(a) No member shall leave the Council while in session without permission granted by Council. Any member leaving without first obtaining such permission shall be deemed guilty of contempt.
(b) Members of Council shall observe the following rules of conduct and procedure:
(1) A person who is speaking has the floor.
(2) If a person wishes to speak or debate, said person must raise his/her hand and will be identified before speaking.
(3) The person who spoke first may not speak again until everyone who wished to speak has had an opportunity to do so.
(4) Debate will be relevant to the issue.
(5) Persons wishing to speak should address all remarks to the chair and cross talk will not be permitted.
(6) Persons speaking shall be courteous no matter how upset they may be.
(7) Persons shall avoid verbally attacking anyone.
(8) Persons shall avoid using inflammatory statements such as "It's a lie" or "It's fraud" or "He/She is a liar."
(9) Persons shall never use profanity or name calling.
(c) Communication from the City Manager or citizens, petitions and remonstrances, may be presented at any time when the Council is not engaged in the consideration of other business. After the reading and disposing of the journal, it shall be the duty of the President to proceed with the order of business at the time last reached at the preceding regular meeting. The President may at any time permit a member to introduce an ordinance, motion or resolution out of the regular order for the same, providing no objection is made.
(d) Every member present shall vote on any question on the calling of the yeas and nays; however, any member who declares that they have a conflict of interest or who believes that there may be the perception of a conflict of interest with any question may abstain from the discussion of and the vote on any such question. However, Council, by unanimous vote of the remaining members, may refuse to grant such privilege. Any member not being excused who refuses to vote upon any question when the yeas and nays are being taken, shall be deemed guilty of contempt of Council and may by such contempt be censored by the majority vote of the Council. The Clerk will record any abstentions with the majority vote on any questions.
(e) Any member having been unavoidably absent may at the next meeting be permitted to have his vote recorded upon any question acted upon during his absence, provided such vote shall not change the result. Provided further, that the member so permitted to record his vote shall not be entitled to move a reconsideration of the question so voted upon.
(f) Resolutions, when referred, shall be reported upon only for adoption with or without amendment or for rejection or for further reference.
(g) When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the President before any debate shall be in order. Every such motion and all amendments thereto, if any, may be withdrawn by the movers thereof at any time before decision if the majority of the members then present shall consent.
(h) A member may call for a division of the question and the President may direct the same, and the same in each case shall be divided if it comprehends questions so distinct that one being taken away, the other will stand as an entire question for decision.
(i) When required by any member, every motion or proposition, except privileged questions, shall be reduced to writing before action is taken thereon.
(j) The motion to adjourn shall always be in order unless the Council is engaged in voting, and the question to adjourn or to lay on the table or for previous questions shall be decided without debate.
(k) When a question or proposition is before Council or under debate, no motion shall be entertained except the following:
(1) To adjourn.
(2) To lay on the table.
(3) For the previous question.
(4) To postpone to a day certain.
(5) To commit.
(6) To amend.
(7) To postpone indefinitely.
(8) To recess.
which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they are here arranged.
(l) A motion to take from the table shall be in order when the order of business is being transacted in which such matter to be taken up was laid upon the table, and such motion shall be decided without debate, provided the mover may be permitted briefly to state his reasons for the action. A motion to take from the table must be seconded and requires a majority vote to be enacted.
(m) When demanded by any member, the yeas and nays shall be taken on the passage of any resolution or any question or proposition submitted to the Council. In taking the yeas and nays the Clerk shall call the names of the members alphabetically by order of assignment and, before announcing, upon demand of any member, the President and the Clerk shall read the votes so taken.
(n) These rules may be amended or altered, or new rules adopted, by a vote of a majority of all members elected at any meeting of the Council on the report of the proper committee to which the subject has been previously referred.
(o) These rules, or any of them, may be temporarily suspended at any meeting of the Council by a concurrent vote of three-fourths (3/4) of all members elected. The vote on such suspension shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered in the journal.
(p) If any member in speaking or otherwise, shall violate any rule of Council, the President shall, or any member may, call him to order. If such member shall be called to order while speaking, he shall immediately sit down unless permitted to explain. The question or order shall be decided without debate and if the decision shall be in favor of the member called to order while speaking, he shall be at liberty to proceed with his speech without leave of the Council.
(q) In the absence of any rule upon any matter of business, the Council shall be governed by Roberts Rules of Order.
(Ord. 04-04. Passed 1-12-04.)
(Ord. 04-04. Passed 1-12-04.)