(a) Generally. The rules of order and procedure of Council shall be as set forth in this section.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.010)
(b) Designation of Presiding Officer. The Mayor and, in his or her absence or at his or her direction, the President of Council, shall, at the fixed time for regular meetings, take the chair for the convening of Council to order and presiding over its meetings. Upon the appearance of a quorum, Council shall be in session.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.020)
(c) Quorum. Four members of Council shall constitute a quorum, which shall be necessary for the transaction of any and all business. A lesser number than the quorum may adjourn the meeting.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.030)
(d) Order of Business. The business of all regular meetings of Council shall be conducted as determined by resolution by Council from time to time.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.040) (Res. 2013-223A. Passed 7-1-13, effective 7-10-13.)
(e) Duties of Presiding Officer. The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum and shall speak to points of order in preference to other members. The presiding officer shall decide questions of order, subject to appeal to Council, which appeal must be duly moved, seconded and sustained by a majority vote of Council.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.050)
(f) Petitions and Communications. All petitions and communications shall be properly signed and filed with the City Clerk for reading.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.060)
(g) Voting on Questions; Motions. Upon request of a majority of the members of Council present, any question properly before Council shall be put to a vote. Such request for a vote shall be acted upon immediately, without further discussion of the subject, and shall thereupon bring the question to a direct vote. A motion to table, a motion to refer, a motion to amend or upon the main question shall be acted upon in the order named.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.070)
(h) Dividing a Question. At the request of a Council member, any question shall be divided if such question, in the opinion of the presiding officer, is subject to division, and shall be submitted as divided.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.080)
(i) Amending and Substitute Motions. No motion or proposition different from that under consideration shall be admitted under cover of amendment, provided that a substitute motion may be submitted to cover the same subject matter and, if carried, shall result in determining the original motion out of order.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.090)
(j) Seconding and Reading Required. No motion shall be debated or put to a vote unless the same shall have been seconded and properly read by the City Clerk.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.100)
(k) Motion to Reconsider.
(1) A motion to reconsider any vote upon any question shall be in order at the following meeting of Council, provided that a member of the prevailing side intending to move to reconsider files a notice, in writing, of his or her intention to do so, with the City Clerk, within twenty-four hours after the action to be reconsidered was taken. The same number of votes shall be required to reconsider any action by Council as is required to adopt the same.
(2) Upon the filing of a notice for reconsideration, the effect of the action to be reconsidered shall be suspended until action can be taken upon such consideration. Action upon the reconsideration shall be taken at the next regular Council meeting or at a prior special meeting called for that purpose.
(3) If the Councilperson moving for reconsideration is unable to personally serve notice of the same on the City Clerk within twenty-four hours, such notice may be delivered to the office of the City Clerk within such twenty-four hours.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.110)
(l) Voting. The members of Council present shall vote on all matters except where excused by the unanimous consent of the remaining members present, or where a member has a financial interest in the subject matter, other than the common public interest, or except on any question concerning his or her own conduct.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.120)
(m) Motions Permissible During Debate. When any question is under debate, no motion shall be received except the following, which shall have precedence in the order named:
(1) Motion to adjourn;
(2) Motion to table;
(3) Motion for the question;
(4) Motion to refer;
(5) Motion to amend;
(6) Substitute motion.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.130)
(n) Motion to Adjourn or Table. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order except when a vote is being taken or when a member of Council has the floor. A motion to adjourn or to table shall be decided without debate.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.140)
(o) Amendments. These rules of order may be amended or altered by an appropriate ordinance.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.150)
(p) Suspension of Rules. Council, by a majority affirmative vote, may suspend the operation of any one of these rules for a single session, except the rule set forth in subsection (g) hereof.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.160)
(q) Recordkeeping and Minutes. The City Clerk shall record all proceedings and resolutions of Council and shall present proposed minutes of each meeting to Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting for adoption. All matters, except votes upon resolutions and ordinances, ordered into the minutes by the chair may be challenged by any member of Council at the meeting at which such order of inclusion is announced. All matters, except votes upon resolutions and ordinances, ordered into the minutes by the chair at any other time may be challenged by any member of Council at the next regular or special meeting of Council. However, if such proposed minutes contain matters in addition to resolutions or ordinances, adoption of the same shall require a majority vote of Council elect.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.170)
(r) Robert's Rules of Order. Robert's Rules of Order, revised, copyrighted 1915, by Henry M. Robert, is adopted as and for the rules of order to be followed by the Mayor and Council. However, in those instances where the rules set forth in this section are inconsistent with Robert's Rules of Order, the rules set forth in this section shall prevail.
(1979 Code Sec. 2.02.180)
(s) Rules of Decorum for Meetings; Address by Persons.
(1) Decorum required. Meetings of Council shall be conducted in an orderly manner to ensure that the public has a full opportunity to be heard and that the deliberative process of Council is retained at all times. The presiding officer of Council shall be responsible for maintaining the order and decorum of meetings.
(2) Rules of decorum. While any meeting of Council is in session, the following rules of order and decorum shall be observed:
A. Councilmembers. The members of Council shall preserve order and decorum, and a member shall not, by conversation or other means, delay or interrupt the Council proceedings or disturb any other member while speaking.
B. City staff members. Employees of the City shall observe the same rules of order and decorum as those which apply to the members of Council.
C. Persons addressing Council.
1. Public oral communications at Council meetings should not be a substitute for any item that can be handled during the normal working hours of the Municipal government. The primary purpose of oral communications is to allow citizens the opportunity to formally communicate with Council as a whole, for matters that cannot be handled during the regular working hours of the City government.
2. Any person shall be permitted to address open meetings of Council, after being recognized by the presiding officer thereof, if the person requesting to speak desires to speak on the particular matter then before Council. Such speaker shall be limited to not more than three minutes on general agenda items and not more than five minutes under a citizen's request. However, the presiding officer shall not be required to recognize any speaker who is not a member of Council during the discharge of the following agenda items:
Call to order
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Invocation
Roll call
Approval of minutes of prior meetings
Oral reports of Mayor and Council
Adjournment
3. Each person who addresses Council shall do so in an orderly manner and shall not make personal, impertinent, slanderous or profane remarks to any member of Council, or of the staff or the general public. Any person who makes such remarks, or who utters loud, threatening, personal or abusive language, or who engages in any other disorderly conduct which disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any Council meeting, shall, at the discretion of the presiding officer or a majority of Council, be barred from further audience before Council during that meeting.
D. Members of the audience. No person in the audience at a Council meeting shall engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including the utterance of loud, threatening or abusive language, whistling, stamping of feet or other acts which disturb, disrupt or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of any Council meeting. Any person who conducts himself or herself in the aforementioned manner shall, at the discretion of the presiding officer or a majority of Council, be barred from further audience before Council during the meeting.
(3) Addressing Council. Any person wishing to address Council regarding an item which is on the Council meeting agenda may seek recognition by the presiding officer of Council during the discussion of any such item. Persons wishing to discuss a non-agenda item may seek recognition by the presiding officer during the "Citizen's Communications" portion of the meeting. No person shall address Council without first being recognized by the presiding officer. The following procedures shall be observed by persons addressing Council:
A. Each person shall step up to the podium provided for the use of the public and shall state his or her name, the organization, if any, which he or she represents. Such address occurs during the "Citizen's Communications" portion of the meeting, the subject he or she wishes to discuss.
B. During the "Citizen's Communications" portion of the meeting, any subject which is not deemed relevant by Council shall be concluded.
C. Each person shall confine his or her remarks to the Council agenda item or approved "Citizen's Communications" subject being discussed.
D. Each person shall limit his or her remarks to five minutes unless further time is granted by Council.
E. All remarks shall be addressed to Council as a whole and not to any single member thereof, unless in response to a question from said member.
F. No question may be asked of a member of Council or of the City staff without the permission of the presiding officer.
G. If a large crowd is present and it becomes evident that a number of speakers wish to address Council, the presiding officer may shorten the time limits set forth and/or may request that comments be limited to spokespersons authorized to represent particular positions or viewpoints.
(4) Enforcement of decorum. The rules of decorum set forth above shall be enforced in the following manner:
A. Warning. The presiding officer shall request that a person who is breaching the rules of decorum be orderly and silent. If, after receiving a warning from the presiding officer, a person persists in disturbing the meeting, the presiding officer shall order him or her to leave the Council meeting. If such person does not remove himself or herself, the presiding officer may order any law enforcement officer who is on duty at said meeting of Council to remove that person from the Council chambers.
B. Removal. Any law enforcement officer who is on duty at the Council meeting shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council meeting. Upon instruction from the presiding officer, it shall be the duty of a law enforcement officer to remove from the Council meeting any person who is disturbing the proceedings of Council.
C. Resisting removal. Any person who resists removal by the law enforcement officer shall be charged with a violation of this section.
D. Penalty. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
E. Motion to enforce. If the presiding officer of Council fails to enforce the rules set forth above, any member of Council may move to require him or her to do so, and an affirmative vote of a majority of Council shall require him or her to do so. If the presiding officer of Council fails to carry out the will of a majority of Council, the majority may designate another member of Council to act as presiding officer for the limited purpose of enforcing any rule of this section which it wishes enforced.
F. Adjournment. If a meeting of Council is disturbed or disrupted in such a manner as to make infeasible or improbable the restoration of order, the meeting may be adjourned or continued by the presiding officer or a majority of Council, and any remaining Council business may be considered at the next meeting.
(Res. 91-91. Passed 2-19-91.)