Rules of procedure of Council are as follows:
(1) The Mayor shall take the Chair at the appointed hour for Council to meet and shall immediately call the members present to order. The roll shall be called and the Mayor, at the request of any two members present, shall order the attendance of absent members.
(2) No business shall be transacted by Council unless a majority of the corporate authorities (i.e. the Mayor and Aldermen) is present. However, a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may require the attendance of the other Aldermen by written notices which are personally served or left at their usual place of business or abode. No Alderman shall refuse to attend a meeting of Council, without a lawful excuse, upon receiving notice as aforesaid.
(3) The Mayor shall preserve decorum and order. He or she may speak to the points of order in preference to members of Council and shall decide questions of order, which decisions are subject to an appeal to Council by any member, on which appeal no member shall be permitted to speak more than once.
(4) The Mayor shall examine and correct the minutes of the proceedings of Council before they are read.
(5) At each regular meeting of Council, the reading of the journal of the last preceding regular meeting and the special meetings subsequent thereto shall be first in order.
(6) Written and oral suggestions by the Mayor and the action taken thereon shall be next in order.
(7) Reports from officers and the action taken thereon shall be as follows: First, the Mayor; second, the City Clerk; third, the Chief of Police; fourth, the City Attorney; fifth, the City Treasurer; sixth, the Superintendent of Streets; and seventh, the Fire Chief.
(8) Reports from standing committees and the action taken thereon shall be as follows: Ordinance; Street and Alley; Finance; Claims; Fire; Plats and Parks; Water and Sewer; Police; License and Printing; and Grants.
(9) Reports from select and special committees and the action taken thereon shall be made.
(10) Unfinished business, including anything not above specified, shall be next in order.
(11) New and miscellaneous matters, including appointments, petitions, remonstrances, resolutions, ordinances not yet acted on or any other matter that any officer or member is desirous to bring before Council shall be next in order.
(12) Communications shall be read and referred.
(13) Petitions shall be read and considered.
(14) In the absence of the Mayor, Council may appoint one of its number as Mayor pro tern.
(15) A majority of the corporate authorities (i.e. the Mayor and the Aldermen) constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business.
(16) When the roll of Council is called or the yeas and nays called for, the names of members shall be called by wards.
(17) Every motion or resolution shall, if the Mayor or any member requires it, be reduced to writing, and the name of the member offering the resolution or motion shall be entered with it in the journal.
(18) When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be deemed to be in possession of Council and shall be stated by the Mayor, or, if in writing, read by the City Clerk, previous to the debate thereon.
(19) After a motion is stated by the Mayor or read by the City Clerk, it may be withdrawn by the mover at any time before amendment thereto or decision thereon, but not afterward, except by unanimous consent of Council.
(20) All questions shall be put to Council by the Mayor. In doubtful cases or when called for by any member, the Mayor may direct a division of the question.
(21) When demanded by any member present, the yeas and nays may be called for and entered on the journal upon any question before Council. The yeas and nays shall be called upon the passage or rejection of an ordinance and shall be entered upon the journal.
(22) When a question is before Council, no motion shall be received or entertained, except to amend, to postpone, to refer to a committee, for the previous or main question, to lay on the table or to adjourn.
(23) A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, unless Council is engaged in voting and shall be decided without debate.
(24) The previous question shall be put in these words: "Shall the main question now be put?" Until decided, all debate on or amendment to the main question shall be suspended.
(25) An ordinance, after commitment and report thereon, may be recommitted at any time prior to its final passage.
(26) Every member present shall, when a question is put, vote thereon, unless he or she is interested in the question or unless Council, for special reasons, excuses such member from voting.
(27) No member shall vote when personally interested in the decision of a question before Council.
(28) The Mayor shall have the right to decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to Council.
(29) The Mayor shall preserve order and decorum during the Council meeting and if any member of Council transgresses the rules of Council, the Mayor or any member present may call such member to order, in which case such member shall immediately sit down and be silent. Council, if appealed to, may permit such member to explain, and shall decide the point in order.
(Ord. 4. Passed 11-4-29.)
(30) No personalities or reflections which are injurious to the feelings or harmony of Council shall be tolerated and the members indulging in such personalities or reflections shall be called to order by the Mayor. No member shall refuse to comply with such order upon such call. If a member refuses to comply with a call to order by the Mayor, the Mayor shall summarily fine such member not less than one dollar ($1.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each offense. (Adopting Ordinance)
(31) All committees shall be appointed by the Mayor unless otherwise directed by Council, in which case such committees shall be approved by vote.
(32) Every claim presented to Council against the City involving the expenditure of any of the funds of the City shall be referred to the Claims Committee, and such Committee shall report thereon to Council before a vote is taken upon the payment of such claim.
(33) Every member, when addressing the Mayor or Council on any subject before Council, shall rise from his or her seat and address the Chair in a courteous manner.
(34) Every ordinance shall be read at two different meetings of Council.
(35) The first reading of an ordinance shall be for information. If opposition is made to it, the question shall be: "Shall this ordinance be rejected?"
(36) Upon the first reading of an ordinance, the Mayor shall state that it is ready for commitment. If it is ready for commitment, then the question shall be whether to commit it to a select standing committee or to a committee of the whole Council.
(37) When the reading of a paper is called for and the same is objected to by any member, it shall be determined by a vote of Council.
(38) No member shall speak more than twice on the same question without permission of Council, nor more than once until every member choosing to speak has spoken, nor more than fifteen minutes at a time.
(39) While the Mayor is putting any question or addressing Council, no person shall walk out or across the room in which Council is sitting, nor in such case, when a member is speaking or the City Clerk is reading the minutes, shall any member entertain private discourse.
(40) Questions shall be distinctly put in this form: "All in favor of (as the question may be) say aye," and, after the affirmative voice is expressed, "all opposed say no."
(41) No member shall vote on any question if he was not present when the question was put, except by permission of Council.
(42) Every member who is present when a question is put, shall give his vote, unless Council, for special reasons, excuses him. No member shall vote except in his seat.
(43) When a motion has once been made and carried in the affirmative or negative, it shall be in order for any member who voted on that side which prevailed to move for a reconsideration thereof at the same meeting or at the next meeting of Council, but not thereafter nor at any time after the paper on which the vote was given is out of the possession of Council. However, no question which has been once decided and reconsidered and decided a second time shall again be considered.
(44) On taking the yeas and nays on any question, the names of the members shall be called by wards in numerical order. Each member shall answer from his seat, the absentees shall be noted and the names of the absentees shall be called again.
(45) All questions relating to the priority of business to be acted upon shall be decided without debate.
(46) No member of Council shall be allowed to speak, offer a resolution, make a report or introduce an ordinance, except while in his place.
(47) The foregoing rules or any part thereof shall not be suspended, changed, modified, repealed or annulled, unless by the consent of two-thirds of a majority of all the Aldermen to which the City is entitled.
(48) All recommendations of the Mayor to Council shall be in writing. The Mayor shall make a report, in writing, to Council of all his official acts and shall make such recommendations in such reports to Council as he deems expedient, provided that when any question or motion is before Council, the Mayor may recommend its disposal verbally.
(Ord. 4. Passed 11-4-29.)