(a) Meetings.
(1) Regular meetings. Regular meetings of Council shall be held in the Council chambers at 7:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday of each month, provided that regular meetings may be held once only during the months of July and August. Regular meetings shall be held in the Council chambers on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. whenever the date of a regular meeting falls on a legal holiday. 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 the President of Council, 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, the President of Council, or by three members of Council, shall be given to each member of Council and to the Mayor by personal service or delivery thereof at their usual place of residence, but members of Council may waive such notice by their attendance at such special meeting.
(b) The Chair; Powers and Duties.
(1) 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 be called by the Clerk, who shall enter in the journal of each meeting the names of 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.
(2) Temporary chairman. In the case of the absence of the Mayor and the President of Council, the Clerk shall call the Council to order. The Clerk 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 of the President of Council.
(3) Substitute chairman. The chair, i.e. 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.
(4) 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 these 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.
(5) 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.
(c) Members' Duties and Privileges.
(1) Seating arrangement. Seats in the Council chamber shall be numbered in order and all new members shall occupy all vacant seats after drawing same by lot at the beginning of their term, except in the case of the President of Council who shall sit at the right of the Mayor, and his seat shall be number one.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
(4) Voting. Every member present when a question is put shall vote on the same, unless Council, for special reasons, excuses 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.
(5) Division of a question. On demand on any member, a question under consideration which covers two or more points shall be divided where the question admits of such division.
(6) 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.
(7) Excusal during meeting. No member shall be excused while Council is in session except upon permission of the chair.
(d) Order of Business.
(1) 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.
(1964 Code §20.1)
C. Emergency legislation and reports and communications from the Mayor, Clerk and other City officials, having been filed with the Clerk not later than 12:00 noon on Wednesday next preceding the meeting day. (Ord. 4-68. Passed 2-5-68.)
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 not later than 12:00 noon on the Friday next 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 is granted by a majority vote of the members present.
E. Second reading of ordinances and resolutions.
F. Third reading of ordinances and resolutions.
G. Reports of Committee of the Whole.
H. Reports of standing committees.
I. Reports of special committees.
J. 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.
(2) Old business. Following the 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 herein. For special meetings, see Article III Section 9.0(b) of the Charter.
(1964 Code §20.1)
(e) Committees.
(1) Appointment. The following standing committees consisting of four members each are hereby authorized. Appointment of members to such committees shall be made by the President of Council, subject to confirmation of a majority vote of Council.
A. Finance Committee;
B. Safety Committee;
C. Streets Committee;
D. Utilities and Environment Committee;
E. Buildings and Grounds Committee;
F. Parks and Forestry Committee;
G. Annexation and Zoning Committee;
H. Employee and Community Relations Committee.
The Mayor may appoint such special committees as he deems necessary provided that matters referred to or pending before a standing committee without consent of its members be referred to or considered by a special committee. (Ord. 12-2004. Passed 2-18-04.)
(2) 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.
(3) Meetings. Committees shall meet on call of the chairman, or on request of two members, communicated to the Clerk.
(4) Quorum. A majority of the members of a committee shall constitute a quorum.
(5) Temporary chairman. In the absence of the chairman, the member named next shall act as temporary chairman.
(6) Secretary to committees. The Clerk or one of his assistants shall act as secretary to each committee and shall keep a record of attendance and business transacted at meetings thereof.
(7) 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 repot at such time shall be considered as if reported back without recommendation, unless the time for report is extended by Council. If no such extension is granted, the committee shall forthwith return to the Clerk the documents pertaining thereto, and the matter shall take its appropriate place on the calendar.
(f) Motions.
(1) 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, or the Charter, 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.
(2) 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 certain time.
E. To refer.
F. To amend.
G. To postpone indefinitely.
Such motions shall have precedence in the foregoing order.
(3) Motion to adjourn. Motions 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 the time to which the meeting is adjourned.
(4) 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.
(5) 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 present favor it. If the motion is ordered, there shall be no further amendment or debate, but the question shall be put immediately.
(6) 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.
(7) 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.
(8) Motion to suspend rules. A motion to suspend the rule which requires three readings shall be debatable. Upon the passage of such motion, the main question shall be open to debate. All other rules may be suspended by a majority of members of Council present without debate.
(9) Motion to reconsider. A motion to reconsider a proposal that has been acted upon favorably must 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.
(g) Miscellaneous.
(1) 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 in parliamentary bodies.
(2) 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.
(4) Emergency measures. A roll call shall first be taken on the emergency clause and then a roll call on the legislation as a whole.
(5) "Majority." Whenever the term "majority" is used herein, unless otherwise expressly indicated, it shall be held to mean a majority of those members elected to Council.
(6) 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.
(7) Quorum. A majority of all members elected to Council shall constitute a quorum.
(8) Director of Law. The Director of Law 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 may, if he deems the matter of importance, take a reasonable time to submit his opinion in writing. He shall not be required to draw any ordinance or resolution except upon a majority vote of the members.
(1964 Code §20.1)