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00-8860r 9 CITY OF RICHFIELD RESOLUTION NO. 8860 RESOLUTION ADOPTING RULES OF PROCEDURE AND DECORUM FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS WHEREAS, it is appropriate for the City Council to establish rules of procedure and decorum for council meetings and Board and Commission meetings; and WHEREAS, the Richfield City Code, section 205.13, subd. 2(c) provides that the City Council may adopt such special rules by ordinance or resolution from time to time as necessary; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that it is appropriate to adopt these special rules of procedure and decorum. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and City Council of the City of Richfield, as follows: 1. The attached rules of procedure and decorum are hereby established. 2. These rules shall remain in effect until modified by resolution of the City Council. 3. These rules shall be interpreted, wherever possible, so as to be consistent with the rules set forth in the City Code. In the case of any irreconcilable conflict between these rules and the rules in the City Code, the rules in the City Code shall prevail. Adopted by the City Council of the City of Richfield this 28th day of February 2000. 7?;zd;; ~~ Martin J. Kirsc ayor ATTEST: ~t?~ Thomas Ferber, City Clerk 0228studysession.doc SECTION 1. Subd. 1. SECTION 2. Subd.1. Subd. 2. SECTION 3. Subd.1. Subd. 2. Subd. 3. RULES OF PROCEDURE AND DECORUM CITY COUNCil MEETINGS RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA PURPOSE General. It is recognized that in order to enhance the concept of effective and democratic government, it is essential that a legislative body establish formal rules of procedure and decorum so that a true deliberative process will be observed and not disturbed. GENERAL Law. The City Charter, Ordinances and State Statutes governing the City Council shall be followed and supplemented by the Rules of Procedure and Decorum of the City Council. General Rules. In all matters of parliamentary procedures, the Council shall be governed by the latest printed edition of the STURGIS STANDARD CODE OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE as published from time to time except as modified by these rules and the rules set forth in Section 205 of the City Code. PRESIDING OFFICER. Who Presides. The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the Council. In the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem shall preside. The presiding officer shall have the power to preserve strict order and decorum at meetings, enforce the rules of procedure, and determine without debate, subject to the final decision of the Council on appeal, all questions of procedure and order. Appeal of the Ruling of the Presiding Officer. Any member of the Council may appeal from a ruling of the presiding officer. If the appeal is seconded, the member may speak once solely on the question involved and the presiding officer may explain the ruling, but no other Council Member shall participate in the discussion. The appeal shall be sustained if it is approved by a majority vote. Rights of the Presiding Officer. The presiding officer may speak on any question and make motions and second motions. SECTION 4.AGENDA Subd. 1. Subd.2. o 124studysession. doc Matters for Consideration. Matters for Council action shall be submitted by members of the Council and residents to the City Manager. Preparation. An agenda of business for each regular meeting shall be prepared in the office of the City Manager and copies thereof delivered to each Council Member as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will permit. Subd. 3. Subd. 4. Subd. 5. Subd.6. Subd.7. Order of Business at Reaular Meetinas. At the hour appointed for the regular meeting of the City Council, the meeting shall be called to order by the presiding officer. If a quorum is present, the City Council shall then proceed with its business..inJhe following manner: (a) approval of minutes of previous meeting; (b) presentations; (c) public comment opportunity; (d) agenda approval; (e) consent calendar; (f) public hearings, including ordinance hearings; (g) proposed ordinances; (h) resolutions; (i) administrative reports; 0) correspondence; and (k) other business. Varying Order of Business. The presiding officer may vary the order of business. Consent Agenda. In the preparation of the agenda for a meeting, the City Manager may place certain items of business on a consent calendar. A member of the Council wishing to remove any item from the consent calendar may do so at the time that the consent calendar is reached on the general Council agenda. Any item removed from the consent calendar shall become one of the regular agenda items of the meeting and shall be taken up after the consent calendar. All items not so removed from the consent calendar may be passed by a single, non-debatable motion. Matters proposed by the City Manager for the consent agenda shall be those that the Manager deems to be of a routine, non-controversial nature. Items Not on the Aaenda. The Council may consider items not appearing on the agenda as normal business if a Council Member does not raise an objection. If a Council Member raises an objection, a vote of the majority of the Council Members present shall determine the appropriateness of further consideration of the matter at that time. The Council may not take action on any item that requires public notice or hearing. Public Participation. Members of the public may address the City Council during: (a) Public hearings. (b) Public comment opportunity. The agenda for each regular Council meeting shall include an opportunity for members of the general public to appear and make comment to the Council on matters not appearing on the printed agenda. The City Council may by majority vote limit this portion of the meeting to thirty minutes. Individuals shall be requested to limit their individual comments to four minutes or less. Matters commented upon during this period are not required to be considered as action items at the meetings at which they are introduced. SECTION 5. Subd. 1. Subd. 2. Subd. 3. SECTION 6. Subd.1. Subd. 2. Subd. 3. Subd. 4. Subd. 5. Subd. 6. {c) Specific issues scheduled on the agenda, other than public hearings, if no Council Member raises an objection. If a Council Member raises an objection, a vote of the majority of Council Members present shall determine the appropriateness of accepting public comment on the matter under consideration. VOTING Procedure. The votes of the members on any ordinance, resolution or motion pending before the Council shall be by voice vote, unless the Mayor or any Council Member requests that a roll call vote be taken. The presiding officer . shall call for a roll call vote whenever a voice vote of the Council is not clear as to the disposition of the action before the Council. Abstention. A Council Member may be excused from voting on a matter properly before the council only with the unanimous consent of the other members present, unless the Member is required by law to abstain from voting. The Council Member must announce the Member's intention to abstain prior to the vote being taken. The clerk shall record the abstention as "Abstain-name." Voting Order for Roll Call. The Secretary to the Council shall call for the vote in cc;msecutive ord~r of wards. The presiding officer shall always vote last. RULES OF DECORUM Council. While the Council is in session, the members must preserve order and decorum, and a member shall neither, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the Council nor disturb any member while sp.e~king or refuse to obey the orders of the presiding officer. RecoQnition. No person or member of the Council shall address the Council without being recognized by the presiding officer. Discussion. At the request of any Council Member or the Mayor, Council discussion shall be limited as provided in this subdivision. When the rules of this subdivision are invoked, no member of the Council shall speak more than twice on any question, nor more than five minutes each time without consent of the Council. Staff. Members of the City staff shall observe the same rules of order and decorum as are applicable to the City Council. Pertinent to Matter Under Debate. Members of the Council, staff and public shall confine remarks to the matter under debate. AddressinQ the Council. Each member of the public addressing the Council shall step up to the microphone provided for the use of the public after being recognized by the presiding officer and give his/her name and address in an audible tone of voice for the records, state the subject to be discussed, and state who the speaker is representing if representing an organization or other Subd.7. Subd. 8. Subd. 9. Subd. 10. SECTION 7. Subd. 1. Subd. 2. persons. All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any member thereof. No person other than members of the Council and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or througbamember oftheJ~ouncil, without permission of the presiding officer. .. No question may be asked a Council Member or a member of the staff without the permission of the presiding officer. The presiding officer may impose a four-minute time limit on remarks by speakers, whenever in the presiding officer's judgment, a time limit is necessary in order to expedite the progress of the meeting or ensure the opportunity for other speakers to be heard. The City Council may by majority vote extend the time limit imposed by the presiding officer. 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 spokesperson 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. 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 the permission to do so by a majority vote of the City Council. Conduct. Any member of the Council, staff or person indulging in personalities or making impertinent, slanderous, or profane remarks or who willfully utters loud, threatening or abusive language, or engages in any disorderly conduct which would impede, disrupt, or disturb the orderly conduct of any meeting, hearing or other proceeding, shall be called to order by 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. 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. ENFORCEMENTS OF DECORUM WarninQ. All persons shall, at the request of the presiding officer, be silent. If, after receiving a warning from the presiding officer, a person persists in disturbing the meeting, said officer may order the person removed from the meeting. If the person does not remove himself/herself, the presiding officer may order that the Sergeant-at-Arms remove the person. Sergeant-at-Arms. The Public Safety Director, or such member or members of the police department, shall be Sergeant-at-Arms of the Council meetings. The Public Safety Director or such member or members of the police department shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council Subd. 3. Subd. 4. Subd. 5. SECTION 8. Subd. 1. Subd. 2. SECTION 9. Subd. 1. SECTION 10. Subd. 1. meeting. Upon instruction of the presiding officer it shall be the duty of the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove from the meeting any person who intentionally disturbs the proceedings of the Council. Resistina Removal. Any person who resists removal by the Sergeant-at-Arms may be charged with violating City Ordinance. Motions to Enforce. Any Council Member may move to require the presiding officer to enforce these rules and the affirmative vote of a majority of the Council shall require the presiding officer to do so. Adiournment. In the event that any meeting is willfully disturbed by a person or group of persons so as that .orderly conduct of the meeting is not feasible, and when order cannot be restored by the removal of individuals who are creating the disturbance, the meeting may be adjourned with the remaining business considered at the next regular meeting or at a special meeting called by the presiding officer. WORKSHOP MEETINGS General. Workshop meetings of the City Council may be held at the call of the Mayor. No official Council action will be taken at workshop meetings. Rules of Procedure and Decorum. The Rules of Procedure and Decorum of the City Council shall be observed in workshops so far as they are applicable. CAMERA AND RECORDING DEVICES Use of Cameras and Recordina Devices Limited. Cameras, including television and motion picture cameras, electronic sound recording devices and any other mechanical, electrical or electronic recording devices may be used in the Council Chamber, but only in such a manner as will cause a minimum of interference with or disturbance of the proceeding of the Council. SEPARABILITY General. If any section, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of these Rules of Procedure and Decorum is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by any court of comp~tent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof.