HomeMy WebLinkAbout(1981, 02/09) - A-10 - AmendedA -10
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PROCEDURAL RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
1. Re ular Meeti s. The City Council shall hold regular meetings
on the second ihA fourth Mondays in each month at the hour of
7:30 p.m. in the "C,ouncil Chamber of the City Hall, 3300 Newport a
Boulevard, in the pity, or in such other place within the City
limits to which said meeting may be adjourned. If by reason of
fire, flood, or othee\emergency, it shall be unsafe to meet in
the City' Hall, the mee' ings may be held for the duration of the
emergency at such other` place as is designated by the Mayor or,
if the Mayor should fail\to act, by four members on the City
Council. When the day for any regular meeting falls on a legal
holiday, no meeting shall`e held on such holiday, but a regular
meeting shall be held at the same hour on the following business
day. '
2. Study Sessions. The City Council shall meet in a study session
on the second and fourth Monda} in each month at the hour of
2:00 p.m. in the Council Chambeft of the City Hall, or at such
other places as may be determineh by the Council, for the purpose
of hearing reports from the staff and reviewing, discussing and
debating matters of interest to th4, City. Such session shall be
open to the public and press. No official action shall be taken
at a study session; provided, howeveri that nothing herein shall
be deemed to prevent the taking of an'Ynformal vote on any matter
under discussion. The participation of'-the public in such sessions
shall be subject to the discretion of th4i Presiding Officer.
3. Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called at any time
by the Mayor, or by four members of the City Cauncil, by delivering
personally or by mailing written.notice to each``Council member and
to each local newspaper of general circulation, radio or television
station requesting notice in writing. Such notice,must be delivered
personally or by mail and shall be received at least 24 hours before
the time of such meeting as specified in the notice. The call and
notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and
the business to be transacted. No other business shall.be considered
at such meetings. Such written notice may be dispensed with as to
any Council member who at or prior to the time the meeting convenes,
files with the City Clerk a written waiver of notice. Such waiver
may be given by telegram. Such written notice may also be dispensed
with as to any member who is actually present at the meeting at the
time it convenes.
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4. Meetings to be Public - ExceQtion for Closed Sessions. All regular
and special meetings of the City Council shall be public; provided,
however, the City Council may hold closed sessions during a regular,
special or study session meeting, from which the public may be
excluded, for the purposes of considering the matters referred to
in Sections 54947 and 54957.6 of the Government Code of the State of
California and case law interpretations of the Ralph M. Brown Act,
to wit:
A. To consult with the Attorney General, district attorney,
Sheriff or Chief of Police on matters posing a threat to the
security of public buildings or a threat to the public's
right of access to public services or public facilities;
B. To consider matters affecting the national security;
C. To confer with legal counsel concerning pending or anticipated
litigation;
D. To enable the Council to meet with and instruct its designated
representatives prior to and during consultations and discussions
with representatives of employee organizations regarding the
salaries, salary schedules or compensation paid in the form of
fringe benefits of employees, and for the purpose of meeting
with a state conciliator who has intervened in the proceedings;
and
E. To consider the appointment, employment or dismissal of a public
employee or to hear complaints or charges brought against such
employee by another person or employee unless such employee
requests a public hearing. Notwithstanding any of the provisions
of this paragraph, the City Council shall not consider the
appointment to any board, commission or committee in closed
session nor shall such appointment be voted upon by secret ballot.
Prior to or after holding any closed session, the City Council
shall state the general reason or reasons for the closed session
and may cite the statutory or other legal authority under which
the session is being held. In the closed session the City Council
may consider only those matters covered in its statement. In the
case of special, adjourned and continued meetings, the statement
shall be made as a part of the notice provided for the special,
adjourned or continued meeting. Nothing in this paragraph, however,
shall be construed to require or authorize the giving of names
or other information which would constitute an invasion of privacy
or otherwise unnecessarily divulge the particular facts concerning
the closed session.
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No member of the City Council, employee of the City, or any
other person present during a closed session of the Council
shall disclose to any person the content or substance of any
discussion which took place during said closed session unless
the City Council shall authorize the disclosure of such
information by majority vote. Provided, however, the City Council
shall publicly report at the public meeting during which the
closed session is held or at,its next public meeting any action
taken and any roll call vote thereon, to appoint, employ or
dismiss a public employee arising out of said closed session
of the City Council.
5. Agenda. All reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions,
contract documents, or other matters to be submitted to the
Council at a regular meeting shall be delivered to the City
Clerk not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the
meeting. The City Clerk shall prepare the agenda of all such
matters under the direction of the City Manager. The agenda
shall be delivered to the Council members on the Thursday
preceding the Monday Council meeting to which it pertains and
shall be made available to the public no later than 8:30 a.m.
on the Friday preceding the meeting.
6. Council Correspondence.
a) Placing on Agenda. Correspondence received in the City
Clerk's Office or other offUes after 5:00 p.m. on the
Tuesday preceding a regular Council meeting shall not be
placed on the agenda unless it.concerns a matter to be
considered by the Council at the.,next regular meeting or
is determined by the Mayor or the City Manager to be an
urgent matter which should be brought to the immediate
attention of the Council. Correspondence shall not be
read aloud at a Council meeting unless requested by a
majority vote of the Council.
b) Authority of City Clerk. The City Clerk is authorized
to open and examine all mail or other written communica-
tions addressed to the City Council and to immediately
give a copy to the City Manager. The City Manager shall
give it immediate attention to the end that all administra-
tive business referred to in said communication and not
necessarily requiring Council action may be acted upon
between Council meetings, or shall prepare a staff report
for the next Council meeting.
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7. Order of Business. The business of the Council shall be taken
up for the consideration and disposition in the following order:
1. Pledge of allegiance;
2. Invocation;
3. Call to order and roll call;
4. Special presentations;
5. Approval of the Minutes;
6. Waiver of reading of ordinances and resolutions;
7. Public hearings;
8. Public comments;
9. Consent Calendar;
10. Disposition of items removed from Consent Calendar;
11. Ordinances for adoption;
12. Continued business;
13. Current business;
14. Additional business; and
15. Adjournment.
The order of business shall not be changed except by majority
vote of the City Council.
8. Consideration of Items of Additional Business. Any member of the
City Council, City staff, or the public who desires that an item
of additional business be considered by the Council may request
such consideration during either a study session or regular or
special meeting. With the concurrence of the Council, the item
shall be placed on the agenda under Additional Business for formal
disposition. It is the general policy of the City Council to limit
items of Additional Business to those of an emergency nature or
those for which immediate attention is deemed desirable.
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is9. Preparation of Minutes. The City Clerk shall have exclusive
responsibility for preparation of the minutes, and any directions
for changes in the minutes shall be made only by majority action
of the City Council.
10. Reading of Minutes. Unless the reading of the minutes of a
Council meeting is ordered by a majority vote of the Council,
such minutes may be approved without reading if the City Clerk
previously furnished each Council member with a copy.
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11. Presiding Officer. The Mayor shall be the Presiding Officer at
all meetings of the City Council. In the absence of the Mayor,
or at the Mayor's request, the Mayor Pro Tempore shall preside.
In the absence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore, the City
Clerk shall call the Council to order, whereupon a temporary
Presiding Officer shall be elected by the Council members present
to serve until the arrival of the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tempore.
12. Powers and Duties of Presiding Officer.
a) Participation. The Presiding Officer may move,
debate and vote from the Chair.
b) Seating Arrangement for City Council. Following
each councilmanic election, members of the City Council
shall be seated at the Council table with senior
Council members having first choice of seats. The
Mayor, however, shall be seated in the center of the
Council table and the Mayor Pro Tempore_ shall always
be seated immediately next to and to the right of
the Mayor. In the event of equal seniority among
members of the COuUc il, selection of Council seats
shall be made alphabetically.
c) Question to be Stated. The Presiding Officer or
such member of the City staff as he or she may
designate shall verbally restate each question
immediately prior to calling for the vote. Following
the vote, the City Clerk shall announce whether the
question carried or was defeated. The Presiding
Officer in his or her discretion may publicly explain
the effect of a vote for the audience, or he or she
may direct a member of the City Staff to do so,
before proceeding.to the next item of business.
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d) Signing of Documents. The Presiding Officer shall
sign all ordinances, resolutions, contracts and other
documents necessitating his or her signature which
were adopted in his or her presence, unless he or she
is unavailable, in .which case the signature of an
alternate Presiding Officer may be used.
e) Sworn'Ttimony. The Presiding Officer may require
any P e srson addressing the City Council to be sworn
as a witness and to testify under oath, and the
Presiding Officer shall so require if directed to
do so by a majority vote of the Council.
13. Rules of Debate.
a) Getting the Floor. Every Council member desiring
to speak shall first address the Chair, gain recogni-
tion by the Presiding Officer, and shall confine
himself to the question under debate, avoiding
personalities and indecorous language.
b) Questions to Staff. Every Council member desiring
to question the City staff shall, after recognition
by the Presiding Officer, address the questions to
the City Manager, the City Clerk or the City Attorney,
who shall be entitled either to answer the inquiry
himself or to designate a member,of his staff for
that purpose.
C) Interruptions. A Council member, once recognized,
shall not be interrupted when speaking unless called
to order by the Presiding Officer, unless a point of
order or personal privilege is raised by another
Council member, or unless the speaker chooses to yield
to a question by another Council member. If a Council
member, while speaking, is called to order, he or she
shall cease speaking until the question of order is
determined and, if determined to be in order, he or
she may proceed. Members of the City staff after
recognition by the Presiding Officer shall hold the
floor until completion of their remarks or until
recognition is withdrawn by the Presiding Officer.
d) Points of Order. The Presiding Officer shall determine
all points of order subject to the right of any Council
member to appeal to the Council. If an appeal is taken,
the question shall be "Shall the decision of the Presid-
ing Officer be sustained ?" A majority vote shall
conclusively determine such question of order.
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e)' Point of Personal Privilege. The right of a Council
member to address the Council on a question of personal
privilege shall be.limited to cases in which the integrity,
character or motives are questioned or where the welfare
of the Council is concerned. A Council member raising a
point of personal privilege may interrupt another Council
member who has the floor only if the Presiding Officer
recognizes the privilege.
f) Privilege of Closing Debate. The Council member moving
the adoption of an ordinance, resolution or motion shall
have the privilege of closing.debate.
g) Limitation of Debate. No Council member shall be allowed
to speak mote than once upon any particular subject until
every other Council member desiring to do so shall have
spoken.
14. Remarks of Council Memb6p and Synopsis of Debate. A Council
member may request through the Presiding Officer the privilege
of having an abstract of his or her statement on any subject
under consideration by the Council entered in the minutes. If
the Council consents thereto, such statement shall be entered
in the minutes.
15.' Protest Against Council Action. Any Council member shall have
the right to have the reasons for`,,his or her dissent from, of
his or her protest against, any action of the Council entered
in the minutes. Such dissent or protest to be entered in to
the minutes shall be made in the following manner: "I would
like the minutes to show that I am opposed to this action for
the following reasons..... it
16. Rules of Order. Except as provided in this Code, the City
Charter, other rules or practices followed by the City Council,
or applicable provisions of State law, the procedures of the
Council shall be governed by the latest revised edition of
Roberts' Rules of Order.
17. Failure to Observe Rules of Order. Rules adopted to expedite
the transaction of the business of the Council in an orderly
fashion are deemed to be precedural only and the failure to
strictly observe such rules shall not affect the jurisdiction
of the Council or invalidate any action taken at a meeting
that is otherwise held in conformity with law.
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18. Addressing the Council
19. Rules of Decorum.
a) Council Members. While the Council is in session, the
members must preserve order and decorum. Each Council
member shall conduct himself with decorum and shall neither,
by conversation or otherwise, delay nor interrupt the
preceedings or the peace of the Council, nor disturb any
member while speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the
Presiding Officer. Members of the Council shall not leave
their seats during the meeting without first obtaining
the permission of the Presiding Officer.
b) Persons Addressing the Council. Any person making imperti-
nent, slanderous, or profane remarks, or who becomes boister-
ous while addressing the Council shall be called to order by
a) Manner of Addressing Council. Each person desiring to
address the Council shall step up to the microphone in
front of the rail, state his name and address for the
record, state the subject he wishes to discuss, state
whom he is representing if he represents an organization
or other persons, and, unless further time is granted by
majority vote of the Council, shall limit his remarks to
five (5) minutes except those who under Public Comment
section shall be limited to three (3) minutes. All
remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and
not to any member thereof. No question shall be asked
a Council member or a member of the City staff without
the permission of the Presiding Officer.
b) Spokesman for Group of Persons. In order to expedite
matters and to avoid repetitious presentations, when-
ever any group of persons wishes to address the Council
on the same subject matter, it shall be proper for the
Presiding Officer to request that a spokesman be chosen
by the group to address the Council and, in case addi-
tional matters are to be presented by any other member
of said group, to limit the number of such persons
addressing the Council.
C) After Motion. After a motidp has been made or a public
hearing has been closed, no mezqber of the public shall
address the Council from the audience on the matter
under consideration without first.securing permission
to do so by a majority vote of the'Xity Council.
19. Rules of Decorum.
a) Council Members. While the Council is in session, the
members must preserve order and decorum. Each Council
member shall conduct himself with decorum and shall neither,
by conversation or otherwise, delay nor interrupt the
preceedings or the peace of the Council, nor disturb any
member while speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the
Presiding Officer. Members of the Council shall not leave
their seats during the meeting without first obtaining
the permission of the Presiding Officer.
b) Persons Addressing the Council. Any person making imperti-
nent, slanderous, or profane remarks, or who becomes boister-
ous while addressing the Council shall be called to order by
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the Presiding Officer and, if such conduct continues, may
at the discretion of the Presiding Officer be ordered
barred from further audience before the Council during
that meeting.
c) Members of the Audience. No person in the audience shall
engage in disorderly conduct such as hand clapping, stamp-
ing of feet, whistling, using profane language, yelling,
and similar demonstrations, which conduct disturbs the
peace and good order of the meeting, or refuse to comply
with the lawful orders of the Presiding Officer. Upon
instructions from the Presiding Officer it shall be the
duty of the Sergeant -at -Arms to remove any such person
from the Council Chamber and to place him under arrest.
d) Persons Authorized to be Within Rail. No person except
members ot..the Council and the City staff shall be permitted
within the'rail without the consent of the Presiding Officer.
e) Enforcement of Decorum. The Chief of Police, or such
member or members of the Police Department as he may desig-
nate, shall be Sergeant -at -Arms of the City Council and shall.
carry out all orders given by the Presiding Officer for the
purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council meet-
ings. Any Council member may move to require the Presiding
Officer to enforce 'the rules and the affirmative vote of a
majority of the Council shall require him or her to do so.
20. Motions - Second Not Required. A motion by any member of the
Council, including the Presiding Officer, may be considered by the
Council without receiving a secoad.
21. Voting Procedure. Any vote of the"Council, including a roll call
vote, may be registered by the members by answering "Yes" for an
affirmative vote or "No" for a negativ$,vote upon the member's name
being called by the City Clerk, or by pressing a switch.to cause a
green light to show for an affirmative vote or a red light to show
for a negative vote upon a vote being called for by the Presiding
Officer. The result of any vote registered by means of a lighting
system shall be audibly announced by the City Clerk and recorded
in the minutes as the vote.
22. Disqualification for Conflict of Interest. Any Council member
who is disqualified from voting on a particular matter by reason of
a conflict of interest shall publicly state or have the Presiding
Officer state the nature of such disqualification in open meeting.
Where no clearly disqualifying conflict of interest appears, the
matter of disqualification may, at the request of the Council member
affected, be decided by the other Council members. A Council member
who is disqualified by reason of a conflict of interest in any matter
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shall not remain in his or her seat during the debate and vote on
such matter, but shall request and be given the permission of the
Presiding Officer to step down from the Council table. A Council
member stating such disqualification shall not be counted as a
part of a quorum and shall be considered absent for the purpose of
determining the outcome of any vote on such matter.
23. Failure to Vote. Every Council member should vote unless dis-
qualified'by reason of a conflict of interest. A Council member
who abstains from voting in effect consents that a majority of the
quorum may decide the question voted upon.
24. Tie Vote. Tie votes shall be lost motions and may be reconsidered.
25. Changing Vote. A member may change his vote only if he makes a
timely request to do so immediately following the announcement of
the vote by the City Clerk and prior to the time that the next item
in the order of business is taken up.
26. Reconsideration. A motion to reconsider any action taken by the
City Council may be made only by one of the Council members who
voted with the prevailing side.
27. Ordinances, Resolutions and Contracts.
a) All ordinances, resolutions and contracts shall be prepared
by the City Attorney. No ordinance shall be prepared for
presentation to the Council unless ordered by a majority
vote of the Council, or requested by the Mayor, or City
Manager, or prepared by the City Attorney on his own
initiative. The Planning Commission may initiate zoning
and planning ordinances.
b) Prior Approval by Administration Staff. All ordinances,
resolutions and contract documents shall, before presenta-
tion to the Council, have been approved as to form and
legality by the City Attorney and shall have been examined
and approved for administration by the City Manager or his
authorized representative.
28. Reading of Ordinances and Resolutions. If a motion to waive
reading of all ordinances and resolutions has been adopted at the
beginning of the Council meeting, the City Clerk will read the
ordinances and resolutions by title only. If any Council member
so requests, the ordinances or resolution shall be read in full.
Adopted August 21, 1972 Amended September 11, 1978
Amended - November 24, 1975 Amended November 27, 1978
Amended - November 28, 1977 Amended October 23, 1979
Amended - July 24, 1978 Amended February 9, 1981