(a) Attendance. Every member shall be in his seat at the time of roll call, otherwise, he shall not be recorded as present except upon special order of Council. If a member enters a meeting late, the presiding officer shall, as soon as possible, instruct the Clerk to note for the record the attendance of said member.
(b) Right of Floor. When any member wishes to address the Council, he shall respectfully address himself to the presiding officer, and when recognized by the chair shall confine himself to the question under debate, avoid personalities and refrain from impugning the motives of any other member's argument or vote. When two or more members ask recognition at the same time, the presiding officer shall name the member who is first to speak and the exercise of such discretion by the presiding officer shall not be subject to appeal. After the floor has been assigned to a member, he cannot be interrupted by calls for the previous question or by a motion to adjourn, or for any other purpose except to raise a point or question of order.
(c) Decorum. No member shall, while Council is in session, engage in debate or discussion with anyone save another member of Council, the presiding officer, or any person who has been granted permission to address Council by the presiding officer.
(d) Member Called to Order. If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the Rules of Council, the presiding officer shall call the offending member to order. The member so called to order shall take his seat and cease speaking, unless permitted by the presiding officer to explain. Any member may, by raising a question of order, call the attention of the presiding officer to such transgression. The question of order shall be decided by the presiding officer without debate. Every such decision by the presiding officer shall be subject to appeal.
(e) Reading from Written Matter. Any member while discussing a question may read from books, papers, or documents, any matter pertinent to the subject under consideration without asking leave of the presiding officer.
(f) Voting.
(1) Duty to vote. Upon the calling of his name, every member shall respond with "yes," "no" or "abstaining," unless the member is excused from voting by the unanimous consent of the rest of the members present. Any member not being so excused who refuses to vote on any question or motion shall be deemed guilty of contempt of Council and may be censured for such contempt by a majority vote of the entire Council.
(2) Recording votes. On the passage of every ordinance or resolution and on the appointment of every officer, the vote of every member shall be entered in full upon the record and published in the Journal of the Clerk.
(3) Change of vote. Before the announcement of the vote on any question, the Clerk shall read the vote of each member so taken upon the demand of any member, at which time any member, on account of error, may change his vote; but no member shall be permitted to change his vote as recorded after the result of the vote has been declared.
(g) Vacancies. The seat of a member may be declared vacant by a majority vote of the remaining members of Council for any the following reasons:
(3) Death of the member;
(4) Resignation; or
(h) Filling Vacancies.
(1) When the seat of a member of the Council becomes vacant, the vacancy shall be filled in accordance with Section 2.03
of the Charter. If Council fails to fill the vacancy within thirty (30) days, the Mayor may fill it by appointment. If the vacancy occurs in the seat of the member who was serving as Mayor, and Council fails to fill the seat within thirty (30) days, the Judge of the Preble County Probate Court may fill the seat by appointment.
(2) When a vacancy occurs in the seat of the member who was serving as either Mayor or Vice-Mayor, upon filling the vacant seat, Council shall elect a new Mayor or Vice-Mayor, in accordance with Section 2.07
of the Charter and these Rules.
(Ord. 03-16. Passed 11-17-03.)