Preamble
These rules of procedure have been designed to address common questions of Council Members as well as the general public. City Council, as the legislative body, has powers as set forth in the Urbana City Charter exclusive to legislation and appropriation.
Section 1 - Meetings
1.1 Organizational Meetings
The Council shall meet annually in compliance with Urbana City Charter Section 2.05
. At the annual meeting, each Council member may be assigned to one or more committees by the President.
1.2 Regular Meetings/Quorum/Open Meetings
The Council shall meet regularly in compliance with Urbana City Charter Section 2.07
, with a quorum of at least four members to vote. As of 2015, the Council shall meet the first and third Tuesday of each month at the Urbana Municipal Building at 7:00 p.m. unless the schedule is adjusted by majority vote to avoid conflicts with holidays, etc. All meetings of Council shall be held in accordance with the general laws of Ohio pertaining to requirements for open meetings of public bodies, Ohio R.C. 121.22.
1.3 Special Meetings/Work Sessions
The Council may also hold special meetings in compliance with Urbana City Charter Section 2.07
. These meetings are often termed "work sessions" for discussion or information-gathering purposes, but on occasion a special meeting to take action may be held due to deadlines for required action by Council on legislation.
Special meetings of Council may be called upon the written request of the Mayor, or as scheduled during a regular meeting by the Council President or consensus of any four members of Council. The Clerk may give notice of a work session via e-mail, and work sessions are also open meetings.
1.4 Meeting Agendas
The Clerk of Council will deliver the agenda for every meeting at least three days prior to each regular meeting and at least one day prior to each special meeting. Anyone desiring to introduce legislation for Council's consideration shall deliver it to the Clerk by noon on the Thursday prior to a regular meeting. Proposed legislation delivered after that deadline may be placed on the agenda for the next subsequent Council meeting unless it is of an emergency nature as determined by the Director of Law.
The Clerk may deliver agendas to council members (and other City employees) as PDF (portable document format) files via e-mail and tablet devices, post the digital PDF to the City website, and shall print a sufficient number of hard copies for the public in attendance at meetings.
1.5 Record of Meetings
The Clerk shall use any available equipment to create an audio recording of each Council meeting except for executive sessions. Students from Urbana High School (pursuant to contract) shall video record the public portions of each regular meeting. The Clerk shall prepare the minutes as a summary of Council action and discussion.
In the absence of the Clerk, the President shall call for votes as needed, but the President Pro Tempore shall take written notes to assist the Clerk with preparing meeting minutes, or else prepare the minutes if the Clerk is unavailable to do so in a timely fashion. The Clerk may also designate a different substitute with at least 48 hours notice to both the President and President Pro Tempore for any planned absences.
Section 2 - Order of Business for Meetings
2.1 Call to Order. Roll Call. Pledge and Minutes
The President (or President Pro Tempore) shall promptly call the meeting to order at the appointed time and the Clerk shall call roll of all Council Members present, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. As the first order of business, the Council shall review minutes of the most recent meetings as prepared by the Clerk and recommend any corrections or changes before approval of those minutes by voice vote.
2.2 Proclamations and Presentations
Generally, the President and Council may accommodate the recitation of ceremonial resolutions and proclamations (by the Council as a body, the Council President, and/or the Mayor), as well as short presentations, such as the "swearing in" of new City officials and employees, prior to or immediately after the review of minutes as the first order of business. Resolutions of congratulations, commendations, condolences, and the like, which are not of a general and permanent nature, may be voted and acted upon immediately after one reading pursuant to Urbana City Charter Section 2.10
.
2.3 Communications
All general communications to the Council as a legislative body may be scanned to a portable document format (PDF) and sent digitally by the Clerk via e-mail along with the meeting agenda.
Unless any specific communication requires additional discussion, the communications may be accepted by consent agenda with a majority voice vote. Any Council member may make a motion to remove an item from the consent agenda for additional discussion without the need for a second. Any item removed from the consent agenda, after discussion, requires a separate majority voice vote for acceptance.
2.4 Administrative Reports
Generally, Council action on administrative reports is limited to Board of Control purchase items. Notes to the Board of Control report that are provided for information only do not require action by ordinance, resolution or motion.
2.5 Committee Reports
Any committee member may provide a report prior to consideration of legislation.
2.6. Legislation
Council shall consider any ordinances or resolutions submitted for first reading, then second reading, then third reading, unless the meeting agenda specifies otherwise.
2.7 Miscellaneous Business
The Council President may ask for miscellaneous business concerns from each Council member, and then from each department head in "round-table" fashion after legislative matters are concluded.
2.8 Executive Session
Executive sessions shall generally be held at the end of regular meetings unless a meeting agenda specifies otherwise. Every motion to enter executive session must specify the reason pursuant to Ohio R.C. 121.22(g). Prior to entering executive session, the Council President may advise whether any additional discussion or action is anticipated after the conclusion of the executive session for the public's benefit.
Section 3 - Legislative Procedure
3.1 Forms of Action by Council
All actions of Council shall be by ordinance, resolution or motion. Motions with majority voice vote shall be used to conduct the routine business of Council, in procedural matters, for elections conducted among and appointments made by Council members, to make requests of city officials, and as otherwise provided in the City Charter. All other action shall be taken by ordinance or resolution, with a roll call vote by the Clerk.
3.2 Deliberation/Discussion/Debate
The Council President shall recognize every Council member by name for deliberation, discussion and debate regarding any resolution, ordinance or motion. On first and second readings, if rules suspension has not been requested, any Council member may move to "place on the business floor for discussion" without the need for a second, subject to voice vote. For any item up for third reading or rules suspension, no Council member shall speak out of turn on the same item until every other member desiring to address it has spoken at least once. Motions to discuss on final reading of proposed legislation shall be styled "move to discuss [Ord. or Res. Number] and adopt the same."
No Council member shall speak longer than 15 minutes on the same motion, ordinance or question without the permission of the Council President.
Personal remarks during deliberations or debate are always out of order and shall be ruled as such by the Council President. Discussion must be directed to the motion on the floor, not motives and/or personalities. Council members shall confine their comments and questions to the issues and principles of proposed legislation.
3.3 Motion to Table
No motion to "table" may be made until all Council members have had an opportunity to speak at least once during discussion. A motion to "table" shall be treated as a motion to temporarily postpone discussion until the next regular meeting, and may not be used to permanently suspend deliberations on a proposed ordinance or resolution.
A motion to table shall require a two-thirds majority to take effect and shall not be made after a motion to discuss and adopt any emergency legislation. If tabled, the same Council member who moved to table shall, at the next regular meeting, move to return the legislation to the business floor for discussion. Amendments to tabled legislation may be made pursuant to Rule 5.2.
3.4 Motion to Withdraw
After discussion, any Council member making a motion may request to withdraw the motion if no other Council member has seconded the motion, or if the Council member who seconded the motion likewise requests to withdraw the second, prior to a vote. The Council President shall decide motions to withdraw.
3.5 Motion to Reconsider or Rescind.
No Council member shall make a motion to reconsider or rescind during the same regular meeting after a vote has been taken. Motions to "rescind" and "reconsider" are restorative motions, and may be used to permit Council to change or re-evaluate legislation that has been approved or voted down.
Motions to rescind shall include the original number of the ordinance or resolution, as the vote shall pertain to the original proposal as submitted to council.
Motions to reconsider shall require a new ordinance or resolution number for any changes to proposed legislation that was not passed or vetoed by the Mayor without a council override.
3.6 Votes
All Council members in attendance shall vote "yes," "no," or "abstain" in response to a roll call vote; in response to a majority voice vote, shall vote "yes," "no" or remain silent.
A Council member may not delay voting or "pass" when called upon to cast a vote.
3.7 Point of Order
Any Council member may bring a Point of Order to the attention of the Council President.
The Council President may ask the Clerk of Council or Director of Law for clarification of procedural questions at any time. In the event that state law, the City Charter or these rules do not address a particular procedural matter, the President, Council Clerk, and/or Director of Law shall consult a recognized parliamentary procedure guide such as Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, or Robert's Rules of Order. Any Council member may appeal from a point of order decided by the Council President by a motion requiring a second and approval by three-quarters majority vote of Council members present.
Section 4 - Public Comment and Questions
4.1 Addressing Council: Time limits
The Chair shall recognize any members of the public who have signed in to address Council at the allotted time unless specified otherwise in the agenda. Members of the public must use the microphone at the podium and state name and address for the minutes. Each member of the public has a time limit of five minutes to address Council, unless granted an extension by motion and vote of Council members or prior scheduling with the Clerk to be included on the agenda.
4.2 Public Questions and Answers on Issues Raised at Meetings
The public comment period is not a question-and-answer or debate session. For any issues outside the scope of Council's functions in legislation and appropriation, the Council President may refer citizens to speak with the administration or another appropriate City department and ask for a follow-up report from the administration.
Section 5 - Enacting Legislation
5.1 Introduction of Ordinances and Resolutions
Any member of Council or the City administration (division and department heads) may introduce an ordinance or resolution, at a regular or special meeting, which shall contain a concise title and one subject only with two exceptions to this rule:
(A) Appropriation ordinances, which may contain the various subjects, accounts and amounts for which monies are appropriated; and
(B) Compilations of updates to the Codified Ordinances.
All proposed legislation must be received by the Clerk of Council by the Friday preceding the meeting at which it is to be introduced for a first reading. The Clerk of Council shall distribute copies of proposed ordinances and resolutions to each Council Member along with the agenda. Legislation received after the deadline may be deferred for consideration until the next regularly-scheduled Council meeting unless authorized by the Council President or requested as an emergency.
5.2 Amendments
A pending ordinance or resolution may be amended at any time after first reading, prior to its passage by the Council, by a majority vote of the members of the Council present and voting on the amendment. Such amendment shall not require additional readings of the ordinance or resolution unless the Director of Law is absent from a meeting and unable to review the proposed amendment for conformity to state and federal law.
5.3. Voting
All Council Members present shall vote upon the Council President's call for a vote by responding YES or NO, except if the Council Member perceives a potential conflict of interest, at which time it is permissible to abstain from voting by responding "ABSTAIN" upon the call. No further elaboration need be given for abstention other than "conflict of interest," but the Council Member, in the interest of transparency, may provide a brief explanation for the minutes. Any Council Member, not being excused, who refuses to vote or abstain, may be found in contempt of Council and may be censured by a majority vote of Council.
5.4 Definition of Majority
For as long as Council consists of seven (7) members, a simple majority requires the vote of four (4) members, a two-thirds majority requires five (5) members, and a three-fourths majority requires six (6) members.
Section 6 - General
6.1 Access to Information
The Clerk shall regularly update and post minutes to the Council-specific pages of the City of Urbana's website, www.urbanaohio.com. The Clerk serves as Council's designated public records custodian.
With the exception of the Council Clerk, Council lacks authority to give orders to any City employee, and shall inquire directly with the Mayor or Director of Administration as to administrative affairs of the City (see Urbana City Charter Section 2.20
). For inquiries relating to proposed legislation, however, Council members may request explanation by a department representative, if one is present at a Council meeting or work session.
6.2 Notifications/Notice
Any notice or notification to be given by the Clerk may be given by any person designated to act on behalf of or under the authority of the Clerk. The Clerk shall maintain a record of the date and manner, and time, if pertinent under these Rules, of all actions taken with regard to notices and notifications under these Rules, and shall retain copies of proofs of publication of any notifications or notices.
6.3 Conduct of Council Members
The professional and personal conduct of Council members must be above reproach and avoid the appearance of impropriety. Council members shall refrain from abusive conduct or personal attacks upon the character or motives of other Council members as well as City staff and the general public. Council members shall prepare for meetings by reviewing agendas, minutes and other information provided, refrain from interrupting other speakers, practice civility and decorum in discussion, and avoid arguments with members of the general public during Council meetings.
6.4 Ethics
Council Members shall act with honesty and uphold the highest ethical standards so that public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity, and impartiality of government are conserved and enhanced. Each member of Council, and the Clerk of Council, shall become familiar and comply with the most current version of the Ohio Ethics Law (Revised Code Chapter 102) and related statutes such as Ohio R.C. Chapter 2921. Any Council member who believes that he or she may have a conflict of interest with a pending issue should seek the advice of the Director of Law or the Ohio Ethics Commission, prior to entering into any discussion or voting on that issue.
(Ord. 4440-15. Passed 3-17-15.)