Pursuant to Section 4.10(b) of the Municipal Charter, the following rules of Council are hereby established:
RULE 1. Organization. The first meeting each year of Council shall be held by the second (2nd) Thursday of January and shall be known as the organizational meeting. Newly elected members of Council shall take the oath of office and Council shall proceed to elect a Deputy-Mayor from among its own members, for a term of one year, pursuant to Sections 4.03(b) and 4.10 of the Municipal Charter.
RULE 2. Temporary Chairman. In case of the absence of the Mayor and the Deputy- Mayor, the Clerk of Council shall call Council to order and call the roll of the members. If a quorum is found to be present, Council shall proceed to elect, by a majority vote of those present, a Chairman of the meeting to act until the Mayor or Deputy-Mayor appears, pursuant to Section 4.03 of the Municipal Charter.
RULE 3. Attendance. A member of Council who is absent, without excuse by the other members of Council, from three consecutive regular meetings of Council, shall automatically vacate his or her position on Council, pursuant to Section 4.05(b)(4) of the Municipal Charter.
RULE 4. Meetings.
(a) Regular meetings. Regular meetings of Council shall be held in the Council chambers in the Municipal Building on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:00 p.m., except that when any such Thursday is a legal holiday, or when for other good and sufficient reason it is impractical to hold a regularly scheduled meeting, Council shall meet in regular session on a day and at a time established by a majority vote of Council.
(b) Special meetings. Special meetings may be called by four or more members of Council, by the Mayor or by the Manager. When sufficient time before the hour of meeting permits, the Clerk shall prepare a notice of the special session, its starting time and place and the subject of the session. Such notice shall be served personally upon each member of Council and the Manager, or left at their usual places of residence at least twenty-four hours before the time of the meeting. The Clerk shall make a diligent effort to notify each member in person, either by telephone or otherwise, of such special notice. Only the matter set forth in the notice of the meeting shall be discussed at such meeting.
(c) Adjourned meetings. A session of Council may be continued or adjourned from day to day, or for more than one day, but no adjournment shall be for a longer period than the next regular meeting thereafter. An absent member shall be notified personally by telephone or by written notice serviced personally, at his or her regular place of residence, at least twenty-four hours prior to the date and hours of the reconvened adjourned meeting.
(d) Executive sessions.
(1) An executive session of Council shall be convened upon a majority vote of Council. The Mayor, any member of Council or the Manager may request that an executive session be held.
(2) Attendance at the executive session shall be limited to the Mayor, members of Council, the Clerk of Council, and the Manager, provided, however, that the Mayor and Council may invite such persons as may be required for advice and information, and at their discretion, may exclude anyone.
(3) Executive sessions shall be held for the sole purpose of consideration of the following matters, as defined more specifically in Ohio R.C. 121.22:
A. Personnel matters, with respect to specific Municipal employees, officials or licensees;
B. The purchase or sale of property;
C. A discussion with an attorney on matters in litigation or which could result in litigation;
D. Matters related to compensation and employment provisions;
E. Matters required by law to be kept confidential; or
F. Matters involving security arrangements.
RULE 5. Quorum. A majority of the members elected shall constitute a quorum at all meetings.
RULE 6. Agenda. For the purpose of receiving legislation, and for the purpose of receiving public input for the agenda content, the agenda shall be closed at noon on the Friday preceding the scheduled meeting. Any item to be placed on the agenda must be in the office of the Manager and/or the Clerk of Council prior to the above time. Items to be included on the agenda, and all reports, communications, etc., to be submitted to Council, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of Council with Manager approval, to the Police Division, or other method as designated by the Manager, for delivery to each Council member at least forty-eight hours prior to the time of the meeting. The Clerk shall make available, at his or her office, copies of the agenda and pertinent background information to the members of the press.
RULE 7. Order and Decorum. The Presiding Officer shall preserve decorum and decide all questions of order, subject to the appeal of Council.
(a) During Council meetings, members shall preserve order and decorum and shall not, either by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings or refuse to obey the orders of the Presiding Officer or the rules of Council.
(b) Municipal employees shall observe the same rules of procedure and decorum applicable to the members of Council. While the Presiding Officer has the authority to preserve decorum in meetings so far as staff members and Municipal employees are concerned, the Manager shall also be responsible for the orderly conduct and decorum of all Municipal employees under his or her direction and control.
(c) Members of the public attending Council meetings shall also observe the same rules of propriety, decorum and good conduct applicable to members of Council. Any person who makes personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing Council or while attending a Council meeting, shall be removed from the room as directed by the Presiding Officer. Such person shall be barred from further audience before Council. Any member of the public wishing to address Council shall be recognized by the Chair, shall state his or her name and address in an audible tone for the record and shall limit his or her remarks to the question under discussion.
RULE 8. Clerk. The Clerk shall keep the minutes of the meeting and shall perform such other duties in the meeting as may be required by Council. Upon request, the Clerk shall furnish each Councilmember, the Mayor and the Manager with a copy of the minutes of the meeting as soon as possible, pursuant to Section 4.09 of the Municipal Charter.
RULE 9. Law Director. The Law Director shall attend meetings of Council by request. Any member of Council may, at any time, call upon the Law Director for an oral or written opinion to decide any question of law, but not to decide upon any parliamentary rules. However, should the question to be decided require, in the opinion of the Law Director, study or investigation, he or she may defer such opinion for a reasonable time.
RULE 10. Manager. The Manager shall attend all meetings of Council. The Manager shall have the right to participate in the discussion of all matters coming before Council, but shall have no vote. The Manager shall perform such other duties, not inconsistent with Article VI of the Municipal Charter and the Ohio Revised Code, as may be requested by Council.
RULE 11. Standing and Special Committees.
(a) Immediately after the organization of Council prior to the second Thursday in January, Council shall choose, from among its members, three persons to serve on each of the standing Council committees. Such selection shall be approved by a majority vote of Council. For each committee, one member shall be designated as a Chairperson. The following are the standing committees of Council:
(1) Finance;
(2) Legal; and
(3) Services and Public Works Committee.
Such committees are in addition to the boards and commissions set forth in Article IX of the Municipal Charter and Title Eight of this Administration Code.
(b) Special committees for particular purposes may be appointed by Council at any time. Unless otherwise stated in the minutes relative to the appointment of a special committee, all such committees shall serve for the remainder of the year in which they are appointed, pursuant to Article IX of the Municipal Charter.
RULE 12. Procedures.
(a) Order of business. The following shall be the order of business:
(1) Call to Order;
(2) Pledge of Allegiance;
(3) Roll Call;
(4) Approval of Minutes;
(5) Presentations;
(6) Legislation;
(7) Reports;
(8) Other Business;
(9) Final Council and Manager comments;
(10) Guest Comments;
(11) Executive Session;
(12) Adjournment.
(b) Precedence of motions. When a question is before Council, no motion shall be entertained except:
(1) To adjourn;
(2) To lay on the table;
(3) For the previous question;
(4) To postpone to a certain time;
(5) To refer;
(6) To amend; or
(7) To postpone indefinitely.
Such motions shall have precedence in the order indicated. Motions (1) through (4) hereof shall be put to a vote without debate.
(c) Seconding motions. All motions shall be seconded, except the following:
(1) Those raising a question of privilege;
(2) Questions of order;
(3) Objections to the consideration of a question;
(4) Nominations; and
(5) Inquiries of any kind.
(d) Motion to adjourn. When not in “order-not debatable”, a motion to adjourn shall be in order at any time, except as follows:
(1) When repeated without intervening business or discussion;
(2) When made as an interruption of a member while speaking;
(3) When the previous question has been ordered; or
(4) While a vote is being taken.
(e) Motions 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 the motion of a member voting with the majority and with the consent of a majority of the members present.
(f) Motions for the previous question. When the previous question is moved and seconded by one other member, it shall be put as follows: “Shall the main question be now put?” There shall be no further amendment or debate, but pending amendments shall be put in their order before the main question. If such question is decided in the negative, the main question shall remain before Council.
(g) Division of questions. If the question contains two or more divisible propositions, the Presiding Officer may, and upon request of a Councilmember shall, divide the same.
(h) Amendments. It shall be in order to amend an ordinance at any time when it is not in the hands of a committee. If an ordinance, after the second reading, is referred to a committee and amended, it shall be read as the second reading thereof and laid over for further and final consideration.
(i) Motions to postpone. All motions to postpone, except a motion to postpone indefinitely, may be amended as to time. If a motion to postpone indefinitely is carried, the principal question shall be declared lost.
(j) Voting. When a question is put to a vote, each member present shall be required to vote “yea” or “nay”, which vote will be entered in full upon the record. Abstention from voting is permissible. When calling the roll, the Clerk shall initiate the vote with the member to the immediate left of the Councilmember who seconded the motion at hand.
(k) Reconsideration. Any member who was absent or voted with the prevailing side may move a reconsideration of any action of Council, except for measures which take immediate effect. Such a motion for reconsideration shall be made not later than the next regular meeting after the action to which it relates was taken. No motion to reconsider shall be made more than once on any measure, and such motion shall require a positive vote of a majority of all members elected to Council in order to prevail. Any member of Council may second such a motion.
(l) Appealing the Chair. An appeal may be made from any decision of the Presiding Officer (except when another appeal is pending), but it can be made only at the time the ruling is made. If such appeal is seconded, the Presiding Officer shall state clearly the question at issue and his or her reason for the decision, if he or she thinks it necessary, and then state the question as follows: “The question is, ‘Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?’” If a majority vote yes, the ruling of the Presiding Officer is sustained. Otherwise, the Presiding Officer is overruled.
(m) Speaking a second time. No member shall speak a second time to a question so long as any member who has not spoken to the question desires to speak.
(n) Procedure in absence of rule. In the absence of a rule to govern a point or procedure, the latest edition of “Robert’s Rules of Order” shall govern.
RULE 13. Amendment to Rules. This section shall remain in full force and effect from term to term, but may be repealed, amended or altered, or new rules may be adopted, by a majority vote of Council on the report of a committee to which the subject has been referred at a previous meeting. (See 1964 O.A.G. No. 898)
RULE 14. Dispensation of Rules. This section, or any part thereof, may be temporarily suspended at any meeting of Council by a majority vote of the members present.
RULE 15. Open Public Meetings. In accordance with Ohio R.C. 121.22, notification of the time and place of all regular meetings and notification of the time, place and purpose of all special meetings shall be posted on the bulletin board in the hallway of the Municipal Building by the Clerk. The Clerk shall give at least a twenty-four hour advance notification before all special meetings to those news media that have requested such notification, except in the event of an emergency, when the notification may be of a shorter time.
(A.O.; Ord. 00-22. Passed 4-6-00.)
(A.O.; Ord. 00-22. Passed 4-6-00.)