(a) Members of the Public Body. ( Definition of Public Body can be found in Section 107.06, Definitions)
(1) The Chairman (or Chairman Pro-tem in the absence of the Chairman) of the “public body” shall be responsible for the orderly conduct of business at each public meeting and shall preserve order and decorum at such meeting.
(2) The members of the “public body” shall accord the utmost courtesy to each other, to administrative staff and to the public appearing before the “public body” and shall refrain at all times from rude, abusive, and/or derogatory remarks or those that reflect upon a person’s integrity, motives or personality.
(3) During “public meetings” cell phones are to be silenced.
(4) If the Chairman (or Chairman Pro-tem in the absence of the Chairman) of a public meeting determines that a violation of decorum by a member has occurred, he or she shall issue a warning, recess the meeting or take other appropriate action to allow the public meeting to resume the orderly conduct of city business.
(Ord. 33-2016. Passed 4-25-16.)
(b) Audience/Residents.
(1) Each person addressing the Council shall rise, approach the podium, give their name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record and, unless further time is granted by the Council, shall limit their address to three minutes. All comments and remarks from the audience shall be addressed to the public body as a whole and not to any single member, unless in response to a question from such member. Any person attending or participating in the public meeting shall avoid personal attacks and ill-mannered language. No persons in the audience shall engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including the utterance of loud, threatening or abusive language, or other acts which disturb, disrupt or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of any public meeting.
(2) To preserve the dignity of public meetings, cell phones of audience/residents should be silenced during the course of the meeting.
(3) Any person who repeatedly fails to conduct themselves in the aforementioned manner following a warning from the Chairman (or Chairman Pro-Tem in the absence of the Chairman) of the public meeting may, at the discretion of the Chairman (or Chairman Pro-tem in the absence of the Chairman) be ejected from the public meeting. If that person refuses to leave the meeting, the Chairman (or Chairman Pro-tem in the absence of the Chairman) shall call for a vote to recess the meeting and call for the police.
(4) The Chairman (Or Chairman Pro-tem in the absence of the Chairman) shall be responsible for allowing Audience/Resident public comment during all public meetings. Each person addressing the public body shall rise, approach the podium, give their name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record and, unless further time is granted by the Council, shall limit their address to three minutes. The Chairman (or Chairman Pro-tem in the absence of the Chairman) may regulate public comment in a manner that facilitates the business at hand but may not remove public comment from the agenda of the public body.
(Ord. 156-2019. Passed 12-3-19.)