(a) All legislative action by Council shall be by ordinance or resolution introduced in written or printed form.
(b) A majority of all members of Council shall constitute a quorum. An affirmative vote of at least a majority of the members of Council eligible to vote shall be required for the passage or enactment of every ordinance or resolution.
(c) Each and every member of City Council and the Law Director shall be furnished with an exact typewritten copy of each and every ordinance to be proposed for legislation by mail or delivering a copy of said ordinance so that it will reach his or her place of legal residence at a time which shall be not less than twenty-four (24) hours previous to the time set for the meeting of Council at which session said ordinance is to be introduced.
(d) No ordinance of resolution shall contain more than one (1) subject matter, which subject shall be clearly expressed in its title.
(e) Every ordinance or resolution shall be read at three (3) different Council meetings, provided that this requirement may be dispensed with by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of the members of Council eligible to vote. Only one (1) ordinance or other measure can be passed under a single suspension of the rule.
Ordinances and resolutions shall be deemed to have been read if a written or printed copy of the ordinance or resolution shall have been furnished to each member of Council prior to its introduction and if the title thereof is fully read, provided that at the request of at least two (2) members of Council such ordinance or resolution shall be read in full.
(f) No ordinance or resolution shall be revised or amended unless the entire language of the section being amended is included in the ordinance or resolution; in which case the original section of the ordinance or resolution shall be repealed.
It shall be in order to amend an ordinance at any time. If it is amended after the second reading, it shall be again read as the second reading thereof and laid over for the further and final action.
(h) Notice of the adoption of ordinances and resolutions of a general and permanent nature shall be given by publishing one (1) time in a newspaper of general circulation in the City within fifteen (15) days following the adoption thereof and making a copy thereof available to public inspection by posting in the City Hall. It shall be sufficient to publish by title only.
(i) No money shall be appropriated except by ordinance. All ordinances for the appropriation of money, the issue of bonds, the transfer of money to any fund or payment of claims shall require the approval of the Finance Committee before passage. All ordinances levying an assessment or tax for any public improvement shall be referred to the Finance Committee and the Law Director.
(j) Each ordinance or resolution providing for the appropriation of money, an annual tax levy, an improvement petitioned for by the owners of a majority of the foot frontage of the property benefitted and to be specifically assessed therefor, and any emergency ordinance or resolution necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, shall take effect, unless a later time be specified in the Charter, upon its passage. No other ordinance or resolution shall go into effect until thirty (30) days after its final passage by Council.
Each emergency measure shall contain a statement of the necessity for such emergency action and shall require the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of Council eligible to vote for its enactment.
No action of Council providing for the surrender or joint exercise by the Municipality of any of its powers, granting any franchise, contracting for the supply to the Municipality or its inhabitants of the product or service of any utility, or establishing salaries for elected officers shall be taken as an emergency measure.
(Ord. 04-04. Passed 1-12-04.)
(Ord. 04-04. Passed 1-12-04.)