(A)
The Presiding Officer shall preserve order and decorum at all Council meetings.
(B) Each member of the Council shall be present within the Council chamber during the sessions of the Council, unless excused or necessarily prevented from being present, and shall vote on each question put unless excused from voting by a majority of the Council members present.
(C) A Council member shall not vote, or take any other discretionary action in his or her official capacity, except in the exercise of his or her own independent judgment, reached after due regard for the collective interest of his or her constituency as a whole, and of the citizens and the community of the city. The prohibition in this section extends to any agreement to take action in violation of this section and to any effort to induce other Council members to violate it.
(D) Whenever a Council member has or is likely to have a substantial conflict of interest in connection with a matter pending before the Council, he or she shall disclose fully the nature of his or her conflict of interest and may thereafter, in the judgment of the Council member, either:
(1) Disqualify himself or herself from further action on the matter; or
(2) Continue to participate in the deliberations and to vote on the matter.
(E) Notwithstanding division (D) above, whenever a Council member has or is likely to have a private financial interest in connection with any official matter pending before the Council, he or she shall disqualify himself or herself from further participation in the proceeding.
(F) A Council member shall not derive or attempt to derive any unjustified enrichment from his or her office. This division forbids:
(1) The solicitation or acceptance of any bribe, gift or other material economic benefit, or of any promise of similar benefit, which he or she believed or reasonably should believe was intended to influence;
(2) The solicitation or acceptance of any gift or other economic benefit conferred because of any vote or other action in his or her official capacity already taken by him or her;
(3) The acquisition or use for personal purposes of any property, services or funds of the city, unless authorized by law; and/or
(4) The use for personal gain of information pertaining to the city which is not a matter of public record, at a time when it is treated as confidential by the officials of the city.
(G) When any member is about to speak or deliver any matter to the Council, he or she shall respectfully address himself or herself to the Presiding Officer, and on being recognized, confine himself or herself to the question in debate and avoid personality. The Presiding Officer shall not recognize any member as in order, unless he or she is in his or her proper seat.
(H) When 2 or more Council members seek recognition at once, the Presiding Officer shall name the member entitled to speak.
(I) No Council member shall speak more than twice on the same question without leave of the Council, nor more than once until every Council member choosing to speak has spoken.
(J) While the Presiding Officer or a Council member is addressing the Council, no Council member shall walk out of or across the Council chamber or engage in private discourse.
(K) No Council member shall inpugn a motive of another.
(L) Any Council member may change his or her vote before the announcement of the result by the Presiding Officer.
(M) If any Council member, in speaking or otherwise, shall transgress the rules of the Council, the Presiding Officer shall, or any Council member may, call him or her to order, in which case he or she shall immediately cease the transgression unless permitted, on motion of another Council member, to explain; and the Council shall, if appealed to, decide the case without debate. If the decision is in favor of the Council member called to order, he or she shall be at liberty to proceed, but not otherwise, and if the case requires it, he or she shall be liable to the censure of the Council.
(N) Should any Council member, in the course of his or her remarks violate a second time any rule of the Council, and again be called to order, he or she shall not speak further on the pending question, except by permission of 2/3 of the Council members present.
(O) Each Council member shall observe the highest standards of dignity, propriety, courtesy, respect and decorum when with his or her fellow Council members, officers and employees of the city, and all other persons, and when carrying out any of the responsibilities, duties and services mandated by the office of a Council member.
(1979 Code, § 30.13) (Ord. 3116, passed 7-2-1979; Am. Ord. 4099, passed 1-25-1993; Am. Ord. 5889, passed 2-14-2022)