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The City Clerk, in the case of the City Council, and the secretary or other designee of each other public body shall maintain a list of the news media requesting notification of meetings and shall make reasonable efforts to provide advance notification to them of the time and place of each meeting and the subjects to be discussed at that meeting.
(Neb. RS 84-1411)
(A) Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held at such times as the City Council may provide by ordinance. A majority of all the members elected to the City Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business, but a fewer number may adjourn from time to time and compel the attendance of absent members. When the City Council consists of four members as established by ordinance or home rule charter, the Mayor shall be deemed a member of the City Council for purposes of establishing a quorum when the Mayor’s presence is necessary to establish the quorum. Unless a greater vote is required by law, an affirmative vote of at least one-half of the elected members shall be required for the transaction of any business.
(Neb. RS 17-105)
(B) (1) The Mayor or any three City Council members shall have power to call special meetings of the City Council, the object of which shall be submitted to the City Council in writing; and the call and object, as well as the disposition thereof, shall be entered upon the journal by the City Clerk.
(Neb. RS 17-106)
(2) On filing the call for a special meeting, the City Clerk shall notify the Mayor and City Council members of the special meeting, stating the time and purpose.
(C) Unless otherwise provided by the City Council, on the request of any two members, whether a quorum is present or not, all absent members shall be sent for and compelled to attend.
(D) At the hour appointed for a meeting, the City Clerk shall proceed to call the roll of members and announce whether a quorum is present. If a quorum is present, the City Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, if present, or if absent, by the President of the City Council.
When it is necessary to hold an emergency meeting without reasonable advance public notice, the nature of the emergency shall be stated in the minutes and any formal action taken in that meeting shall pertain only to the emergency. Such emergency meetings may be held by means of electronic or telecommunication equipment. The provisions of § 33.003 of this subchapter shall be complied with in conducting emergency meetings. Complete minutes of such emergency meetings specifying the nature of the emergency and any formal action taken at the meeting shall be made available to the public by no later than the end of the next regular business day.
(Neb. RS 84-1411)
(A) (1) Any public body may hold a closed session by the affirmative vote of a majority of its voting members if a closed session is clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or for the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual and if that individual has not requested a public meeting. The subject matter and the reason necessitating the closed session shall be identified in the motion to close. Closed sessions may be held for, but shall not be limited to, such reasons as:
(a) Strategy sessions with respect to collective bargaining, real estate purchases, pending litigation, or litigation which is imminent as evidenced by communication of a claim or threat of litigation to or by the public body;
(b) Discussion regarding deployment of security personnel or devices;
(c) Investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct; or
(d) Evaluation of the job performance of a person when necessary to prevent needless injury to the reputation of a person and if that person has not requested a public meeting.
(2) Nothing in this section shall permit a closed meeting for discussion of the appointment or election of a new member to any public body.
(B) The vote to hold a closed session shall be taken in open session. The entire motion, the vote of each member on the question of holding a closed session, and the time when the closed session commenced and concluded shall be recorded in the minutes. If the motion to close passes, then the presiding officer immediately prior to the closed session shall restate on the record the limitation of the subject matter of the closed session. The public body holding such a closed session shall restrict its consideration of matters during the closed portions to only those purposes set forth in the motion to close as the reason for the closed session. The meeting shall be reconvened in open session before any formal action may be taken. For purposes of this section, formal action means a collective decision or a collective commitment or promise to make a decision on any question, motion, proposal, resolution, order, or ordinance or formation of a position or policy but shall not include negotiating guidance given by members of the public body to legal counsel or other negotiators in closed sessions authorized under division (A)(1)(a) above.
(C) Any member of any public body shall have the right to challenge the continuation of a closed session if the member determines that the session has exceeded the reason stated in the original motion to hold a closed session or if the member contends that the closed session is neither clearly necessary for the protection of the public interest or the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual. Such challenge shall be overruled only by a majority vote of the members of the public body. The challenge and its disposition shall be recorded in the minutes.
(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that any meeting be closed to the public.
(Neb. RS 84-1410)
(A) No person or public body shall fail to invite a portion of its members to a meeting, and no public body shall designate itself a subcommittee of the whole body for the purpose of circumventing this subchapter or the Open Meetings Act. No closed session, informal meeting, chance meeting, social gathering, email, fax, or electronic communication shall be used for the purpose of circumventing the requirements of this subchapter or the Act.
(B) This subchapter and the Act do not apply to chance meetings or to attendance at or travel to conventions or workshops of members of a public body at which there is no meeting of the body then intentionally convened, if there is no vote or other action taken regarding any matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power.
(Neb. RS 84-1410)
(A)
Subject to this subchapter and the Open Meetings Act, the public has the right to attend and the right to speak at meetings of public bodies, and all or any part of a meeting of a public body, except for closed sessions called pursuant to Neb. RS 84-1410, may be videotaped, televised, photographed, broadcast, or recorded by any person in attendance by means of a tape recorder, a camera, video equipment, or any other means of pictorial or sonic reproduction or in writing.
(B) It shall not be a violation of division (A) of this section for any public body to make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations regarding the conduct of persons attending, speaking at, videotaping, televising, photographing, broadcasting, or recording its meetings, including meetings held by virtual conferencing. A body may not be required to allow citizens to speak at each meeting, but it may not forbid public participation at all meetings.
(C) No public body shall require members of the public to identify themselves as a condition for admission to the meeting nor shall such body require that the name of any member of the public be placed on the agenda prior to such meeting in order to speak about items on the agenda. The body shall require any member of the public desiring to address the body to identify himself or herself, including an address and the name of any organization represented by such person unless the address requirement is waived to protect the security of the individual.
(D) No public body shall, for the purpose of circumventing this subchapter or the Open Meetings Act, hold a meeting in a place known by the body to be too small to accommodate the anticipated audience.
(E) No public body shall be deemed in violation of this section if it holds its meeting in its traditional meeting place which is located in this state.
(F) No public body shall be deemed in violation of this section if it holds a meeting outside of this state if, but only if, a member entity of the public body is located outside of this state and the other requirements of Neb. RS 84-1412 are met.
(G) The public body shall, upon request, make a reasonable effort to accommodate the public's right to hear the discussion and testimony presented at the meeting.
(H) Public bodies shall make available at the meeting, for examination and copying by members of the public, at least one copy of all reproducible written material to be discussed at an open meeting, either in paper or electronic form. Public bodies shall make available at least one current copy of the Open Meetings Act posted in the meeting room at a location accessible to members of the public. At the beginning of the meeting, the public shall be informed about the location of the posted information.
(Neb. RS 84-1412) (Ord. 725, passed 2-2-2022)
Promptly at the hour set by law on the day of each regular meeting, the members of the City Council, the Mayor, the City Clerk, and such other city officials that may be required shall take their regular stations in the meeting place, and the business of the city shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the manner prescribed by the official agenda on file at the office of the City Clerk.
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