Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 890458 - Council Meeting Rules and RegulationsORDINANCE NO. o6 58 AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE ADOPTION OF COUNCIL MEETING RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN CITY COUNCIL; PROVIDING A REPEALING CLAUSE AND SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND SETTING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Charter provides that the City Council of the City of Georgetown shall, by Ordinance, determine its own rules and order of business; and WHEREAS, the Council finds that these rules are procedurally necessary to function in an orderly/legal manner; and WHEREAS, upon passage of this Ordinance and adoption of this Policy by the City Council, the attached Rules and Order of Business will be adhered to, effective immediately, and WHEREAS, the Rules and Order of Business shall remain in effect unless otherwise changed by the City Council after an annual review following each general election; and WHEREAS, the City Council hereby finds that this action implements Policy 3, Governmental Affairs, and is not found to be inconsistent or in conflict with any other Century Plan Policies, as required by Section 2,03 of the Administrative Chapter of the Policy Plan; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN, TEXAS: SECTION I. The City Council of the City of Georgetown finds that the recitals set forth above are true and correct and are adopted herein verbatim as if fully set forth at length. SECTION II, That the City Council approves the Council Meeting Procedures, which are attached hereto, SECTION III, All Ordinances, parts of Ordinances, or Resolutions in conflict herewith are expressly repealed, SECTION IV If any article, provision, paragraph or part of a paragraph of this ordinance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the same shall not invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect of any other article, paragraph or part of a paragraph of this ordinance, SECTION V. These Rules and Procedures shall become effective upon Final Passage, READ, PASSED AND APPROVED on First Reading this 14th day of November, 1989, READ, PASSED, AND APPROVED on Second and Final Reading this 28th day of November, 1989, II tiLON Tim Kennedy, Mayor ATTEST; L,. Leslie Barone, Deputy City Secretary APPROVED; illu'to f`''ait Diane Callander, City Attorney COUNCIL MEETING PROCEDURES EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, FOLLOWING THE ADOPTION OF THIS POLICY BY THE CITY COUNCIL, THE FOLLOWING RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS WILL BE ADHERED TO, THEY SHALL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNLESS OTHERWISE CHANGED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AFTER AN ANNUAL REVIEW FOLLOWING EACH GENERAL ELECTION, SUCH ACTION IS IN KEEPING WITH SECTION 2,09 OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF GEORGETOWN WHICH STATES THAT THE COUNCIL SHALL DETERMINE ITS OWN RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS, I, MEETINGS - Three types of meetings are recognized. A. Regular Meetings will be held on the second and fourth Tuesday nights of each month. The meeting will be held at City Hall in the Council Chambers commencing at 7:00 P.M,, unless otherwise posted. The Council may reschedule or cancel meetings in order to avoid conflicts, holidays and vacation periods, Workshop Meetings, The purpose of such meetings shall be to discuss in depth or explore matters of interest to the City, a meeting with one of the City's appointed committees, or the Council alone may wish to explore a matter in detail.. The purpose of Workshop Meetings is to explore or discuss problems without taking specific action, The general public can, or course, attend such meetings if they wish, but they may not participate in the proceedings unless invited to do so, Occasionally, public hearings may be held at Workshop Meetings for the convenience of the public, C, Special Meetings may be called at any time by the City Secretary upon the request of the Mayor, the City, Manager, or three (3) Councilmembers. Notice of special meetings shall be given to all members of the Council who are not absent from the City; provided, however, that any member of the Council who did not receive notice of a special meeting may, either before or after such special meeting is held, waive such notice. It shall not be necessary to give notice to a Councilmember of a special meeting held at a time when such Councilmember is absent from the City, and it shall not be necessary for such absent Councilmember to waive such notice. II. AGENDA/CONSENT AGENDA The following stipulations relate to the Agenda for meetings of the Council: A, After approval by the Mayor, items may be placed on the agenda at the request of a Councilmember, If an item is not approved by the Mayor, then a majority plus one of the Council present may approve an item to be placed on a future agenda, The Councilmembers requesting the agenda item will be responsible for the preparation of an appropriate AGENDA ITEM COVER SHEET and for presentation at the meeting, Any staff assistance, if required, should be requested through the City Manager's office. Agenda items must reach the City Secretary's office at the City Hall by one o'clock (1:00) P,M. Wednesday of the week preceding Regular Council Meetings. Any member of the City staff wishing to have an item placed on the agenda shall submit that item to the City Manager's office for approval. The City Manager may establish procedures for submission of routine items without his approval, B. Consent Agenda: Routine matters may be placed on a consent agenda which will be treated as one agenda item, Each item included on the consent agenda must be numbered separately and be reasonably explained, Questions and explanation of consent agenda items will be permitted, but there will be no general discussion or debate, Council will vote on the consent agenda as one item; passage of the consent agenda will be passage of each item included thereon. Failure to pass the consent agenda will not defeat each item included thereon, in such event, each item will be considered individually, Before the consent agenda is voted upon, any item included shall be removed upon the request of any councilmember. Any item removed from the consent agenda upon request will be handled separately in the same manner as an agenda item. C. The agenda packets for all Regular Meetings will be delivered by staff on the Friday afternoon preceding the meetings. This should afford ample time for all Councilmembers to inquire into the nature of each matter to be discussed or to personally investigate the matter so as to better inform himself before a Council meeting. D. Notice of Meetings, The agenda for all meetings shall be posted by the City Secretary or his/her designee on the City's official bulletin board and notice of all meetings shall be given by the City Secretary pursuant to the requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Law. (Article 6252-11, V.T.C.S.) E, The City Secretary's office will assume responsibility for issuing to newspapers, radio and television stations a copy of the agenda advising them that the Regular Meeting will be held on the following Tuesday night. It Council Meeting Procedures/Page 2 of 6 is the expressed wish of the Council that a notice of Council Meetings appear in the news media at least the day before its meeting. The City Secretary's office will also assume the responsibility for compliance with the Open Meeting Law. III. CHAIRPERSON AND DUTIES A, Chairperson: The Mayor, or in his absence, the Mayor Pro -Tem, shall preside as Chairperson at all meetings of the Council, In the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro -Tem, the Council shall elect a temporary Chairperson. B, Call to Order: The meetings of the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, or in his absence, by the Mayor Pro -Tem, In the absence of both the Mayor and the Mayor Pro -Tem, the meeting shall be called to order by the City Secretary, and a temporary Chairperson shall be elected as provided above, IV. GENERAL RULES A. Quorum: Four (4) members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, B, Compelling Attendance: No member shall be excused from attendance at a Council meeting except for good and valid reasons, Notification should be made to Mayor or City Manager if Councilmember is unable to attend, Right of Floor: Any member desiring to speak shall be recognized by the Chairperson, and shall confine his or her remarks to the subject under consideration or to be considered, No member shall be allowed to speak more than once on any one subject until every member wishing to speak has spoken V, PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE In Regular and Special Meetings these rules will govern, except where the Rules are silent, the most recent edition of Robert's Rule of order shall govern, unless they are in conflict with the City Charter or State Statutes. The following commonly used procedures shall be followed: Council Meeting Procedures/Page 3 of 6 PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS, MOTIONS AND THEIR PRECEDENCE A Debat- Amend- Majority 2/3 Second able able Vote Vote Required 1, To Adjourn NO NO YES NO NO, Unless other business is pending 2, To Take a Recess NO YES YES NO NO 3, For the Previous Question NO NO YES NO YES 4. To Continue to a Time Certain YES YES YES NO YES 5 To Commit, Refer or Recommit YES YES YES NO YES 6, To Amend YES YES YES NO YES 7, To Amend an Amendment YES NO YES NO YES B. To Offer a Substitute Amendment YES YES YES NO YES 9. To Amend a Substitute Amendment YES NO YES NO YES 10, To Table NO NO YES NO YES 11, Bring From Table YES NO YES NO YES 12, Reconsider Prior Action YES YES YES NO YES Any Councilmember may call for the question of the issue, and upon seconding by another Councilmember, the question of the issue shall immediately be put to vote, This shall be done Council Meeting Procedures/Page 4 of 6 by the member calling for the previous question. Passage of the motion to address the previous question shall terminate debate on the motion, amendment or amend motion, and the matter shall move on immediately, The Council may agree to limit debate on any business before it. That agreement may be formalized by a majority of the Council on roll call vote. Any member may request a roll call vote at any time. VI. CODE OF CONDUCT A. Councilmembers: During Council meetings, Councilmembers shall preserve order and decorum and shall neither by conversation or otherwise delay or interrupt the proceedings nor refuse to obey the orders of the Mayor or presiding officer or the rules of the Council. B. Citizens: Citizens are welcome and invited to attend all meetings of the Council, and will be admitted to the Council Chamber up to the fire safety capacity of the room. VII. DECORUM AND DEBATE No member shall speak more than the time limits provided herein on any subject or amendment, and such member may use his/her time in any combination, in separate speech or comments totaling the number of minutes permitted. The Mayor shall not be obligated to recognize any Councilmember for a second comment on the subject or amendment until every Councilmember wishing to speak has been allowed a first comment. Councilmembers shall also have the right to yield a portion of time to another member. Any member deciding to speak more than five minutes on any question or more than five minutes on any amendment to the question shall be accorded the privilege without objection upon motion supported by majority plus one of the Council, No member shall be permitted to interrupt while another member is speaking. No Councilmember shall be permitted to indulge in personalities, use offensive language, arraign motives of members, charge deliberate misrepresentation, or use language tending to hold a member of the City Council in contempt. If a member is speaking or otherwise transgressing the rules of the Council, the presiding officer shall or any Councilmember may call him/her to order in which case he/she Council Meeting Procedures/Page 5 of 6 shall immediately be quiet unless permitted to explain, The Council shall, if appealed to, decide the case without debate. If the decision is in favor of the member called to order, he/she shall be at liberty to proceed, but not otherwise. VIII.CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, AND MOTIONS A. Majority Vote Required: An affirmative vote of a majority of the Council present and qualified to vote is necessary to repeal any ordinance or take any official action in the name of the City except as otherwise provided in the Charter or by the laws of the State of Texas, B. Voting Required: No member shall be excused from voting except on matters involving the consideration of his own official conduct, or where his personal interests are involved, and in these instances he shall abstain. Any member prohibited from voting by personal interest shall announce at the commencement of consideration of the matter and shall not enter into discussion or debate on any such matter and shall have previously filed an affidavit stating the conflict of interest. The member having briefly stated the reason for his request, the excuse from voting shall be made without debate, 2. Any member who reasonably believes that his/her voting on a matter would create an appearance of impropriety shall be excused from voting. That member shall state publicly the reason(s) she/he believes voting would be improper, C. Any abstention by a Councilmember shall be treated as if that member was absent, D, Motion to Reconsider: When a question has once been determined by the Council, the same question shall not again be considered until ninety (90) days thereafter, and then only by motion to reconsider made by a member who voted with the prevailing side of such question and in accordance with II, A, IX, SUSPENSION OF ROLES Any one or all of the provisions of this provision may be suspended by a vote of majority plus one of the members of the Council present, except such provisions that embody provisions of the Charter, identically or substantially. Council Meeting Procedures/Page 6 of 6