a Council meeting is ordered
by a majority vote of the Council, such minutes may be approved without
reading if the City Clerk has previously furnished each Councilman with a
copy.
Section 11. Minutes' Entry. of Statements.
A Councilman may request through the presiding officer of a Council
meeting the privilege of having an abstract of the statement of such
Councilman on any subject under consideration by the Council entered in the
minutes. If the Council consents thereto, such statement shall be entered
in~ the minutes.
Section 12. Entry of Protests.
Any Councilman shall have the right to have the reasons for his
dissent from, or his protest against, any action of the Council entered in
the minutes shall be made in the following manner' "I would like the
minutes to show that I am opposed to this action for the following
reasons: . . .".
Section 13. Rules of Debate.
(a) Getting the floor. Every Councilman desiring to speak at a
Council meeting shall first address the Chair, gain recognition by the
presiding officer, and confine himself to the question under debate, avoiding
personalities and indecorous language.
(b) Questioning the staff. Every Councilman desiring to question
the City staff shall, after recognition by the presiding officer, address
his questions to the City Manager, City Clerk, or the City Attorney, who
shall be entitled either to answer the inquiry himself or to designate a
member of his staff for such purpose.
(c) Interruptions. A Councilman, once recognized, shall not be
interrupted when speaking unless called to order by the presiding officer,
unless a point of order or personal privilege is raised by another Council-
man, or unless the speaker chooses to yield a question by another Councilman.
If a Councilman is called to order while speaking, he shall cease speaking
until the question of order is determined, and, if determined to be in order,
he may proceed. Members of the City staff, after recognition by the~presiding
officer, shall hold the floor until the completion of their remarks or
until recognition is withdrawn by the presiding officer.
(d) Points of order. The presiding officer shall determine all
points of order, subject to the right of any Councilman to appeal to the
Council. If an appeal is taken, the question shall be, "Shall the decision
of the presiding officer be sustained?" A majority vote shall conclusively
determine such question of order.
(e) Points of personal privilege. The right of a Councilman to
address the Council on a question of personal privilege shall be limited
to cases in which his integrity, character, or motives are questioned or
where the welfare of the Council is concerned. A Councilman raising a
point of personal privilege may interrupt another Councilman who has the
floor only if the presiding officer recognizes the privilege.
(f) Privilege of closing debate. The Councilman moving the
adoption of an ordinance, resolution, or motion shall have the privilege of
closing debate.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
3O
31
32
(g) Limitation of debate. No Councilman shall be permitted to
speak more than once upon any particular subject until every other Council-
man desiring to do so shall have spoken.
Section 14. Rules of Order.
In the event of questions as to procedure not set forth in this
article for Council meetings, the Chair shall be guided by the rules of
general parliamentary procedure.
Section 15. Rules of Order' Failure to Observe.
Rules adopted to expedite the transaction of the business of the
Council in an orderly fashion shall be deemed to be procedural only, and tile
failure to strictly observe such rules shall not affect the jurisdiction of
the Council or invalidate any action taken at a meeting which is otherwise
held in conformity with law.
Section 16. Rules of Decorum.
(a) Councilmen. While the Council is in session, the members shall
preserve order and decorum, and a member shall neither, by conversation or
otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the Council,
nor disturb any member while speaking, nor refuse to obey the orders of the
presiding officer. Members of the Council shall not leave their seats during
a meeting without first obtaining the permission of the presiding officer.
(b) Employees. Members of the City staff and employees shall observe
the same rules of order and decorum as are applicable to the Council;
provided, however, members of the City staff may leave their seats during
a meeting without first obtaining the permission of the presiding officer.
(c) Persons addressing the Council. Any person making impertinent,
slanderous, or profane remarks or ~,~ho becomes boiterous while addressing the
Council shall be called to order by the presiding officer and, if such
conduct continues, may, at the discretion of the presiding officer, be
ordered barred from further audience before the Council during that meeting.
(d) Members of the audience. Any person in the audience who engages
in disorderly conduct, such as clapping of the hands, stamping of the feet,
whistling, using profane language, yelling, or similar demonstrations,
which conduct disturbs tile peace and good order of the meeting, or who refuses
to comply with the lawful orders of the presiding officer, is guilty of a
misdemeanor under the provisions of State law, and, upon instructions from
the presiding officer, it shall be the duty of the sergeant at arms to
remove such person from the Council Chamber and to place him under arrest.
Section 17. Rules of Decorum' Enforcement.
The Chief of Police or such members of the Police Department as the
Chief of Police may designate shall be sergeants at arms of the Council
and shall carry out all orders given by the presiding officer for the purpose
of maintain~ing order and decorum at Council meetings. Any Councilman may
move to require the presiding officer to enforce the rules, and the
affirmative vote of a majority of tile Council shall require him to do so.
(a) Manner. Each person desiring to address the Council shall step
up to the microphone reserved for that purpose, state his name and address
for the record, state the subject he ¥,lishes to discuss, state whom he is
representing if he represents an organization or other persons and, unless
further time is granted by a majori{y vote of the Council, sha~l limit his
remarks to five (5) minutes. All remarks shall be addressed to the Council
as a ~,~hole and not to any member thereof.
1
2
3
4
5
No question shall be asked a Councilman or a member of the City
staff without the permission of the presiding officer.
(b) Spokesmen for groups of persons. In order to expedite matters
and to avoid repetitious presentations, whenever any group of persons
wi~hes to address the Council on the same subject matter, it shall be proper
for the presiding officer to request that a spokesman be chosen by the group
to address the Council and, in the event additional matters are to be
presented by any other member of such group, to limit the number of such
persons addressing the Council.
(c) After motions are made and hearings are closed. After a motion
has been made or a public hearing has been closed no member of the public
shall address the Council from the audience on tile matter under consideration
without first securing permission to do so by a majority vote of the Council.
Section ZS. Motions.
A motion by any member of the Council, including the presiding officer,
may not be considered by the Council without receiving a second.
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Section li9. Voting Procedure.
(a) Seating arrangement for Council. The Mayor shall sit in the center
chair of tile Council; the next senior Councilman (and if there is more than
one of the same seniority, then by highest vote count at that election) shall
sit alternately on the left and right of the Mayor.
(b) Question to be stated. Upon moving the question, the presiding
officer shall call for the vote which shall be taken first from the chair
farthest to the left of tile Mayor, then farthest to the right of the Mayor,
and so alternating back and forth.
(c) Registration of votes. Any vote of the Council, including a roll
call vote, may be registered by the members by answering "aye" for an
affirmative vote or "no" for a negative vote upon the name of the Councilman
being called by the City Clerk. The roll for voting shall be taken as
provided in subsection (b) of this section.
Section 20. Voting Procedure' Disqualification.
Any Councilman who is disqualified from voting on a particular matter
by reason of a conflict of interest shall publicly state, or have the pre-
siding officer state, the nature of such disqualification in open meeting.
When no clearly disqualifying conflict of interest appears, the matter of
disqualification may, at the request of the Councilman affected, be decided
by the other Councilmen. A Councilman who is disqualified by reason of a
conflict in interest in any matter shall not remain in his seat during the
debate and vote on such matter but shall request and be given the permission
of the presiding officer to step down from the Council table and leave the
Council Chamber. A Councilman stating such disqualification shall not be
counted as a part of a quorum and shall be considered absent for the purpose
of determining the outcome of any vote on such matter.
Section 21. Failure to Vote.
Every Councilman shall vote unless disqualified by reason of a conflict
of interest. A Councilman who abstains from voting shall have his vote
recorded an an aye.
Section 22. Tie Votes.
Tie votes shall be lost motions and may be reconsidered.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
30
31
32
Section 23. Changing Votes: Absention
A Councilman may change ]:is vote only if he makes a timely
request to do so immediately following the announcement of the
vote by the City Clerk and !prior to the time the next item. in
the order of business is taken up. A councilman who publicly
announces he is abstaining from voting on a particular matter
shall not subsequently be allowed to witl~draw his abstention.
Section 24. Reconsideration of Actions:
A motion 'to reconsider any action taken by the Council may
be made only on the day such action was taken. It may be made
either imruediate~y during the same session or at a recessed or
adjourned session thereof. Such motion may be made only by
one of the Cou~cilmen who voted with ti~e prevailing side. The
provision of this section shall not be construed to prevent any
Councilman from making cr remaking the same or any other mo'ti_on
_ ~O UD.C ·
meeh..~nq Ot the ~ ' i~
at a subsequentTM: ~
. '" d {~' Ordinances.
Section 25 ~ea lng o.
At 'the time of the adoption o~{ an ordinance, it shall be
read in full unless, after the reading of the title thereof,
the further readim~ thereof is waived oi,' the unanimous consent
of all the Councilmen present. The waiver of the reading of
such ordinance shall be accomplished by regular motion adonted
by a unanimous vote of the Councilmen present.
Section 26. Ordinances, Resolutions, and Contracts.
,_. O~ m of
Official actions of the Council shall be in the ': "
motions, resolutions, and ordinances.
(a) Motions. Mohions shall be used to express decisions
of the Council on routine questions or matters of temporary
importance oz' to give instructions to the staff and shall }se
moved, seconded, and adopted b?f a voice vote unless a roll
call is requested by a Council member.
(b) Resolutions. Resolutions shall be used to express
decisions of the Council of a permanent or lasting nature and
shall be introduced, seconded, and adopted by a roll call vote.
Resolutions may be used to transfer appropriate funds within
the budget or to appropriate funds.
(c) Ordinances. Ordinances shall be used to adopt for~,~al
policy, in the exercise of the police power, and in other
instances required by law. The manner of introduction and
~. ..~uo.:~e~t~on (b) above
adoption shall be as or'ovided in °'' ~-~"'" -
Section 27. Special Committees
All special Council committees shall be appointed bv the
presiding officer with a majority consent of the Council..
Such committees shall, he temporary in tenure and shall auto-
matically De discharged upon the completion of their charge
or upon an order off the presiding officer or a majority of
the Council.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
29
30
31
32
Section 28. Dangerous Instruments
No person may enter the chambers of a legislative body,
as defined in Section 54852 of the Government Code of the State,
or any place where such legislative body is in session, with
any firearm, weapon, or explosive device of any nature. The
provisions of this section shall not apply to authorized peace
officers or to those persons authorized by the Penal Code
of the State to carry such weapons.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 17th day of March , 1976, by
the following roll call vote:
AYES: Councilmen Feibusch, Brannon, Councilwoman Pearson,
Vice-Mayor Simpson.
NOES: None
ABSENT: Councilman Wood.
ATTEST:
City Clerk
V~e-Mayo r - /