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Whenever a question is before Council or under debate, the following motions shall be ranked in the following order.
(a) To adjourn. The motion to adjourn shall always be in order, except when Council is engaged in voting. It shall be decided by a majority vote without debate.
(b) To recess. A recess may be called at any time by the presiding officer, by general consent, or by motion by any member of Council. This motion is not debatable and can have no other motion applied to it except to amend as to the length of the recess. This motion shall require a majority vote of Council.
(c) To lay on the table. A motion to lay on the table is not debatable or amendable and requires a majority vote to adopt. This motion shall only be used to lay a question aside temporarily at the same meeting.
(d) To close debate. A motion to close debate is also known as a motion to move the previous question. When any member moves to close debate and the motion is carried by a two-thirds vote, there shall be no further amendment or debate. Pending amendments shall be voted in reverse order before voting on the main question. If less than two-thirds vote to close debate, the main question and any amendments are open for further discussion.
(e) To limit or extend debate.
(1) Council debate time is limited by § 220.12(b). To extend such time requires a motion and a two-thirds vote.
(2) To limit the total debate time on a question requires a motion and a two-thirds vote.
(3) Both procedures are amendable with limited debate.
(f) To postpone to a certain time or meeting. This motion shall be used to postpone legislative action until the next or a subsequent meeting, or until after a certain report or event (which items may be amended). The postponement shall require a majority vote.
(g) To refer to a committee.
(1) The object of this motion is to refer a matter to either a standing committee or a special committee of Council to enable the question to be more carefully studied and investigated and thereby rendered more clarified for Council to consider.
(2) This motion is debatable and amendable. It requires a majority vote to adopt. It may be reconsidered unless the committee has begun consideration of the question referred to it.
(3) A motion to refer may be made by any member of Council, or the presiding officer may, by general consent, refer any question to committee.
(h) To amend.
(1) It shall be in order to amend an ordinance at any time, but if substantially amended upon the third reading, the reading shall be postponed to the next meeting or referred to a committee for further study and Council’s final action.
(2) An amendment to any question may be in any of the following forms:
A. To insert or add at the end;
B. To strike out; or
C. To substitute.
(Ord. 61-02, passed 3-11-2002)
(a) No ordinance or resolution shall be passed until it has been read on three different days, unless this rule is suspended by a two-thirds vote of Council.
(b) All ordinances and resolutions shall be read by title only, unless, by general consent or a majority vote, Council decides to have any ordinance or resolution read in its entirety.
(c) Any proposed legislation which is pending final passage at the end of any Council’s term, and upon which no action has been taken for the previous six months, shall be rendered null and void on the last day of any Council’s term.
(Ord. 61-02, passed 3-11-2002)
(a) During collective committee meetings and work sessions any member of Council may request an informal poll (voice vote) of Council on any subject being discussed. No vote taken at a collective committee meeting or work session shall be considered official or binding.
(b) At regular meetings every member shall vote by roll call, either “yes” or “no” on all questions before Council. However, when a member shows a conflict of interest, he or she may be excused on motion and vote of Council. A “yes” vote shall be considered a “yea” vote and a “no” vote shall be considered a “nay” vote, pursuant to Section 9 of the Municipal Charter.
(c) All voting shall be done by consecutive alphabetical rotation. An alphabetical list of Council members shall be kept by the Clerk of Council and the first vote of the first Council meeting of the year shall be cast by the Council member whose name is first on the list. The rest of the votes shall then be cast in alphabetical order. All votes for the meeting shall be cast in such order. The voting at all subsequent Council meetings shall continue in rotating alphabetical order until the Councilmember whose name is last on the list has cast the first vote on all issues at the meeting, at which time the rotation shall begin again. Refusal to vote shall be deemed contempt of Council, and the member so refusing to vote shall be censured or suspended at the discretion of Council in separate proceedings or charges in contempt.
(Ord. 61-02, passed 3-11-2002)
(a) When there is evidently no opposition to certain questions, the formality of voting can be avoided by the Presiding Officer stating: “If there is no objection,” then stating the proposed action. If there is no objection by any member of Council, the action is done by general consent without a vote.
(b) If one member of Council objects to such action or parliamentary procedure, the presiding officer shall take a majority vote on the question.
(Ord. 61-02, passed 3-11-2002)
(a) Regular Council meeting.
(1) Any person may address Council only once during the audience participation portion of the meeting, and such participation shall be limited to agenda items only and shall appear prior to Council’s action on motions and legislation. He or she shall be allowed three minutes, unless the time is extended by the presiding officer or Council. Council shall be allowed to direct questions to the speaker, through the presiding officer.
(2) A time for public input shall be provided at the end of the regular Council meeting. Each member of the audience wishing to speak on any topic shall speak for not longer than five minutes and only once.
(3) All remarks shall be addressed to Council as a body and not to any member. No person, other than Council and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter any discussion, either directly or through a member of Council, without the permission of the presiding officer. No question shall be asked a Council member except through the presiding officer.
(b) Collective committee meeting.
(1) During a collective committee meeting, the presiding officer may allow audience participation during the course of a collective committee meeting. Such participation shall be limited to the issue then and there at hand and be limited to three minutes per person and 20 minutes per topic or issue, unless the time is extended by the presiding officer or Council. Council shall be allowed to direct questions to the speaker through the presiding officer.
(2) A time for public input shall be provided at the end of the collective committee meeting. Each member of the audience wishing to speak on any topic shall speak for not longer than five minutes and only once.
(3) All remarks shall be addressed to Council as a body and not to any member. No person, other than Council and the person having the floor, shall be permitted to enter any discussion, either directly or through a member of Council, without the permission of the presiding officer. No question shall be asked a Council member except through the presiding officer.
(c) Work session.
(1) A time for audience participation shall be provided at the end of the work session. Each member of the audience wishing to speak shall speak for not longer than five minutes per person or 20 minutes per topic.
(2) All remarks shall be addressed to Council as a body and not to any member. No person, other than Council and the person having the floor, shall be permitted to enter any discussion, either directly or through a member of Council, without the permission of the presiding officer. No question shall be asked a Council member except through the presiding officer.
(Ord. 61-02, passed 3-11-2002; Ord. 40-04, passed 2-23-2004; Ord. 146-06, passed 12-18-2006)
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