Any councilman who is disqualified from voting on a particular matter by reason of a conflict of interest shall publicly state or have the presiding officer state the nature of such disqualification in open meeting. Where 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.
(1964 Code, § 2-87)