(a) Quorum. A quorum of Council shall be required to do business at all meetings, but a less number may adjourn the meeting and compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and under such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance.
(b) Introduction of Business. The presiding officer shall bring all business on the agenda before Council by announcing the item and asking for a motion on the same. On any ordinance, resolution or other matter, a motion must be made and seconded, and the motion stated by the presiding officer before any discussion or debate shall be in order. The member upon whose motion the subject is under discussion or debate is entitled to be recognized as having the floor in the first instance, notwithstanding a request to the chair by another member for the floor. Thereafter, any other member may address any question or matter thus presented after he has obtained the floor. If a member wishes to bring before Council any matter that is not on the agenda, he must first obtain the floor before his presentation. All ordinances shall be introduced in writing, as provided by Charter.
(c) Purpose and Form of Motions. Motions shall only be used to expedite the orderly transaction of the business of Council and shall not be substituted for resolutions or ordinances. The form of all motions shall be "I move that" or "I move for" followed by the substance of the motion. All motions shall require a second, unless otherwise stated in these Rules.
(d) Precedence of Motions. When a question is before the Council, no motion shall be entertained except the following:
(1) To fix the time to adjourn. (P)
(2) To adjourn or to recess. (P)
(3) Questions of order. (P, A)
(4) Appeal from ruling of presiding officer. (I)
(5) Leave to withdraw a motion.
(6) Suspension of the rules. (I)
(7) To reconsider.
(8) To lay on the table. (S)
(9) For the previous question. (S)
(10) To postpone to a certain time. (S, D, A)
(11) To commit or refer. (S, D, A)
(12) For division of the question. (S, D, A)
(13) To amend. (S, D, A)
(14) To postpone indefinitely. (S, D)
(15) Principal motions. (D, A)
P= Privileged Motion D= Debatable I = Incidental Motion A = Amendable S= Subsidiary Motion |
These motions shall have precedence in the order indicated. Any of these motions may be made while a motion of a lower order is pending, but none can supersede one of a higher order, unless otherwise stated below.
(e) Privileged Motions.
(1) To fix the time to adjourn. If made when a question is before Council, it is undebatable, but may be amended to alter the time. If made when no other question is before Council, it stands as any other principal motion and is debatable. In either case, a majority vote is required for approval.
(2) To adjourn or to recess. These motions are undebatable, not amendable, no subsidiary motions apply to them, and they require a majority vote. No member shall make a motion to adjourn, nor a motion to recess, when another member has the floor, nor after a question has been put to Council and the presiding officer has called for the vote. The presiding officer shall not allow these motions to be abused, and should refuse to entertain such motions when Council has just voted either down and nothing further has occurred to show Council wishes to adjourn or recess. Whatever business has been interrupted by the adjournment or recess shall be the first in order after the approval of the minutes at the next meeting.
(3) Questions of order. Any member may raise a question of order at any time, even when another member has the floor. When such a point of order is raised and seconded, the presiding officer shall decide whether it is a question of order and if so, shall decide the question, all without debate, but from which decisions an appeal may be taken. Questions of order are undebatable, but are amendable and may have any other subsidiary motion applied to them. As soon as the question of order is decided, or if a subsidiary motion exhausts the question of order, Council shall resume the consideration of the business which the question interrupted.
(f) Incidental Motions.
(1) Appeal from ruling of the presiding officer. The presiding officer may call any member to order who violates any of the Rules of Council, and shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to Council. On such appeal, the member making the motion for appeal may briefly state his reasons for the same and the presiding officer may briefly explain his ruling; but there shall be no debate on the appeal and no other member shall participate in the discussion. The presiding officer shall then put the question, "Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?" If a majority of the members present vote yes, or if there is a tie vote, the ruling of the chair is sustained; otherwise, it is overruled. The presiding officer shall not vote on an appeal of his decision. A motion for appeal can be made only at the time of the decision of the presiding officer and is not amendable.
(2) Suspension of the rules. These rules or any part of them may be temporarily suspended, for a definite purpose only, at any meeting of Council by two- thirds vote. A motion for the suspension of the rules is undebatable, cannot be amended, nor can any subsidiary motion be applied to it. The form of this motion is "to suspend the rules which interfere with," specifying the object of the suspension.
(g) Subsidiary Motions.
(1) To lay on the table. Items may be tabled to allow for further discussion or further fact-finding. This motion removes the subject from consideration till Council votes to take it from the table. When Council desires to take the question up again, there must be a motion to take the question from the table before it may be considered. Motions to table and motions to take any matter from the table are not debatable, nor amendable, nor do any of the other subsidiary motions apply to them. Both a motion to lay on the table and a motion to remove from the table require a majority vote.
(2) For the previous question. When a motion for the previous question is made and approved by a majority vote, the effect is to instantly close the debate and bring Council to a vote upon the pending question. When such a motion is made, the presiding officer shall put to the Council "Shall the pending question now be put?" If the motion fails, discussion continues as if the motion had not been made. If the motion is approved, the presiding officer shall immediately state the pending question and call for the vote. When the previous question is called for and more than one motion on the main question is before the Council, the presiding officer shall put to vote the motions in their order of precedence, beginning with the one last moved on. The main question is not exhausted until votes have been taken on all these questions or else it has been voted to refer the question to committee. A motion for the previous question may be limited by the mover to a pending amendment, and if adopted, closes debate on the amendment only. If a motion for the previous question is made when a motion to reconsider is pending, the motion for the previous question affects only the motion to reconsider. A motion for the previous question shall only be considered once without intervening business, is not debatable, and cannot be amended or have any subsidiary motions applied to it.
(3) To postpone to a certain time. A motion to postpone to a certain time postpones the pending question to the time specified; however, no question or item of business before Council shall be postponed to a time beyond that meeting in which the question or item was brought before the Council. A motion to postpone to a certain time must be approved by a majority vote and is amendable. Debate on such a motion shall be limited to the propriety of the postponement. When the time for consideration of the postponed question or item of business arrives, it shall be taken up in preference to everything except questions of order. When several questions or items of business are postponed, they shall be taken up in the order of the times to which they were postponed.
(4) To commit or refer. A motion to commit or to refer the subject to committee requires a majority vote. The number and kind of committee need not be decided until it has been voted to refer the subject to a committee. The number of the committee may be decided without motion, with the presiding officer asking "of how many shall the committee consist?" A question is then put for each number suggested, beginning with the smallest. This motion is debatable and can be amended by altering the committee or giving it instructions.
(5) Division of the question. If a question comes before Council that is complicated and capable of being made into several distinctive questions, any member may move to have the question divided, specifying in his motion how the question is to be divided. Any other member may move to amend the motion, to divide it differently. When the question is divided, each separate question must be a proper one for Council to act upon. Any motion to divide a question is debatable, and shall require a majority vote for approval.
(6) To amend. A motion to amend must have a direct bearing on the subject of the motion it proposes to amend. Only motions to fix the time to adjourn; questions of order; motions to postpone to a certain time, motions to commit or refer; motions for division of the question; motions to amend; or principal motions may be amended. A motion to amend is debatable and may be amended itself, but this "amendment of an amendment" cannot be amended. An amendment may be in any of the following forms: (a) to add or insert certain words; (b) to strike out certain words; (c) to strike out certain words and insert others; or (d) to substitute another resolution or ordinance on the same subject for the one pending. Motions to amend require a majority vote for approval.
(7) To postpone indefinitely. An approved motion to postpone indefinitely removes the question or item of business that is before the Council for the entire meeting. This motion is debatable, but not amendable, and requires a majority vote. If the previous question is called for when a motion to postpone indefinitely is pending, the previous question, if ordered, applies only to the motion to postpone indefinitely and does not affect the main question.
(h) Principal Motions. A principal motion is a motion made to bring an ordinance, resolution, item of business or other subject before Council for consideration as the main, or pending, question. No principal motion may be made while there is any other motion pending before the Council.
(i) Motion to Rescind or Repeal. When Council wishes to annul any previous course of action which has already been passed by vote, Council may rescind the objectionable resolution or other proceeding, or may repeal the objectionable ordinance. Such a motion to rescind or repeal shall come before the Council as a principal motion.
(j) Motion to Reconsider. It is in order at any time, even when another member has the floor, but before the vote is announced on a motion to adjourn, to move to "reconsider the vote" on a motion that has been acted upon during the same meeting, and to have such motion "entered on the record;" but, a motion to reconsider shall not be considered while another motion is pending before the Council. Such a motion may only be made by a member who voted on the prevailing side of the motion to be reconsidered, but may be seconded by any member. A motion to reconsider the vote on a subsidiary motion takes precedence over the main question, but yields to privileged and incidental motions. A motion to reconsider may be applied to the vote on every motion except the vote on a motion to adjourn; the vote on a motion to suspend the rules; a vote on a motion for the previous question; an affirmative vote on a motion to lay on the table or to take from the table; and a vote electing to the office of Mayor or Vice-Mayor a member who is present and does not decline said office. A reconsideration of the vote on any other incidental or subsidiary motion shall be immediately acted upon. No vote on a principal motion or question may be reconsidered more than once, unless it was amended after its first reconsideration. If a motion to amend has been adopted or rejected, the vote on the amendment cannot be reconsidered unless the vote on the original motion has been reconsidered. A motion to reconsider cannot be amended; is only debatable if the motion it be reconsidered is debatable, and if debatable, it opens up to discussion the entire subject for reconsideration. A motion for reconsideration requires a majority vote, regardless of the vote necessary to adopt the motion reconsidered. A motion for reconsideration of a vote shall not hold over to another meeting nor may it be postponed; it must be acted upon in the meeting in which the vote was taken.
(k) Renewal of a Motion. A principal motion or amendment, once voted on, may only be taken up again at the same meeting upon a motion to reconsider and, when acted upon, the motion to reconsider cannot be repeated on the same question unless the question was amended when reconsidered. It is admissible to renew any privileged motion, incidental motion (except a motion for suspension of the rules) or subsidiary motion (except a motion to amend) upon the introduction of any other motion that alters the question before Council. For example, a motion to adjourn can be renewed if there has been any intervening business, however, a motion to lay on the table a question that has just been taken from the table, without any intervening business or action, would be out of order. A motion to correct the minutes and a motion to rescind can be made without a motion to reconsider at the same or any subsequent meeting of Council.
(l) Modification or Withdrawal of Motion. The member who offers a motion, until the debate is closed and the motion has been stated by the presiding officer, can modify his motion, withdraw it or substitute it: When the mover wishes to withdraw or modify his motion or substitute a different motion, he shall so move and the presiding officer shall grant permission for the same, without a second, unless an objection is made. If any objection is made, the mover must obtain leave to withdraw, modify or substitute, on a motion for that purpose, which motion need not be seconded, and which shall not be debated or amended. The presiding officer shall put the motion for the modification, withdrawal or substitution before the Council, which may approve it by a majority vote. If the mover modifies or substitutes his motion, the member who seconded it may withdraw his second until the time that the debate is closed and the motion has been stated by the presiding officer.
(m) Debate. When a debatable motion is made and seconded, the presiding officer shall state the motion before opening the debate on the question, and the member who made the motion is entitled to the floor first. When a motion to amend is before the Council, the debate should be confined to the merits of the amendment, with the main question only being debated so far as it is necessarily involved with the main question. Making suggestions or asking questions, when they will assist Council in determining the pending question, should be allowed by the presiding office, to a limited extent, even when the question before Council is undebatable.
(n) Voting. After a motion is made and seconded, the presiding officer shall open the question to discussion and debate among the members of Council. After the debate is finished, the presiding officer shall close the debate, state the motion on the floor, and shall then call upon the Clerk to proceed with the roll call vote. All voting shall be by roll call vote and the Clerk shall call the name of the presiding officer last. As his name is called, the member shall verbally respond, “abstaining,” if he is abstaining from the vote; "yes," in support of the motion made; or "no," against the motion made. The Clerk shall record the name and vote of each member in the Clerk's Journal.
(o) Tie Vote. When there is a tie vote, the motion fails, except in the case of an appeal from the ruling of the presiding officer, in which case a tie vote sustains the chair.
(p) Appearance before Council. Any person(s), group or delegation wishing to make a formal presentation before Council at any regular or special meeting shall notify the City Manager at least one week prior to the next scheduled Council meeting, for placement upon the agenda. The notification shall clearly state the purpose of the appearance and the approximate number of persons who will appear.
(Ord. 03-16. Passed 11-17-03.)