(A) Any matter requiring a roll call vote at a regular meeting of the City Council may be voted on by an absent Council member via a conference telephone call between the absent Council member and the rest of the Council present at the regular meeting under the following conditions:
(1) The absent Council member cannot be physically present at the regular meeting at which the matter is put to vote due to circumstances beyond the Council member’s control. A vacation is not under any circumstances to be considered beyond an Council member’s control.
(2) The absent Council member is at least 150 miles from the city’s municipal office at the scheduled time of the regular meeting.
(3) The absent Council member’s voice on the conference telephone call, after being identified by the rest of the Council as belonging to the absent Council member, shall be simultaneously broadcast to the public present at the regular meeting and open to the media, and the absent Council member shall also be able to hear any public comment regarding the issue(s) elicited at the meeting, if any, before the vote is taken.
(4) Before voting, the absent Council member shall publicly state the reason for not being present at the regular meeting to vote in person.
(B) The yeas and nays of the Council members shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances and all propositions to create any liability against the city, or for the expenditure or appropriation of its money, and in all other cases at the request of any member of Council. The vote shall be entered on the journal of Council proceedings, and a majority vote of all Council members is necessary to pass any proposition. However, a proposition to sell school property shall require a vote of three-fourths of the Council members. The Mayor may vote to break a tie, upon the passage of all ordinances and all propositions to create any liability against the city or for the expenditure or appropriation of its money.
(Ord. 89-39, passed 9-12-1989; Ord. 99-21, passed 5-25-1999)