CHAPTER 30: GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section
Meetings
   30.01   Public meetings
   30.02   City Council
   30.03   Order of business
   30.04   Parliamentary procedure
   30.05   Change in office
   30.06   Organizational
   30.07   Definitions
   30.08   Closed sessions
   30.09   Emergency meetings
   30.10   Minutes
   30.11   Votes
   30.12   Notice to news media
   30.13   Public participation
   30.14   Regular meetings
   30.15   Special meetings
Ordinances
   30.30   Grant of power
   30.31   Introduction
   30.32   Resolutions and motions
   30.33   Style
   30.34   Title
   30.35   Passage
   30.36   Publication
   30.37   Certificate of publication or posting
   30.38   Emergency ordinances
   30.39   Amendments and revisions
Elections
   30.50   Generally
   30.51   Notice
   30.52   Registered voters; qualifications
   30.53   Special elections
   30.54   Election of officers; certifications required; how Council members elected
   30.55   Partisan ballot; when allowed; requirements
   30.56   Candidate filing forms; deadlines; filing officer
   30.57   Filing fee
   30.58   Petition, write-in, and other candidates for general election ballot; procedures
   30.59   Recall procedure
   30.60   Exit polls
Intergovernmental Risk Management
   30.75   Authority
Statutory reference:
   Election Act, see Neb. RS 32-101
MEETINGS
§ 30.01 PUBLIC MEETINGS.
   All public meetings as defined by law shall be held in a city public building which shall be open to attendance by the public. All meetings shall be held in the public building in which the City Council usually holds the meetings unless the publicized notice hereinafter required shall designate some other public building or other specified place. The advance publicized notice of all public convened meetings shall be simultaneously transmitted to all members of the City Council and to the public by a method designated by the City Council or by the Mayor if the City Council has not designated a method. The notice shall contain the time and specific place for each meeting and either an enumeration of the agenda subjects known at the time of the notice, or a statement that such an agenda kept continually current shall be readily available for public inspection at the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer. Except for items of an emergency nature, the agenda shall not be altered later than 24 hours before the scheduled commencement of the meeting, or 48 hours before the scheduled commencement of a meeting of the City Council scheduled outside the corporate limits of the city. The City Council shall have the right to modify the agenda to include items of an emergency nature only at the public meetings. The minutes of the City Clerk/Treasurer shall include the record of the manner and advance time by which the advance publicized notice was given, a statement of how the availability of an agenda of the then known subjects was communicated, the time and specific place of the meetings, and the names of each member of the City Council present or absent at each convened meeting. The minutes of the City Council shall be a public record open to inspection by the public upon request at any reasonable time at the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer. Any official action on any question or motion duly moved and seconded shall be taken only by roll call vote of the City Council in open session. The record of the City Clerk/Treasurer shall show how each member voted, or that the member was absent and did not vote.
(Neb. RS 84-1,408, 84-1,409, 84-1,411, and 84-1,413) (1973 Code, § 1-501) (Ord. 540, passed 10-6-1983; Ord. 590, passed 11-5-1987)
§ 30.02 CITY COUNCIL.
   The meetings of the City Council shall be held in the meeting place of the city. Regular meetings shall be held on the second Tuesday of each month at the hour of 5:30 p.m. Special meetings may be called by the Mayor, or by three members of the City Council, the object of which shall be submitted to the Council in writing. The call and object, as well as the disposition thereof, shall be entered upon the journal by the City Clerk/Treasurer. No other business shall be transacted at the meeting unless all members of the City Council are present and consent thereto. On filing the call for a special meeting, the City Clerk/Treasurer shall notify the Council Members of the special meeting, stating the time and its purpose. Notice of a special meeting need not be given to a Council Member known to be out of the state, or physically unable to be present. Two-thirds of the members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of the absent members; provided, that on the request of any two members, whether a quorum is present or not, all absent members shall be sent for and compelled to attend. At the hour appointed for the meeting, the City Clerk/Treasurer shall proceed to call the roll of members and announce whether a quorum is present. If a quorum is present, the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, if present, or if absent, by the President of the Council. In the absence of both the Mayor and the President of the Council, the City Council Members shall elect a President Pro Tempore.
(Neb. RS 17-105 and 17-106) (1973 Code, § 1-502) (Ord. 459, passed 7-6-1978; Ord. 833, passed 11-6-2011; Ord. 850, passed 4-23-2012; 853, passed 7-12-2012; Ord. 1001, passed 12-14-2023)
§ 30.03 ORDER OF BUSINESS.
   All meetings of the City Council shall be open to the public. Promptly at the hour set by law on the day of each regular meeting, the members of the City Council, the City Clerk/Treasurer, the Mayor, and any other city officials that may be required shall take their regular stations in the meeting place, and the business of the city shall be taken up for consideration, and disposition in the manner prescribed by the official agenda on file at the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer.
(1973 Code, § 1-503)
§ 30.04 PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE.
   The Mayor shall preserve order during meetings of the City Council and shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the City Council. When any person is called to order, he or she shall be seated until the point is decided. When the Mayor is putting the question, no person shall leave the meeting room. Every person present, previous to speaking shall rise from his or her seat and address himself or herself to the presiding officer and while speaking shall confine himself or herself to the question. When two or more persons rise at once, the Mayor shall recognize the one who spoke first. All resolutions or motions shall be reduced to writing before being acted upon, if requested by the City Clerk/Treasurer, or any member of the City Council. Every member of the City Council who is present when a question is voted upon shall cast his or her vote unless excused by a majority of the City Council present. No motion shall be put or debated unless seconded. When seconded, it shall be stated by the Mayor before being debatable. In all cases where a motion or resolution is entered on the minutes, the name of the member of the City Council making the motion, or resolution shall be entered also. After each vote, the "Yeas" and "Nays" shall be taken, and entered in the minutes upon the request of any member of the City Council. Before the vote is actually taken, any resolution, motion, or proposed ordinance may be withdrawn from consideration by the sponsor thereof with the consent of the member of the City Council seconding the resolution, motion, or ordinance. When, in the consideration of an ordinance, different times, or amounts are proposed, the question shall be put on the largest sum, or the longest time. A question to reconsider shall be in order when made by a member voting with the majority, but the motion to reconsider must be made before the expiration of the third regular meeting after the initial consideration of the question. When any question is under debate, no motion shall be made, entertained, or seconded except the previous question, a motion to table, and to adjourn. Each of the motions shall be decided without debate. Any of the rules of the City Council for meetings may be suspended by a two-thirds vote of the members present. In all cases in which provisions are not made by these rules, Robert's Rules of Order is the authority by which the City Council shall decide all procedural disputes that may arise.
(1973 Code, § 1-504)
§ 30.05 CHANGE IN OFFICE.
   The change in office shall be made as follows. The Mayor and Council shall meet on the first regular meeting date in December of each year in which a city election is held and the outgoing officers and the outgoing members of the Council shall present their reports, and upon the old Council having completed its business up to the time, the outgoing members of the Council shall surrender their offices to the incoming members, and the outgoing officers shall thereupon each surrender to his or her successor in office all property, records, papers, and moneys, belonging to the same.
(1973 Code, § 1-505)
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