HomeMy WebLinkAbout(1972, 08/21) - A-10 - Adopted - (Procedural Rules for Council Meetings) (incorproating A-1 & A-3) - partialA -10
PROCEDURAL RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
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1. Regular Meetings. The City Council shall hold regular meetings on the
second and fourth Mondays in each month at the hour ofF '7:30 p.m., in
the Council Chamber of the City Hall, 3300 Newport Boulevard, in the
City, or in such other place within the City limito which said
meeting may be adjourned. If by reason of fire, f od, or other
emergency, it shall be unsafe to meet in the City..-'Hall, the meetings
may be held for the duration of the emergency a such other place as
is designated by the Mayor or, if the Mayor sh ld fail to act, by
four members on the City Council. When the d for any regular
meeting falls on a legal holiday, no meet in shall be held on such
holiday, but a regular meeting shall be he at the same hour on the
following business day.
2. Study Sessions. The City Council shalleet in a study session on the
second and fourth Mondays in each montW at the hour of 1:30 p.m., in
the Council Chamber of the City Hall,/or at such other places as may
be determined by the Council, for tho purpose of hearing reports from
the staff and reviewing, discussin 'and debating matters of interest
to the City. Such session shall b open to the public and press. No
official action shall be taken at'`a study session; provided, however,
that nothing herein shall be deeAed to prevent the taking of an
informal vote on any matter undAr discussion. The participation of
the public in such sessions shall be subject to the discretion of the
Presiding Officer.
3. Special Meetings. Special meetings may be called at any time by the
Mayor, or by four members of the City Council, by delivering person-
ally or by mailing writteg 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 person-
ally or by mail and sha-'l1 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 - Exception 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 Goverment Code of the State of
California and case law interpretations of; the Ralph M. Brown Act,
to wit:
A. To consult with the Attorney GenerAal, district attorney,
Sheriff or Chief of Police on matters posing a threat to the
security of public buildings or i threat to the public's
right of access to public services or public facilities;
B. To consider matters affecting Abe national security;
C. To confer with legal c/une oncerning pending or anticipated
litigation;
D. To enable the Council with and instruct its designated
representat ives prior uring consultations and discussions
with representatives oee organizations regarding the
salaries, salary schedcompensation paid in the form of
fringe benefits of empand for the purpose of meeting
with a state conciliat as intervened in the proceedings;
and
E. To consider the appo ntment, 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 earing. Notwithstanding any of the provisions
of this paragraph the City Council shall not consider the
appointment to board, commission or committee in closed
session nor shal such appointment be voted upon by secret ballot.
Prior to or of r holding any closed session, the City Council
shall state th general reason or reasons for the closed session
and may cite fn a statutory or other legal authority under which
the session being held. In the closed session the City Council
may consider only those matters covered in its statement. In the
case of spe ial, adjourned and continued meetings, the statement
shall be m e as a part of the notice provided for the special,
adjourned r continued meeting. Nothing in this paragraph, however,
shall be onstrued 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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PROCEDURAL RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF CITY COUNCIL, %MEETINGS - Page 3
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 platters to be submitted to the
Council for the next regular/meeting shall be delivered to the
City Clerk not later than 5 ;00 p.m. on the Friday following the
Monday Council meeting. The City Clerk shall prepare the agenda
of all such matters underithe direction of the City Manager. The
agenda shall be delivered/to the Council Members on the Wednesday
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 Thursday preced' g the meeting.
6. Council Corresponden(le.
a) Placing on Age da. Correspondence received in the City
Clerk's Of" or other offices after 5:00 p.m. on the
Friday follow ng a regular Council meeting shall not be
placed on th agenda unless it concerns a matter to be
considered y the Council at the next regular meeting or
is determi ed by the Mayor or the City Manager to be an
urgent mat er which should be brought to the immediate
attention of the Council. Correspondence shall not be
read alo 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 d examine all mail or other written communications
addre sed to the City Council and to immediately give a
copy to the City Manager. The City Manager shall give it
imme fate attention to the end that all administrative
business referred to in said communication and not neces-
sarily 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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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 Co limit
items of Additional Business to those of an emergency nature or
those for which immediate attention is deemed desirable.
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9. 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 df the Council,
such minutes may be approved without reading,if the City Clerk
previously furnished each Council member with a copy.
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 Oro Tempore shall preside.
In the absence of the Mayor and Mayoi 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.
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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, membersof 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 tabr?e 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/6f the Council, selection of Council seats
shall bye made alphabetically.
c) Question to be Stated. The Presiding Officer or
sucll member of the City staff as he or she may.
de agnate shall verbally restate each question
i ediately 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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PROCEDURAL RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS — Page 6 •
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 Testimony. The Presiding Officer may require
any person 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 ordiyiance,
The
or motion shall
have the privilege of ,closing debate.
g) Limitation of Debat No Council member shall be allowed
to speak more thanionce upon any particular subject until
every other Council member desiring to do so shall have
spoken.
irks of Council N
member may request
of having an abstr
under considerati
the Council cons n
in the minutes./
imber and Synopsis of Debate. A Council
hrough the Presiding Officer the privilege
t of his or her statement on any subject
by the Council entered in the minutes. If
thereto, such statement shall be entered
15. Protest A airylt 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 he 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..... "
16. Rules ;of Order. Except as provided in this Code, the City
Char"r, other rules or practices followed by the City Council,
or plicable provisions of State law, the procedures of the
Cou cil shall be governed by the latest revised edition of
Ro erts' 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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19.
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Addressing the Council •
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
the Mayor, 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, whenever
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 additional
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 motion has been made or a public
hearing has been closed, no member 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 City Council.
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
proceedings 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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c) Members of the Audience. No person in the audience shall engage
in disorderly conduct such as hand clapping, stamping 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 them under arrest.
d) Persons Authorized to be Within Rail. No person except members
of 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 designate, 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 meetings. Any
Council member may move to require the Presiding Officer to
enforce the rules upon affirmative vote of a majority of the
Council.
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 second.
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 negative 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
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.
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23. Failure to Vote. Every Council member should vote unless disqualified
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 presentation 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
ordinance or resolution shall be read in full.
29. Council Meeting Length. It is the intent of the City Council that no
additional item will be introduced on a City Council agenda after the
hour of 11:00 p.m. Furthermore, it is the City Council's intent that
if the item introduced and being discussed by 11:00 p.m. is not
concluded by 12:00 p.m., the Council should adjourn the meeting to