111.01 COUNCIL RULES.

1. Regular Meetings. Regular meetings of Council shall be held in the Council chambers shall commence at 6:15 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month. Whenever the regular meeting falls on a legal holiday, Council shall meet at 6:15 p.m. on the next municipal working day. Council may, by majority vote, change the day and hour of holding any regular meeting, or adjourn the same to a day and hour determined by a like vote of the members present if constituting a quorum.

2. Special Meetings. Council shall hold such special meetings as may be found necessary, which may be called by the Clerk upon the written request of the Mayor or upon the written request of three members of Council. Any such vote or request for the calling of a special meeting shall state the subject or subjects to be considered thereat, and no other subject or subjects shall be considered except upon the approval of five or more of the members of Council in attendance at such special meeting. Twenty-four hours' notice in writing of such special meeting, if called by the Mayor or by three members of Council, shall be given to each member of Council and to the Mayor by personal service or by delivery thereof at their usual places of residence, but members of Council may waive such notice by their attendance at such special meeting.

3 . Emergency Meetings. Emergency Council meetings may be called by the Mayor for the express purpose of dealing with emergencies which may arise relative to the City of Maumee operations or for health or public safety reasons provided that the members of council waive twenty four hour notice of said meeting by their attendance at said meeting. Notice of said emergency meetings shall be provided by phone, text or other electronic means to all council members at least two hours prior to said meeting. The notice shall provide the topic for said meeting and no other business may be conducted at said meeting. Electronic or email notification of said emergency meetings shall be provided to the media outlets which are on file with the municipal clerk.

4. Attendance at meetings. Council members, the Mayor, City employees, and City Administration shall strive to attend all meetings of Council in person. if a council member or the mayor is unable to attend a special meeting or emergency meeting or committee meeting of council in person, they may be permitted to attend by phone or other virtual means upon advance notice to the municipal clerk. It a council member or the Mayor is unable to attend a regular meeting of council in person due to illness or other personal reasons, they may attend by phone or other electronic means for up to six meetings per year upon the approval of the Mayor or the council president if it involves the Mayor's request to attend virtually., City employees, city administration, or individuals requested by the Mayor or administration to be present at a meeting, may also attend virtually upon prior approval by the City Administrator. If a council member or other individual attends any meeting virtually, they may be recorded in shall participate in the meeting as if personally present at said meeting. Attendance virtually shall be considered being present at a meeting and shall allow council members attending virtually to vote on any motions, ordinances, resolutions or other matters before council or a council committee.

II. THE CHAIR - POWERS AND DUTIES

3. Roll Call. The Mayor, or in his absence, the President of Council, shall take the Chair at the hour appointed for Council to meet, and immediately shall call council to order. The roll shall then be called by the Clerk, who shall enter in the journal of each meeting the names of the members present thereat. In the absence of a quorum at the time appointed for a meeting, the members present may by a majority vote, take a recess or recesses, and cause the Clerk to procure the attendance of absent members.

4. Temporary Chairman. In case of the absence of the Mayor and the President of Council, the Temporary Chairman shall preside until the appearance of the Mayor or the President of Council. The Temporary Chairman shall be that member of Council having the most consecutive years of service as a member of Council. In the event that two or more members have the same consecutive years of service, the member who is first in alphabetical order shall be the Temporary Chairman.

5. Substitute Chairman. The Chair, that is the Mayor, President of Council or Temporary Chairman, may call any other member to take his place in the Chair, such substitution not to continue beyond adjournment.

6. Appeals from Decisions of the Chair. The Chair shall preserve decorum and decide all questions of order, subject to appeal to Council. If any member transgresses the rules of Council, the Chair shall, or any member may, call him to order and in the latter instance the Chair shall render a decision as to the point of order. In case of an appeal from a ruling of the Chair, the question shall be, "Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the decision of Council?" The Chair shall be sustained unless overruled by a majority vote of the members of Council present.

7. Votes. All questions shall be stated and put by the Chair as follows:

A. Roll Call Votes. The Chair shall declare the vote after the Clerk has announced the number of votes on each side.

B. Viva-voce Votes. The Chair shall declare the vote without reference to the Clerk; if in doubt about a viva-voce vote, the Chair may direct, or any member may call for, a division of Council, which shall be taken by a rising vote.

C. Rising Vote. The Chair shall count and declare the vote. It shall not be in order for members to explain their votes while the vote is being taken.

8. Chair's Power to Vote. The Mayor shall have no veto power, and shall have no vote except in the event of a tie vote of members of Council present, in which case the Mayor shall have the power to vote and his vote shall have the same legal effect as a vote of a member of Council. Any member of Council who is serving as Chairman shall have the same power to vote as other members.

III. MEMBERS' DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES

9. Seating Arrangement. Seats in the Council chamber shall be arranged in numerical order and all members shall occupy such seats after drawing same by lot at the beginning of the term.

10. Addressing Chair. Members when about to speak to a question or make a motion, shall address the Chair as "Mr. Mayor", "Mr. President", or Mr. Chairman", who shall pronounce the name of the member entitled to the floor. Members addressing Council shall confine themselves to the question under debate and avoid personalities.

11. Limitation of Debate. No member shall be allowed to speak more than once upon any one subject until every member choosing to speak shall have spoken, nor more than twice upon the same subject, nor for a time longer than five minutes, without leave of Council as expressed by a majority vote of the members present.

12. Voting. Every member present when a question is put shall vote on same, unless Council shall, for special reasons, excuse him from voting. Such excuse shall be granted only if the member states reasons for the request before voting begins and Council by majority vote of the members present accepts them. There shall be no debate upon this question.

13. Division of a Question. On demand of any member, a question under consideration which covers two or more points, shall be divided where the question admits of such division.

14. Demand for Roll Call. Any member may demand a roll call vote upon any question before Council at any time before the decision on such question is announced by the Chair.

15. Excusal from Attendance. No member shall be excused from attendance at a Council meeting, except upon request to and permission by the Mayor prior to such meeting or by a vote of a majority of the members present.

16. Excusal During Meeting. No member shall be excused while Council is in session except upon permission of the Chair.

IV. ORDER OF BUSINESS

17. Order of Business. The order of business at meetings of Council shall be as follows:

A. Roll call, to determine presence of a quorum.

B. Reading of the journal of the preceding meeting unless such reading shall be dispensed with by consent of two-thirds of the members present. If no objection is made to the journal, the same shall be approved. If corrections are made, they shall be approved as amended.

C. Reports and communications from the Mayor, Clerk and other city officials, having been filed with the Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the meeting day, for the purpose of discussion of said items at the staff meeting prior to placement on the agenda for the next regularly scheduled Council Meeting. For purposes of this section, all letters dated on the date the staff meeting occurs, will be allowed on the agenda for the next regularly scheduled council meeting.

D. Call of the members in alphabetical order that each may present petitions or communications, or offer original motions, orders, ordinances or resolutions. There shall be no interruption of business under this call. All such petitions, communications, motions, ordinances and resolutions shall be filed with the Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the meeting day, and it shall be the duty of the Clerk to include the same in the calendar of such meeting day, in their order upon the call. Matters not filed with the Clerk and introduced upon such call shall not be read or referred to, but shall be held over until the next meeting, to be placed on the calendar and taken up on the regular call of the members, unless leave for immediate consideration be granted by a majority vote of the members present.

E. Reports of Committee of the Whole.

F. Reports of Standing Committees.

G. Reports of Special Committees.

H. Hearing of the public, provided that no person shall be allowed to speak more than once on any subject, nor for a time longer than three minutes, without leave of Council or the Chair.

I. Emergency legislation.

J. Second reading of ordinances and resolutions.

K. Third reading of ordinances and resolutions.

Upon motion of any Councilman the order of business at any meeting may be altered by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present.

18. Old Business. Following roll call and reading of the journal of the preceding meeting or waiver thereof the business of regular meetings shall commence at the point where the order of business at the preceding meeting was interrupted by the adjournment, unless the order of business is altered as provided in Rule 17. Special meetings the purpose of which is named in the call shall have precedence over any other business.

V. COMMITTEES

19. Appointment of Committees. The following Standing Committees consisting of three members each are hereby authorized. Appointment of members to such Committees shall be made by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by a majority of members of Council.

A. Personnel

B. Finance

C. Parks and Recreation

The Mayor may appoint such Special Committees as he deems necessary, subject to confirmation by a majority of members of Council, provided that matters referred to or pending before a Standing Committee may not without consent of its members be referred to or considered by a Special Committee.

20. Committee of the Whole. The President of Council shall preside when Council resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole. These rules of Council shall govern the Committee of the Whole except that no limit shall be placed on time or frequency of speaking and that the previous question cannot be moved. All questions shall be decided by a majority vote of those members present. When this Committee arises, any measure, together with any amendments thereto, reported out, shall receive the immediate consideration of Council unless otherwise ordered placed upon the calendar.

21. Meetings. Committees, including the Committee of the Whole, shall meet on call of the Chairman, or on request of two members communicated to the Municipal Clerk on matters referred to that committee, by a vote of the majority of council members or by the City Administrator or by the Law Director .

22. Quorum. A majority of members of a Committee shall constitute a quorum.

23. Temporary Chairman. In the absence of the Chairman, the member named next shall act as Temporary Chairman.

24. Secretary to Committees. The Municipal Clerk or one of his assistants shall, if requested, act as Secretary to each Committee and shall keep a record of attendance and business transacted at meetings thereof.

25. Reports. Reports of Committees shall be agreed to by a majority thereof. All documents referred shall be returned to Council with the report of the Committee. Upon motion, and by a majority vote, Council may relieve a Committee of further consideration of any question, and order it placed on the calendar. When any matter is referred to a Committee with instructions to report at a time named in the order of reference, failure to report at such time, shall be considered as if reported back with no recommendation, unless the time for the report is extended by Council. If no such extension is granted, the Committee shall forthwith return to the Municipal Clerk the documents pertaining thereto, and the matter shall take its appropriate place on the calendar.

After a report of a committee has been received by presentation to Council, the next business shall be the disposal of the report. If the report contains only a statement of fact or opinion for the information of Council, no motion for its disposal is required. If any action is recommended in the report, a motion to accept the report shall have the effect of endorsing the action recommended in the report. If the report contains multiple recommendations, each recommendation shall be voted upon separately after a motion to accept such recommendation is made. If the report concludes with a resolution or a series of resolutions, each resolution shall be voted upon separately after a motion to adopt such resolution is made.

VI. MOTIONS

26. Motions. When a motion is made it shall be stated by the Chair before debate. Any member may demand that it be reduced to writing. A motion shall not be withdrawn by the mover without the consent of Council. Unless otherwise required by law a motion shall be deemed passed if it receives the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present including the Chair if entitled to vote thereon.

27. Order of Precedence. When a question is before Council, no motion shall be entertained except the following:

A. To adjourn.

B. To lay on the table.

C. The previous question.

D. To postpone to a time certain.

E. To refer.

F. To amend.

G. To postpone indefinitely.

Such motions shall have precedence in the foregoing order.

28. Motion to Adjourn. Motion to adjourn shall be in order at any time, except as follows:

A. When repeated without intervening business or discussion.

B. When made while another member is speaking.

C. When the previous question has been ordered.

D. While a vote is being taken.

A motion to adjourn is not debatable, except as to time to which the meeting is adjourned.

29. Motion to Lay on the Table. A motion to lay on the table shall preclude all amendments or debate of the subject under consideration. If the motion prevails, the consideration of the subject may be resumed only upon motion of a member voting with the majority and with the consent of the majority of the members present.

30. Previous Question. The previous question shall be stated in these words: "Shall debate now close?" The motion shall pass if two-thirds of the members shall favor it. If the motion is ordered, there shall be no further amendment or debate, but the question shall be put immediately.

31. Motion to Postpone. Motions to postpone may be amended as to time, excepting a motion to postpone indefinitely. If a motion to postpone indefinitely is carried, the principal question shall be declared lost.

32. Motion to Amend. A motion to amend shall be susceptible of but one amendment. An amendment once rejected may not be moved again in the same form.

33. Motion to Suspend Rules. A rule of council may be suspended by the affirmative vote of five members of Council without debate.

34. Motion to Reconsider. A motion to reconsider a proposal that has been acted upon favorably, shall be made before adjournment of the session of Council at which the vote was taken. A motion to reconsider any other action taken by Council, may be made not later than the next regular meeting after the vote of Council thereon. In either case such motion may be made only by a member who voted with the prevailing side. The concurrence of a majority of the members present shall be sufficient for reconsideration of a vote. If a motion to reconsider is lost, it shall not be entertained again.

(Ord. 252-2018. Passed 11-19-18.)

VII. MISCELLANEOUS

35. Procedure in Absence of Rule. In the absence of a rule to govern a point of procedure, reference shall be had to the approved practice according to the most recent version Robert's Rules of Order for parliamentary bodies.

36. Decorum in Council Chambers. The Chair shall maintain decorum in Council chambers during sessions. Persons, other than members of Council, City officials and members of the press, shall not be permitted upon the floor of Council, or to address Council, except upon introduction by the Chair or a member of Council. If anyone, other than a City official, desires to speak to a member of Council while it is in session, the member, if agreeable to the request, shall leave his seat and retire to the rear of the Council chambers or elsewhere until the conversation is finished.

37. Rule on Readings and Suspension of Rules. (Repealed).

38. Emergency Measures. A roll call shall first be taken on the emergency clause and then a roll call on the legislation as a whole. In order to pass as an emergency measure, the affirmative vote of five members of Council on the emergency clause is required.

39. Definitions. As used in these Rules the following definitions shall apply:

A. "Attendance," means being present in person or by electronic means including but not limited to phone, zoom, video conferencing or other similar means.

B. “Majority." Whenever "majority" is used herein, unless otherwise expressly indicated, it shall be held to mean a majority of those members duly elected or appointed to Council.

C. "Roll call", "roll call vote" or "call of the members in alphabetical order" means that the last names of the members shall be called in alphabetical order, provided, however, that the initial name to be called shall change each regular meeting on the basis of the alphabet.

40. Amending Rules. A majority vote is required to alter, amend, rescind or supplement these rules. Any proposed alterations, or amendments or supplements shall be submitted in writing at a regular meeting and placed on the calendar for the next regular meeting under the order of new business. By unanimous recorded vote of all members elected to Council, such proposed alterations, amendments or supplements may be adopted at the meeting at which the same are submitted.

41. Quorum. A majority of all members elected or appointed to Council shall constitute a quorum.

42. Director of Law. The Director of Law, or his/her assistant, shall, when requested by a member of Council, give a verbal opinion on any question of law concerning City affairs, in open Council, but he/she may, if he/she deems the matter of importance, take a reasonable time to submit his/her opinion in writing. He/she shall not be required to draw any ordinance or resolution except upon a majority vote of the members.

(Council Motion Passed 3-3-22.)

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