(a) General Matters.
(1) Presiding Officer is generally the Mayor or the chair of any Council, Board and/or Commission.
A. Maintaining Order. The following behaviors, when they actually cause disruption of a meeting are prohibited and provide grounds for the Presiding Officer to declare a speaker out of order. The Presiding Officer, with the assistance of the Vienna Police Department, may expel a person from any meeting if they refuse to cease their disruptive behavior and may call for security to physically remove or arrest any persons who persist in actual disruption. These types of disruptions may include but are not limited to:
1. Creating or participating in a physical disturbance,
2. Speaking out of turn or in violation of applicable rules (including time limits),
3. Preventing or attempting to prevent others who have the floor from speaking,
4. Preventing or impeding others from observing the meeting and
5. Entering into or remaining in an area of the meeting room that is not open to the public.
B. Enforcement. Disruptive behavior, as described more fully above, may result in removal from a meeting and/or arrest and prosecution. Any law enforcement officers on duty may serve as the Sergeant-at-Arms of meetings. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the Presiding Officer for the purpose of maintaining order at meetings.
(b) Public Comment: Speaking at City of Vienna Meetings.
(1) Public Comment: General Rules.
A. Public comment will only be made under the Public Comment portion of the agenda.
B. The Presiding Officer has the authority to refer speakers to the appropriate department heads or council member, as necessary, for answers to questions asked during meetings. Discussion with city staff may occur after the meeting or during normal work hours but not during the public meeting itself.
C. The public will not be permitted to ask questions or make comments during any other portion ofthe meeting, unless approved otherwise by the Presiding Officer.
D. Any person desiring to address Council/City Staff/Board/Commission and/or Committee members must first sign-in prior to the start of the meeting as outlined below.
E. Speakers shall use the microphone provided for the public and speak in a recordable tone, either personally or with assistance, if necessary.
F. Sign-in Sheet - Anyone wishing to speak during the public comment portion of a meeting must sign in. The Sign-in Sheet will be located at the podium prior to the start of the meeting. When the meeting begins the sign-in sheet will be removed from the podium and given to the Presiding Officer. Once the Sign-in Sheet is removed from the podium, the public is no longer able to sign-up for public comment.
G. Time Limits- The time for public comment shall not exceed five (5) minutes per speaker unless more time is granted by majority vote of Council.
H. The total time limit for the public comment portion of any proceeding shall not exceed thirty (30) minutes unless, more time is granted by the majority of Council.
I. Statements are to be directed to the governing body as a whole and not to individual members. Public comment does not require any member of the governing body to provide any answer to the speaker.
J. A speaker may sign up only one time per each meeting and may not cede his or her time to another commenter.
K. The Presiding Officer will call each speaker who has signed in to the podium, and the speakers will state their name and addresses. The Presiding Officer will then begin the timer.
L. The City of Vienna complies with the Open Governmental Proceedings Act (WV Code §6-9A-1 through 12) as set forth by the WV State Code.
M. Permanent Record of Public Comments - Public Comments shall be heard after the Call to Order for Vienna City Council meetings, and thus shall be part of the official record. The recording of all public comments are to be performed by the City Recorder and are to include either the verbatim statements, or an accurate summation thereof, of the statements and/or comments of all public comment speakers in the official minutes.
(c) It is not reasonable to expect staff to respond on a moment's notice to any issue on which they may or may not be prepared to respond.
(Ord. 02-2021. Passed 2-25-21.)