Sec. 2-26. - Regular meetings.
Sec. 2-28. - Special meetings.
Sec. 2-30. - Preservation of order.
Sec. 2-32. - Question to be stated.
Sec. 2-33. - Substitution for chair.
Sec. 2-35. - Rules of courtesy for persons attending.
Sec. 2-36. - Appointment of replacement council member in the event of a vacancy.
Sec. 2-26. - Regular meetings.
The council shall hold its regular meetings in the council chamber in the Municipal Plaza Building within the City Hall Complex on Thursday of each week beginning at 9:00 a.m. The official posted agenda shall specify the subjects and the order of each meeting. If the council has not adjourned by 7:00 p.m., the presiding officer shall entertain a motion to continue the council meeting, postpone remaining items to the next council meeting date, or recess and reconvene the meeting at a specified time on the following day.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94; Ord. No. 101069, § 1, 6-23-05; Ord. No. 2006-03-30-0415, § 1, 3-30-06; Ord. No. 2011-01-20-0046, § 1, 1-20-11)
A work session shall be held on Wednesday of each week from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the first floor of the Municipal Plaza Building unless canceled or called for a different date. The official posted agenda shall specify the subjects and the order of each meeting.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94; Ord. No. 101069, § 2, 6-23-05; Ord. No. 2011-01-20-0046, § 1, 1-20-11)
Editor's note—
Ord. No. 2011-01-20-0046, § 1, adopted January 20, 2011, changed the title of section 2-27 from "Informal meetings" to "Work sessions." The historical notation has been preserved for reference purposes.
Sec. 2-28. - Special meetings.
Special meetings of the council shall be called by the city clerk upon the written request of the mayor, the city manager or three (3) members of the council. In the event of a special called meeting, the city clerk shall notify each member of the council.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
The meetings of the council shall be called to order by the mayor, or in the absence of the mayor, by the mayor pro-tem; and in the absence of both the mayor and the mayor pro-tem, the meeting shall be called to order by the city clerk. In the absence of both the mayor and the mayor pro-tem, and with a quorum being present, the members present may elect one (1) of their members upon nominations for that purpose to serve as temporary presiding officer for the meeting.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
Sec. 2-30. - Preservation of order.
The mayor shall preserve order and decorum, prevent personal references to council members or the impugning of other members' motives, and confine members' remarks to the question under discussion. No other member shall address the council from any other than his or her own seat nor until after being recognized by the chair.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
The person presiding shall determine all points of order, subject to the right of any member to appeal to the entire council. If an appeal is taken, the question shall be "Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?"
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
Sec. 2-32. - Question to be stated.
The chair shall state all questions submitted for a vote and announce the result. A roll call vote shall be taken upon the request of any member.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
Sec. 2-33. - Substitution for chair.
The chair may call on the mayor pro-tem, or if he or she is unavailable, then any other member to take his or her place in the chair, for a portion of the meeting, such substitution not to continue beyond adjournment.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
Robert's Rules of Order (latest revision) shall govern in all cases unless in conflict herewith.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 1, 5-12-94)
Charter reference— Authority of council to fix time of meeting and determine rules of procedure, §§ 11, 12.
Sec. 2-35. - Rules of courtesy for persons attending.
(a)
Addressing the city council.
(1)
General rules.
a.
Those signed up to speak shall be called upon in the order that they have registered.
b.
No personal attacks shall be allowed by any speaker.
c.
The mayor or presiding officer may, at any time and at his/her discretion, increase or reduce the time a person has to address the city council. At any time during a presentation of the speaker, any councilmember may request the presiding officer to extend the time limit of the speaker.
d.
A person signed up to speak has three (3) minutes to speak, with a nine-minute maximum time limit for any one (1) meeting.
e.
Organizations have a total of nine (9) minutes to address the city council. Three (3) persons must register on behalf of an organization in order for the organization to be allotted nine (9) minutes to speak.
f.
Persons registering on behalf of or standing with an organization may not be permitted an additional three (3) minutes to speak if the organization has already been allocated nine (9) minutes to address the city council.
g.
Persons/organizations must sign in person by the specified deadline in order to be recognized to speak.
h.
Persons registered to speak must be present in order to give their time to another registered speaker. No time may be given to a person not registered to speak.
i.
In each instance in which a person or organization is provided an opportunity to address the city council, said person or organization may submit written testimony in support of or opposition to a particular agenda item or on a topic that could be discussed during "Citizens to be Heard" in lieu of presenting verbal testimony, provided that such written testimony is submitted by the deadlines and could otherwise be read into the record during the timeframes provided in this Code.
(2)
Regular meetings (Thursdays). Any person wishing to address the council on one or more items on the agenda must sign the register provided by the city clerk no later than 9:00 a.m. of the day of the council meeting, indicating the item(s) the person wishes to address.
(3)
Work sessions (Wednesdays)—Citizens to be heard. Following the work session, persons may address the city council on any topic related to city business. Any person wishing to do so must sign the register provided by the city clerk no later than 6:00 p.m. of the day of the work session, indicating the subject the person wishes to address. Online registration is available from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on the day of the meeting.
(4)
[Ceremonial items.] Ceremonial items will be presented at the time specified on the city council agenda.
(b)
Disturbances. No person attending any council meeting shall delay, interrupt or disrupt the proceedings or refuse to obey the orders of the chair. Persons attending shall remain seated except the person at the floor microphone with permission of the chair.
(c)
General conduct. Persons in attendance shall refrain from smoking or eating or drinking while in the council chamber, however, council members and staff shall be allowed to drink beverages during council meetings. Persons in attendance shall not carry signs, placards or other items which block the view of those behind them.
(d)
Fire safety. Citizens are welcome and invited to attend council meetings. However, the number admitted shall be limited to the fire safety capacity of the council chamber. Overflow crowds may follow the proceedings via television in adjacent facilities provided by the city.
(Ord. No. 80172, § 2, 5-12-94; Ord. No. 87687, § 1, 4-16-98; Ord. No. 93921, §§ 1, 2, 5-10-01; Ord. No. 97760, § 1, 6-12-03; Ord. No. 100280, § 1, 1-13-05; Ord. No. 101069, § 3, 6-23-05; Ord. No. 2008-08-21-0726, § 1, 8-21-08; Ord. No. 2011-01-20-0046, § 1, 1-20-11)
Sec. 2-36. - Appointment of replacement council member in the event of a vacancy.
In the event of a city council member vacancy for any reason other than in the last place (mayor) which occurs more than sixty (60) days prior to the next regular city election date, city council shall follow these procedures. If the vacancy occurs sixty (60) or fewer days prior to the next regular election then the seat shall remain vacant until the next regular election.
(1)
At the first scheduled city council meeting immediately following the occurrence of a council member's temporary absence due to military service or for vacancy for any reason, the city council shall accept the resignation or acknowledge the vacancy and initiate the process to fill the vacancy.
(2)
The city clerk shall post notice on the city website no later than the end of the next business day and publish notice in the local newspaper as soon as possible inviting qualified residents of the district with the vacancy to submit applications, letters of interest, resumes and disclosure statements to the city clerk. The closing date for applicants to submit applications, letters of interest, resumes and disclosure statements will be ten (10) business days after publication.
(3)
A council member who enters active duty in the armed forces of the United States as a result of being called to duty, drafted, or activated and for a period of longer than thirty (30) days may recommend to council the name of a person to temporarily fill the office. This person must also submit an application, a letter of interest, resume and disclosure statement to the city clerk within the ten (10) business days after publication as set out above and will be considered among the other applicants who submitted applications, letters of interest, resumes and disclosure statements.
(4)
The city clerk shall review the applications, letters of interest, resumes and disclosure statements and confirm the eligibility of each applicant.
(5)
At the next scheduled council "B" session, city council will review the applications, letters of interest, resumes and disclosure statements and select up to three (3) of the applicants to be interviewed at the next scheduled city council meeting.
(6)
At the next scheduled council meeting and in open public meeting, city council will interview the selected applicants followed immediately by a vote to appoint the replacement ("the appointee"). In the event no candidate gets a majority vote, the city council will vote again on the two (2) candidates with the most votes.
(7)
The appointee will be immediately sworn in to office and will serve until the expiration of the unexpired term, or in the event of a temporary vacancy due to military service, until the elected council member returns or the expiration of the elected council member's unexpired term, whichever is shorter.
(Ord. No. 2010-05-06-0375, § 1, 5-6-10)
Editor's note—
Prior to the reenactment of section 2-36 by Ord. No. 2010-05-06-0375, Ord. No. 97760, § 1, adopted June 12, 2003, repealed § 2-36 in its entirety, which pertained to agenda requirements and derived from Ord. No. 80172, § 2, adopted May 12, 1994.
FOOTNOTE(S):
(6) Editor's note— Ord. No. 80172, §§ 1, 2, amended Div. 2 in its entirety to read as herein set out. The former Div. 2, §§ 2-26, 2-27—35, pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Code 1950, § 2-15; Code 1959, §§ 1-17, 2-41; and Ord. No. 50064, §§ 1—3 adopted Nov. 9, 1978. At the discretion of the editor, the former § 2-26.1, pertaining to designation of the City Hall Complex, has been redesignated as § 2-14 (Back)