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(a) All official meetings of the city council and of all city council committees must be open to the public as provided by state law. Those meetings involving an attorney and client relationship, or other matters authorized by law to be deliberated in closed session, need not be open to the public.
(b) The city council shall adopt rules of procedure that provide reasonable opportunity for people to be heard by the city council. (Amend. of 5-1-93, Prop. No. 5; Amend. of 11-5-24)
A quorum shall consist of nine members, except when the number of city council members, due to vacancies, is reduced to less than nine, in which event a quorum shall consist of all of the remaining city council members; but a less number than a quorum may adjourn from time to time and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance. (Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 1)
No member shall be excused from voting except on matters involving the consideration of his or her own official conduct, where required by law, or where his or her financial interests are involved, and in these instances, the member shall not vote. The council shall determine its own rules of procedure, and may punish its members for misconduct, and may compel the attendance of absent members. (Amend. of 11-8-05, Prop. No. 13; Amend. of 11-4-14, Prop. No. 9)
The city council shall elect one of its members as mayor pro tem, who shall perform a specific duty of the mayor if the mayor is unable to discharge that specific duty, and who shall, during that time, be vested with all the powers belonging to the mayor to perform that specific duty. The council shall also elect one of its members as deputy mayor pro tem to act if both the mayor and the mayor pro tem are unable to discharge a specific duty and to exercise the powers of the mayor to perform that specific duty. (Amend. of 11-8-05, Prop. No. 13; Amend. of 11-4-14, Prop. No. 9)
The city council shall have power to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers before it whenever it may be necessary for the more effective discharge of its duties, and shall have the power to punish for contempt before it with the same fines and penalties as the county judge may punish for contempt before the county court. All process shall be signed by the mayor and attested by the city secretary and shall be served by the chief of police or any police officer of the said city.
The mayor, city secretary or any member of the city council shall have authority to administer oaths in any matter pertaining to municipal affairs.
(a) In the performance of the powers of government, it is the duty of the mayor and the city council to make suitable provision for the assurance of adequate and appropriate prior review and consideration of official actions to be taken by the city council, and to assure that a high performance level of services to the residents is maintained, responsiveness to the people is provided, and accountability in municipal government is assured. To this end, the city council shall:
(1) adopt rules of procedure governing the conduct of city council meetings and the introduction, consideration, and method of review of actions to be considered by the city council, consistent with the city manager’s authority to present directly to the entire city council the city manager’s operational agenda;
(2) create a standing finance committee of the city council charged with the responsibility for financial and audit oversight of the operations of city government;
(3) establish such additional standing committees and their duties as the city council determines is appropriate; and
(4) establish the process by which the committees shall conduct their business and review matters for city council consideration, consistent with the city manager’s authority to present directly to the entire city council the city manager’s operational agenda.
(b) The mayor shall appoint the members and chairs of all city council committees, and it shall be the duty of each member of the city council to serve and to participate on each committee to which the member is appointed. The mayor shall have the power to remove and reassign members to and from the various city council committees. (Amend. of 8-12-89, Prop. No. 2; Amend. of 11-5-24)
The city manager shall provide professional and administrative assistants to aid the council in the performance of its official duties. Assistants to individual council members shall be selected by the respective council members from a pool of applicants provided by the city manager. An individual council member may, at any time, require the city manager to reassign his or her council assistant and provide a pool of applicants from which the council member may select a new assistant. Personnel filling these positions shall not be subject to civil service. (Amend. of 6-12-73, Prop. No. 7; Amend. of 11-8-05, Prop. No. 2)
Neither the council nor any of its committees or members shall dictate or attempt to dictate any person’s appointment to, or removal from, office or employment by the city manager or any of the city manager’s subordinates, or in any manner interfere in the appointment of officers and employees in the departments of administrative service vested in the manager by this Charter. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the council and its members shall deal with that part of the administrative service for which the city manager is responsible solely through such manager, and neither the council nor any city council member shall give orders to any of the subordinates of the city manager in those departments, either publicly or privately. This section shall not apply to those professional and administrative assistants provided for in Section 14 of this chapter. (Amend. of 6-12-73, Prop. No. 7; Amend. of 11-8-05, Prop. Nos. 2 and 13)
Willful violation of the foregoing provisions of this Charter by any member of the council shall constitute official misconduct, and shall authorize the council, by a vote of two-thirds of its entire membership, to expel such offending member from the council, if found guilty after a public hearing, and thereby create a vacancy in the place held by such member.
(a) No person elected to the city council shall, during the term for which he or she was elected, be appointed to any office or position of emolument in the service of the city. If a member of any board or commission appointed by the council or any appointive officer of the city, including municipal judges, city appointees to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Board, and city appointees to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Board, becomes a candidate for nomination or election to any public office, he or she shall immediately forfeit his or her place or position with the city. This provision does not prohibit a person from applying for a position as a municipal judge while a candidate for nomination or election to any public office.
(b) A member of the city council shall forfeit his or her place on the council if he or she becomes a candidate for nomination or election to any public office other than a place on the city council or if he or she becomes a candidate for election to any different place on the city council that requires taking office prior to the end of his or her elective term. (Amend. of 6-12-73, Prop. No. 8; Amend. of 11-8-05, Prop. No. 13; Amend. of 11-4-14, Prop. Nos. 7 and 9)
The council, the city manager or any person or committee authorized by either or both of them shall have power to inquire into the conduct of any department or office of the city; to make investigations as to city affairs, and for that purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and compel the production of books, papers and other evidence material to said inquiry. The council shall provide by ordinance penalties for contempt in refusing to obey any such subpoenas or failure to produce books, papers and other evidence, and shall have the power to punish any such contempt in the manner provided by ordinance.
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