(a) The Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. The Mayor or in his absence, the President Pro Tem, shall take the Chair at the hour appointed for Council to meet and immediately call Council to order and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The roll shall then be called by the Fiscal Officer, and shall enter in the minutes of each meeting the names of members present. The arrival time of those arriving late shall be recorded at the appropriate place in the minutes.
The order of the roll call shall be rotated at each meeting so that the first member to vote varies with each meeting. A majority of all members of Council shall constitute a quorum and the vote of the majority present and constituting a quorum shall be sufficient to transact business in the absence of other members. ln the absence of a quorum at the time appointed for a meeting, the members present may, by a majority vote, take a recess and cause the Fiscal Officer to procure the attendance of absent members. Alternatively, the meeting shall be adjourned to such day as may be specified in the motion for adjournment.
(b) Temporary Chairman. In case of the absence of the Mayor and President Pro Tem, the Fiscal Officer shall call Council to order. The Fiscal Officer shall call the roll and if a quorum is found to be present, Council shall proceed to elect, by a majority vote, a Temporary Chairman of the meeting until the appearance of the Mayor or President Pro Tem.
(c) Substitute Chairman. The Chair, i.e., the Mayor, President Pro Tem or Temporary Chairman, may call any member to take his place in the Chair, such substitution is not to continue beyond adjournment.
(d) 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.
(e) Decorum.
(1) By Council members. While Council is in session, the members must preserve order and decorum, and a member shall neither, by conversation or otherwise delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace and dignity of Council, nor disturb or interrupt any member while speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the Presiding Officer or Council.
(2) By other persons. Any person, while addressing Council, who makes personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous, shall be ordered ejected from the Council Chamber forthwith by the Presiding Officer and barred from further audience before that Council meeting unless permission to continue be granted by a majority vote of Council present.
(f) Enforcement of Decorum.
(1) The Police Chief, or such member or members of the Police Department as he may designate, shall be Sergeant-At-Arms of all Council meetings. He or they shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the Presiding Officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the meeting. Upon instructions of the Presiding Officer, it shall be the duty of the Sergeant-At-Arms, to place any person who violated the order and decorum of the meeting under arrest and cause him to be prosecuted for disturbing the peace, the complaint to be signed by the Presiding Officer.
(2) If the offending person is the Presiding Officer or a member of Council, he shall not be removed from the meeting or charged as provided in subsection (f)(1) hereof unless a majority of the other members of Council present concur that such member of Council shall be prosecuted as provided for in subsection (f)(1) hereof.
(g) Addressing Council. Persons desiring to address Council may do so in the following manner:
(1) Written communications. Interested parties or their authorized representatives may address Council by written communications on any matter of Village business by addressing such communications to the Mayor. Such written communications shall be read by the Fiscal Officer as directed by Council.
(2) Oral communications. Any person or his authorized representatives who wish to address Council should notify the Fiscal Officer by noon on the Thursday before the scheduled meeting to be included on the agenda. During the visitors section, any person or his authorized representatives may appear before Council on any matter of Village business at the proper time provided in the agenda by rising and securing permission of the Presiding Officer. Such person shall state in an audible tone of voice for the record his name and address and the name and address of the person or group he may represent, if other than himself. Such person shall limit his address to five minutes unless the Presiding Officer or Council grants further time. No person other than the members of Council and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or through a member of Council, without the permission of the Presiding Officer. No question shall be asked of a member of Council except through the Presiding Officer.
(h) Mayor's Power to Vote. The Mayor shall have no vote unless Council, after voting on an issue, has caused a tie vote and in that case the Mayor shall cast the deciding vote and his vote shall have the same legal effect as a vote of a member of Council.
(Ord. 2005-31. Passed 12-12-05.)