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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 Before the vote is actually taken, any resolution, motion, or proposed ordinance may be withdrawn from consideration by the sponsor thereof with the consent of the member of the City Council seconding the resolution, motion, or ordinance.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)
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)
The newly elected Council shall convene at the regular place of meeting in the city on the first regular meeting in December of each year in which a city election is held immediately after the prior Council adjourns and proceed to organize itself for the ensuing year. The Mayor elected for the new city year shall call the meeting to order. The Council shall then proceed to examine the credentials of its members and other elective officers of the city to see that each has been duly and properly elected, and to see that the oaths and bonds have been given as are required. After ascertaining that all members are duly qualified, the Council shall then elect one of its own body who shall be styled as President of the Council. The Mayor shall then nominate his or her candidates for appointive offices. He or she shall then proceed with the regular order of business. It is hereby made the duty of each and every member of the Council, or his or her successor in office, and of each officer elected to any office, to qualify prior to the first regular meeting in December following his or her election. All appointive officers shall qualify within two weeks following their appointments. Qualification for each officer who is not required to give bond shall consist in his or her subscribing and taking an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, the State Constitution, the laws of the city and to perform faithfully and impartially the duties of his or her office, the oath to be filed in the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer. Each officer who is required to give a bond shall file the required bond in the office of the City Clerk/Treasurer with sufficient sureties, conditioned on the faithful discharge of the duties of his or her office, with the oath endorsed thereon.
(1973 Code, § 1-506) (Ord. 454, passed 12-1-1977)
(A) For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
MEETINGS. All regular, special, or called meetings, formal or informal, of a public body for the purposes of briefing, discussion of public business, formation of tentative policy, or the taking of any action.
(Neb. RS 84-1,409(2)) (1973 Code, § 1-507)
PUBLIC BODY.
(a) The City Council of the city;
(b) All independent boards, commissions, bureaus, committees, councils, subunits, or any other bodies, now or hereafter created by Constitution, statute, ordinance, or otherwise pursuant to law; and
(c) Advisory committees of the bodies listed above.
(B) This subchapter shall not apply to subcommittees of the bodies unless a quorum of the public body attends a subcommittee meeting or unless the subcommittees are holding hearings, making policy or taking formal action on behalf of their parent body.
(Neb. RS 84-1,409(1)) (1973 Code, § 1-508)
(Ord. 453, passed 12-1-1977; Ord. 540, passed 10-6-1983; Ord. 632, passed 6-10-1993)
(A) Any public body may hold a closed session by the affirmative vote of a majority of its voting members if a closed session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual and if the individual has not requested a public meeting.
(1) Closed sessions may be held for, but shall not be limited to, such reasons as:
(a) Strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate purchases, pending litigation or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body;
(b) Discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices;
(c) Investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; or
(d) Evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if the person has not requested a public meeting.
(2) Nothing in this section shall permit a closed meeting for discussion of the appointment or election of a new member to any public body.
(B) The vote to hold a closed session shall be taken in open session. The vote of each member on the question of holding a closed session, the reason for the closed session, and the time when the closed session commenced and concluded shall be recorded in the minutes. The public body holding such a closed session shall restrict its consideration to matters during the closed portions to only those purposes set forth in the minutes as the reason for the closed session. The meeting shall be reconvened in open session before any formal action may be taken. For purposes of this section,
FORMAL ACTION shall mean a collective decision or a collective commitment or promise to make a decision on any question, motion, proposal, resolution, order, or ordinance or formation of a position or policy.
(C) Any member of any public body shall have the right to challenge the continuation of a closed session if the member determines that the session has exceeded the reason stated in the original motion to hold a closed session or if the member contends that the closed session is neither clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual. The challenge shall be overruled only by a majority vote of the members of the public body. The challenge and its disposition shall be recorded in the minutes.
(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that any meeting be closed to the public. No person or public body shall fail to invite a portion of its members to a meeting and no public body shall designate itself a subcommittee of the whole body for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this subchapter. No closed session, informal meeting, chance meeting, social gathering, or electronic communication shall be used for the purpose of circumventing the provisions of this subchapter. The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to chance meetings, or to attendance at or travel to conventions or workshops of members of a public body at which there is no meeting of the body then intentionally convened and there is no vote or other action taken regarding any matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power.
(Neb. RS 84-1,410) (1973 Code, § 1-509) (Ord. 540, passed 10-6-1983; Ord. 642, passed 11-12-1993)
(A) When it is necessary to hold an emergency meeting without reasonable advance public notice, the nature of the emergency shall be stated in the minutes and any formal action taken in the meeting shall pertain only to the emergency. The emergency meetings may be held by means of electronic or telecommunication equipment. The provisions of § 30.12 shall be complied with in conducting emergency meetings.
(B) Complete minutes of the emergency meetings specifying the nature of the emergency and any formal action taken at the meeting shall be made available to the public by no later than the end of the next regular business day.
(Neb. RS 84-1,411) (1973 Code, § 1-510) (Ord. 453, passed 12-1-1977; Ord. 540, passed 10-6-1983)
(A) Each public body shall keep minutes of all meetings showing the time, place, members present and absent, and the substance of all matters discussed.
(B) The minutes shall be public records and open to public inspection during normal business hours.
(C) Minutes shall be written and available for inspection within ten working days, or prior to the next convened meeting, whichever occurs earlier.
(Neb. RS 84-1,412 and 84-1,413) (1973 Code, § 1-511) (Ord. 453, passed 12-1-1977)
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