§ 32.23 RULES OF CONDUCT.
   (A)   General procedure. These rules, consistent with the Kentucky Revised Statutes and any applicable city ordinances, statutes or other legal requirements, shall govern the proceedings of the City Council.
   (B)   Authority of the Mayor. Subject to appeal to the full City Council, the Mayor shall have the authority to prevent the misuse of motions, the abuse of any privilege, or the obstruction of the business of the City Council by ruling any such matter out of order. In so ruling, the Mayor shall be courteous and fair and should presume that the moving party is acting in good faith. Any member of the City Council may move to require enforcement of the rules, and the affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council shall require the Mayor to act.
   (C)   Exscusal from attendance. City Council members are expected to attend meetings and stay in attendance during each meeting. No member shall be excused from attendance at a City Council meeting except for good and valid reasons.
   (D)   Council deliberation and order of speakers. The Mayor has been delegated the responsibility to control the debate and the order of speakers. Speakers will generally be called upon in the order of the request to speak.
   (E)   Limit deliberations to item at hand. Council members will limit their comments to the subject matter, time or motion being currently considered by the City Council.
   (F)   Length of Council comments. Council members will govern themselves as to the length of their prepared statements. Council members shall have five (5) minutes to make a prepared statement on an issue before the body. As a courtesy, the Mayor will inform a Council member when they have reached or exceeded five (5) minutes. This procedure is not meant to limit debate or to cut comments short, but rather to assist Council members in their efforts to communicate concisely.
   (G)   Obtaining the floor. Any member of the City Council wishing to speak must first obtain the floor by being recognized by the Mayor. The Mayor must recognize any Council member who seeks the floor when appropriately entitled to do so.
   (H)   Ordinances. KRS 83A.010(11) defines an ordinance as "an official action of a city legislative body, which is a regulation of a general and permanent nature and enforceable as a local law or is an appropriation of money." Once an ordinance has been legally enacted, it has, by the express terms of KRS 83A.010(11), the force of law within the boundaries of the city. A violation of an ordinance by a person subject to its terms may result in the imposition of criminal or civil penalties, or both, that are enforceable through the judicial system. Enactment of an ordinance is specifically set forth in KRS 83A.060. Unless an emergency is declared to exist (KRS 83A.060(7)), ordinances must receive both a first and second reading before Council can take final action. The readings must occur on separate days. Emergency ordinances must receive a two/thirds (2/3) majority vote.
   (I)   Municipal orders. KRS 83A.010(9) defines municipal order as "an official act of the legislative body of a municipality which is binding upon the officers and employees of the municipality and any governmental agency over which the municipality has jurisdiction." In lieu of an ordinance, a municipal order may be used for matters relating to the internal operation and function of the municipality and to appoint or remove, or approve the appointment or removal of, members of boards, commissions and other agencies over which the city has control (KRS 83A.060(13)).
   (J)   Executive orders. KRS 83A.010(7) defines an executive order to mean "an order issued by the executive authority of a municipality which is binding upon the officers and employees of the municipality and any governmental agency over which the municipality has jurisdiction." The Mayor issues executive orders. Executive orders are open to repeal by a majority vote of the Council.
   (K)   Resolutions. A resolution is a less formal mechanism for dealing with matters of a special or temporary character. Resolutions have no binding effect. Resolutions are typically used as a formal expression of the Council's opinion on a matter. It is used to honor individuals or groups; to authorize a study of an issue that will become the basis for later legislative action; to approve a bid or contract.
   (L)   Motions. Motions regarding ordinances, orders, resolutions and the like may only be made by a member of the Council. Any member of the Council, other than the person offering the motion, may second a motion.
   (M)   Procedures for motions. The following is the general procedure for making motions:
      (1)   Before a motion can be considered or debated it must be seconded.
      (2)   A Council member who wishes to make a motion should do so through a verbal request to the Mayor followed by: "I move that ....".
      (3)   A Council member who wishes to second a motion may do so by calling out "I second the motion" or "Second".
      (4)   Once the motion has been properly made and seconded, the Mayor shall open the matter for discussion offering the first opportunity to the moving party and, thereafter, to any Council member properly recognized by the Mayor. Some motions are undebateable and will be immediately put to a vote by the Mayor.
      (5)   Once the matter has been fully discussed and the Mayor calls for a vote, no further discussion will be allowed.
   (N)   Approved motions.
      (1)   Motion to amend. When a motion is on the floor and an amendment is offered, the amendment should be acted upon prior to acting on the main motion. No motion of a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted as an amendment. A motion to amend an amendment shall be in order, but one to amend an amendment to an amendment shall not be in order. Action shall be taken on the amended amendment prior to any other action to further amend the original motion.
      (2)   Motion to continue. A motion to continue will leave the motion in its present condition for consideration on a date and time certain.
      (3)   Motion to table. A motion to table will delay consideration of the item being discussed by the City Council. This motion requires a majority plus one vote of Council.
      (4)   Motion to take from the table. A motion to take from the table allows a previously tabled motion to be discussed again when no other motion is actually pending, and at a time when new business is in order. This motion can be used during the meeting when the motion was tabled, or during the next meeting of the Council.
      (5)   Motion to call the previous question. A motion to call the previous question is to bring the Council at once to a vote on the immediately pending motion. This motion closes debate immediately. This motion requires a majority plus one vote of the Council.
      (6)   Motion to postpone indefinitely. A motion to postpone indefinitely will kill or reject the item under consideration. This motion takes a majority plus one (1) of Council.
      (7)   Motion to refer. A motion to refer forwards the item under consideration to the named group, committee, or board for further study.
      (8)   Motion to appeal. Any member may appeal to the Council any ruling of the Mayor. If an appeal is moved and seconded, the member making the appeal may briefly state his reason for the appeal and then the Mayor may briefly explain his ruling. There shall be no debate on an appeal and no other members shall speak. The presiding officer shall then state, "Shall the decision of the Chair be upheld?" If an affirmative majority vote is received, the ruling of the Chair shall stand.
      (9)   Motion to suspend the rules. When the Council wishes to do something that cannot be done without violating its own rules, and yet it is not in conflict with KRS, city ordinance or the fundamental principles of parliamentary law, it "suspends the rules that interfere with" the proposed action. The object of the suspension must be specified, and nothing else can be done under the suspension. The rules that can be suspended are those relating to priority of business, or to business procedure. This motion takes a majority plus one (1) of the Council.
Motions Required
Require Recognition
Require Second
Debateable
Amendable
Vote
Motions Required
Require Recognition
Require Second
Debateable
Amendable
Vote
Adjourn
yes
yes
no
no
majority
Table
yes
yes
no
no
majority
Previous question
yes
yes
no
no
majority plus one
Extend/limit debate
yes
yes
no
no
majority
Continue
yes
yes
yes
yes
majority
Amend
yes
yes
yes
yes
majority
Refer
yes
yes
yes
no
majority
Postpone indefinitely
yes
yes
yes
no
majority
Suspend rules
yes
yes
yes
no
majority plus one
Appeal decision majority of the Mayor
yes
no
no
no
 
   (O)   Dilatory, absurd or frivolous motions. The City Council has the inherent right to protect itself from being imposed upon by members using parliamentary forms to prevent it from doing the very thing for which it is in session, and which these rules and procedures were designed to assist, namely, to transact business. Therefore, whenever the Mayor is satisfied that members are using parliamentary forms merely to obstruct business, he or she should either not recognize them, or else rule them out of order. While the chair should always be courteous and fair, he should be firm in protecting the assembly from imposition, even though it be done in strict conformity with all parliamentary rules except this one, that no dilatory, absurd, or frivolous motions are allowed.
   (P)   Debate. After the Mayor has stated a motion, it is before the Council for consideration and action. All resolutions, reports, communications to the Council, and all amendments proposed to them, and all other motions except the undebatable motions (see table above) may be debated before final action is taken on them, unless a majority vote plus one of the Council decides to dispose of them without debate. In the debate each member has the right to speak twice on the same question on the same day, but cannot make a second speech on the same question as long as any member who has not spoken on that question desires the floor. No one can speak longer than seven (7) minutes at a time without permission of the Council. Debate must be limited to the merits of the immediately pending question; that is, the last question stated by the Mayor. Speakers must address their remarks to the Mayor, be courteous in their language and deportment, and avoid all personalities, never alluding to the motives or character of Council members, the Mayor, or others.
   (Q)   Voting.
      (1)   Abstention. If a quorum is present, and a majority of the votes cast are in favor of the proposition being considered, then all abstaining votes are counted with the majority. When a Council member abstains or excuses himself/herself from a portion of a Council meeting because of a legal conflict of interest, the Council member must briefly state, on the record, the nature of the conflict.
      (2)   Tie votes.
         (a)   The Mayor breaks a tie vote, except on zoning matters where a tie defaults to the recommendation of the Planning Commission.
         (b)   Votes that are null and void even if unanimous. No ordinance or municipal order is in order that conflicts with the laws of the nation, or state, or with ordinances of the City Council (unless the ordinance specifically calls for the rescinding of a previous ordinance), and if such a motion is adopted, even by a unanimous vote, it is null and void.
   (R)   Voting disqualification. No member of the Council who is disqualified due to a conflict of interest shall vote upon the matter on which he or she is disqualified. Any member shall openly state or have the Mayor announce the fact and nature of such disqualification in open meeting, and shall not be subject to further inquiry. Where no clearly disqualifying conflict of interest appears, the matter of disqualification may, at the request of the member affected, be decided by the other members of the Council, by motion, and such decision shall determine such member's right and obligation to vote. A member who is disqualified by conflict of interest in any matter shall not engage in the debate and/or vote on such matter, but shall request and be given the Mayor's permission to excuse himself/herself. Any member having a "remote interest" in any matter shall divulge the same before voting.
   (S)   Dissent and protest. Any Council member shall have the right to express dissent from or protest against any ordinance, order, resolution, or other action of the City Council and have the reason for the dissent or protest entered in the minutes. Such dissent or protest may be filed in writing and presented to the City Clerk for placement in the minutes no later than the next regular meeting following the date of the City Council's action on the matter.
   (T)   Non-observance of rules. Rules (other than those required under state law) adopted to expedite and facilitate the transaction of the business of the Council in an orderly fashion shall be deemed to be procedural only, and the failure to strictly observe any such rules shall not affect the jurisdiction of, or invalidate any action taken by, the Council.
   (U)   City Attorney to approve. All ordinances shall be approved as to form by the City Attorney.
   (V)   First and second readings. No ordinance shall be passed until it has been read on two (2) separate days unless the second reading has been dispensed with by the passage of such ordinance under the emergency provisions. All ordinances and resolutions may be read by title and summary only provided all members have copies.
(Ord. 2005-O-04, passed 4-4-05)