§ 2.06. Council rules of order.

(a)

Order of Business. The following order of business shall be followed in all meetings of the City Council: At the hour selected for the meeting, the Mayor shall instruct the Clerk to proceed to call the roll of Aldermen, mark the absentees and announce whether a quorum is present. If the Mayor is not present, the Clerk shall act as chair of the meeting until a Mayor Pro-Tem is elected. If a quorum is present, the Council shall be called to order. The Mayor shall take the chair. If the Mayor is not present, the Council shall elect a Mayor Pro-Tem.

When a quorum is present, the Council shall then proceed to the business before it, which shall be conducted in the following manner:

1.

Pledge of allegiance.

2.

Roll call.

3.

Receipt of written communications and petitions from the public.

4.

Public forum.

5.

Announcements, proclamations and presentations.

6.

Consent agenda.

A.

Minutes of Proceedings. Minutes of proceedings of the last preceding meeting or meetings; approval of the same as published or as amended, if amendment be made.

B.

Accounts Payable. Accounts payable shall be included as part of the consent agenda, the total dollar amount thereof to be listed on same.

An item shall be removed from the consent agenda on the request of one alderman. Such item shall then be considered immediately following approval of the consent agenda. Yeas and nays shall be taken on approval of consent agenda and recorded in the minutes.

7.

Special items of public interest or for public discussion.

8.

Report of committees:

A.

Standing.

(1)

Majority report.

(2)

Minority report.

B.

Special.

(1)

Majority report.

(2)

Minority report.

9.

Reports and recommendations of elected officials and the City Manager.

10.

Ordinances.

11.

Resolutions.

12.

Other business.

(b)

Priority of Business. All questions relating to the priority of business shall be decided by the chair without debate, subject to appeal to the Council.

(c)

Preservation of Order. The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum and may speak to points of order in preference to other members.

(d)

Points of Order. The presiding officer shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the Council.

(e)

Admission Within Bar. During the session of the Council, only City officers shall be admitted within the bar of the Council room, except upon invitation of the presiding officer.

(f)

Addressing the City Council.

1.

No person not a member of the Council shall address the Council without the consent of a majority of the members present, except during the public forum section of the City Council agenda. The presiding officer, without consent of the Council, may recognize the City Clerk, City Treasurer, City Attorney or City Manager. Any Alderman, upon recognition by the presiding officer, may address and seek comments from the City Clerk, City Treasurer, City Attorney, City Manager or any other City staff member as required.

During public forum, any member of the public may address the Council on any subject, provided the person speaking first completes the public forum sign-in sheet provided by the City Clerk and identifies himself or herself. The person wishing to speak may address the City Council after he or she is called upon by the presiding officer or the City Clerk. All comments shall be addressed to the presiding officer. The presiding officer may impose reasonable limits on the time to be allowed for public forum and for each speaker who takes part therein, giving consideration to the probable number of speakers and the work before the Council, including other items on the agenda. The presiding officer shall have the power to limit repetitive statements in addition to other powers granted by ordinance.

(g)

Prohibited Behavior During Meetings/Removal of Persons. No person attending any City Council meeting may engage in the following behaviors:

1.

Conduct in violation of any City ordinance, state or federal law, or any rule or regulation implementing City, state or federal law.

2.

Interruption of speakers or other behavior which interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting;

3.

Offensive use of abusive, obscene, profane, slanderous or threatening language or gestures;

4.

Acting or behaving in such an unreasonable manner so as to alarm or disturb another and to provoke a breach of the peace; and

5.

Any other act designed to intimidate, threaten or harm persons, or damage or destroy property.

The presiding officer has the power to require individuals who have engaged in the above-listed prohibited behavior to leave the meeting or to order the individual to be removed. The person to be removed from the meeting has no right to appeal from such an order; however, such an order may be appealed by any member of the Council present at the meeting. Any ruling by the presiding officer may be overruled by a majority of the Aldermen present at such meeting. This Section shall not be construed to suppress the right to lawful assembly, picketing, public speaking, or other lawful means of expressing public opinion not in contravention of other laws.

(h)

Executive Sessions. The Council may at any time, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present, resolve itself into executive session, at which session all but members of the Council may be excluded.

(i)

Presentation of Communications, Etc. An Alderman wishing to present a communication, petition, order, resolution or other original matter shall first obtain recognition by the presiding officer and shall briefly state its nature before presenting the same. Any report or communication from an Alderman, the subject matter of which has not been referred to his committee, shall appear in the Council order of business under subsection (a)(8) hereof.

(j)

Limitations on Debate. No Alderman, without leave of the Council, shall speak more than once upon the same subject, until every member desirous of speaking shall have had an opportunity to speak. No Alderman shall speak longer than five minutes at any one time, except by consent of the Council.

(k)

Private Discourse. While an Alderman is speaking, no member shall hold any private discourse.

(l)

Special Order of Business. Any matter before the Council may be set down as a special order of business at a time certain pursuant to rule (gg) hereof.

(m)

Motions. No motion shall be put or debated unless it is seconded. When a motion is seconded, it shall be stated by the presiding officer before debate, and if required by Council, any such motion shall be reduced to writing by the maker and the maker of the motion shall first be entitled to the floor.

(n)

Withdrawal of Motion. After a motion or resolution is stated by the presiding officer, it shall be deemed to be in possession of the Council, but may be withdrawn at any time before decision or amendment, by unanimous consent of the Council.

(o)

Division of Question. If the question under consideration contains several distinct propositions, any Alderman may have the same divided when the sense admits of it.

(p)

Names of Persons Moving and Seconding. In all cases where a resolution or motion is entered on the minutes of the Council, the names of the Aldermen moving and seconding the same shall also be entered on the minutes.

(q)

(Repealed)

(r)

Motions in Order. When a motion is under debate the only motions in order shall be:

(1)

To adjourn to a day certain,

(2)

To adjourn,

(3)

To lay on the table,

(4)

The previous question,

(5)

To refer,

(6)

To amend or amend the amendment,

(7)

To substitute, or

(8)

To postpone indefinitely or to a day certain.

Of these motions, those numbered (2), (3) and (4) shall be decided without debate.

(s)

Motions to Adjourn. A motion to adjourn the Council shall always be in order except:

(1)

When an Alderman is in possession of the floor,

(2)

When the Aldermen are voting,

(3)

When adjournment was the last preceding motion, and

(4)

When it has been decided that the previous question shall be taken.

An unqualified motion to adjourn cannot be amended, but a motion to adjourn to a time named may be and is open to debate.

(t)

Moving the Previous Question. When the previous question is moved and seconded, it shall be put in this form: "Shall the previous question now be put?" If this is carried, all further amendments and all further motions and debate shall be excluded, and the question put, without delay, upon the pending amendments in proper order, and then upon the main question.

(u)

Motions to Lay on Table; Motion to Take Matter from Table. An unqualified motion to lay a question on the table is not debatable, but a motion to lay on the table and publish, or with other condition, is subject to amendment and debate. A motion to take a subject matter from the table may be adopted at the same meeting.

(v)

Indefinite Postponement of Motion. When a motion is postponed indefinitely, it shall not be again taken up at the same meeting.

(w)

Motion to Refer to Committee. A motion to refer to a standing committee shall take precedence of a similar motion for a special committee.

(x)

Motions to Amend. Motions to amend communications or committee report recommendations shall be in order; provided, however, that a motion to amend a committee report to include the signature of a committee member who was absent from the committee meeting regarding which the report was drafted shall not be in order if the motion would change the outcome of the committee report recommendation.

A motion to accept a communication or committee report shall include acceptance and authorization to present the appropriate ordinance, resolution and/or motion to act in accordance with any recommendation therein for vote by the Council at the first meeting of the Council after receipt and acceptance of the report.

Motions to amend motions to amend shall be in order. However, after any motion to amend shall have been acted upon, another motion to amend shall not be in order. After a motion to amend is acted upon, another motion to amend may be proposed.

All amendments shall be submitted to the chair in writing when determined by the presiding officer or the City Clerk that the Council or the City Clerk lack accurate knowledge of the proposed amendment.

(y)

Substitute Motions. A substitute of any original proposition in debate may be entertained when further amendment is not admissible. If accepted by the mover and second of such original proposition or by the Council by vote, it shall entirely supersede such original proposition and cut off all amendments appertaining to such original proposition.

A motion to substitute a minority report for a majority report shall be proper and may be passed by a vote of the majority of the Aldermen present.

(z)

Reconsideration. A vote on a question may be reconsidered at any time during the same meeting or not later than during the first regular meeting thereafter. A motion for reconsideration, being once made and decided in the negative, shall not be renewed, nor shall a vote to reconsider be reconsidered.

A motion to reconsider must be made and seconded by Aldermen who voted in the majority.

(aa)

Reconsideration; Special Meetings. No vote of the Council shall be reconsidered or rescinded at a special meeting, unless there are present at the special meeting as many Aldermen as were present when the vote was taken.

(bb)

Resumption of Business at Regular Meetings. The Council shall at all regular meetings resume business at the same order on which it was engaged immediately preceding the last adjournment, with the exceptions of items numbered 1. through 6. of the order of business set out in subsection (a) of this Section, which items shall be called and disposed of before resuming business herein provided.

(cc)

Proposed Ordinances; Reading; Passage. All proposed ordinances or amendments thereto, before being presented to the Council shall be reduced to writing and handed to the Clerk.

The number and title of all proposed ordinances shall be read aloud by the Clerk during the meeting at which that ordinance is presented for passage. Upon request of the Mayor or an Alderman, the entire text of the proposed ordinance shall be read by the Clerk at that meeting. The passage of an ordinance resulting from the recommendation of a committee report shall not be sooner than the first meeting of the Council after receipt and acceptance of the report.

A proposed ordinance shall be held for passage until the next meeting of the Council if three Aldermen so request and submit such a request in writing to the City Clerk prior to the first Alderman's response to the roll call on the proposed ordinance. This request by three Aldermen may be made in the committee report proposing said ordinance. No proposed ordinance shall be deferred under this section if any deadline for passage of the ordinance would not be met.

(dd)

Referral of Matters to Committee. Every referral will be required to have at least two aldermanic proponents. Thus, such referral will ensure minimum support to warrant Committee and Council consideration and action. Regardless of the creation date of any referral to a committee, such referral will have a determined life. Referrals not acted upon by the Committee to which it was assigned shall expire by April 30th of each odd-numbered year. This date coincides with the end of each sitting Council every two years and, therefore, the maximum life of any referral may be up to two years. Any referral that has expired can be resubmitted at the beginning of a new Council. The Chairman of any standing Committee may also reintroduce any expired referral, at the inception of the new Council. The City Manager may refer matters to the appropriate Committee.

(ee)

Amendment or Repeal of Rules. The rules set out in this Section may be amended or repealed at any regular or special meeting of the Council; provided, however, that written notice of any such amendment or motion for repeal shall have been presented to the Council at a prior meeting of the Council.

(ff)

Robert's Rules of Order. The rules of parliamentary practice comprised in "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, latest edition," shall govern the Council in all cases to which they are applicable, and in which they are not inconsistent with these standing rules.

(gg)

Suspension of Rules. The rules set out in this Section may be temporarily suspended in any meeting by a vote of two-thirds of the Aldermen present, except for rules in subsections (b), (z), (aa) and (ee) of this Section, which may be temporarily suspended upon a unanimous vote of the Aldermen present at any meeting.

(hh)

Reports of Committees. Upon request of any two Aldermen present, any report of a committee of the Council shall be deferred without debate to the next meeting of the Council after the report is made. Deferral of any report under this Section shall be made only once. No proposed report shall be deferred under this Section if any deadline for completion of the action which is the subject matter of the report would not be met. At a Council meeting, the Chairman or in his or her absence, the Vice Chairman of a Committee may remove a report from the agenda and return said report to his or her Committee.

Upon the adoption of any communication or committee report recommendation, the appropriate ordinance, resolution or motion to act in accordance with any recommendation therein shall be presented for vote at a subsequent regular meeting of the Council.

The City Clerk shall read aloud only the recommendation contained in any committee report presented to the City Council under the order of business of subsection (a), except that upon the request of any two Aldermen present, any report of a committee shall be read in full.

(ii)

Minutes. Minutes of the previous meeting of the Council need not be accepted by the Council for the conduct of the Council's business, including the consideration of matters from the previous meeting.

(jj)

Conduct of Meetings Via Electronic Means. The City Council may provide for the conduct of its meetings via electronic means, provided no meetings shall be held via such means until the Council shall have first promulgated rules therefor. Such rules, as amended from time to time, shall be approved by motion.

(4/8/74; 4/21/75; 10/20/75; 9/5/78; 4/6/87; 4/20/87; 11/12/88; 7/15/91; 3/16/92; 7/20/92; 11/3/97; Ord. 6-99 § 1; Ord. 23-2003 § 1; Ord. 1-2005 § 1)

(Ord. No. 15-2011, § 2, 11-7-2011; Ord. No. 10-2015, §§ 2, 3, 4-6-2015; Ord. No. 15-2015, §§ 2, 3, 4-1-2015)