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08-10098rRESOLUTION NO.10098 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. This resolution supersedes Resolution No. 9927. 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 27th day of May 2008. Debbie Goettel, Mayor ATTEST: Nancy Gibbs, ty Clerk RICHFIELD CITY COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE AND DECORUM SECTION 1. PURPOSE Subd. 1. 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. SECTION 2. GENERAL Subd. 1. 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. Subd. 2. 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. SECTION 3. COUNCIL MEETINGS Subd. 1. Regular Meetings. Regular meetings of the Council shall be held, without necessity for notice, every second and fourth Tuesday commencing at 7:00 p.m: in the City Council Chambers, 6700 Portland Avenue, Richfield, Minnesota. Subd: 2. Other Locations. The Council may, from time to time, elect to meet at other locations within and outside the City and upon such election shall give public notice of the change of location in accordance with State law and the City Charter. Subd. 3. Location During Local Emergency. If, by reason of emergency, it shall be unsafe to meet in the City Hall, the meetings may be held for the duration of the emergency at such other place as may be designated by the Mayor or designate. Subd. 4. Special Meetings. The Mayor or any two members of the Council may call a special meeting of the Council upon at least 12 hours written notice to each member of the Council. The notice shall be delivered personally to each member or shall be left at the Council Member's usual place of residence with some responsible person. Special meeting notices will not be published, but will be posted at City Hall, the Hennepin County Library located within the City and the City's Community Center. SECTION 4. PRESIDING OFFICER Subd. 1. 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. Subd. 2. 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. Subd. 3. Rights of the Presiding Officer. The presiding officer may speak on any question and make motions and second motions. SECTION 5. AGENDA Subd. 1. Matters for Consideration. Matters for Council action shall be submitted by members of the Council and residents to the City Manager. Subd. 2. Preparation. An agenda of business for each regular meeting shall be prepared in the office of the City Manager and completed by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday preceding a meeting. Copies thereof delivered to each Council Member as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will permit.. Subd. 3. Order of Business at Regular Meetings. 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 in the following manner: (a) approval of minutes of previous meeting (b) presentations (c) Council discussion (d) agenda approval (e) consent calendar (f) public hearings (g) proposed ordinances (h) resolutions (i) City Manager's report Q) other business Subd. 4. Varying Order of Business. The presiding officer may vary the order of business. Subd. 5. Minutes. Subdivision 1. Approval of Minutes. The clerk shall provide a printed copy of the minutes of each meeting to each Council Member as soon as possible after each meeting. If such printed copies have been distributed to Council Members in advance of the next regular meeting of the Council the minutes may be approved without verbatim reading. Amendments or corrections proposed by any member of the Council shall be made by the clerk, but no amendment to which objection is raised by any member shall be made without the approval of a majority of the Council. Subd. 2. General Contents of Minutes. The clerk shall record all material matters considered by the Council in the minutes. Minutes shall be summary minutes. Ordinances, resolutions, communications and claims considered by the Council need not be recorded in full in the minutes if they appear in other permanent records of the clerk and can be accurately identified from the description given in the minutes. The Council may in its discretion direct that any one of the above be fully set out in the minutes. Subd. 6. 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. 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. Subd. 7. Items Not on the Agenda. 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. Subd. 8. Presentation of Agenda Item. The. City. Manager shall introduce each agenda item, unless done so by a Council Member, followed by the presiding officer's opening of the item for Council discussion. Oral summaries of Staff Reports on agenda items will not be given, but the City Manager and appropriate staff will stand for questions and clarification on items. Subd. 9. Public Participation. Members of the public may address the City Council during: (a) Public hearings. (b) Open Forum. Prior to the commencement of the official business of the Council at regularly scheduled Council meetings (7:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.), members of the public will be afforded the opportunity to address the Council on City business and items that are not on the meeting's agenda. Open Forum will be limited to a total of 15 minutes and each speaker will be limited to 3 minutes. Individuals will not be permitted to give their time to others. All persons wishing to speak during the Open Forum may register either with the City Manager's office no later than 4:00 p.m. on the day of the regularly scheduled Council meeting or by completing an Open Forum registration card and returning it to a staff member. Registration shall include their name, address and the topic on which they wish to speak. Staff will provide a list of the Open Forum speakers to the presiding officer at the start of each Open Forum. Those who registered with the City Manager's office will be allowed to speak first, followed by those completing the registration card, and then by members of the audience wishing to speak. If there are more people registered than time allows, the Council may, after a majority vote of the City Council, provide a second Open Forum limited to a total of 15 minutes directly before the adjournment of the meeting. Speakers will be restricted to 3 minutes each. City Council will not take official action on items discussed during Open Forum, except to refer items to staff or commission for future report. Council Members may ask questions for clarification purposes, but they may wish to investigate or research issues before responding. City Council or staff members will respond at a later date by letter, telephone or in person. The Open Forum shall yet be videotaped or cablecast. (c) Specific issues scheduled on the agenda, other than public hearings, if no Council Member raises an objection. If a Council Member raises anobjection, a vote of the majority of Council Members present shall determine the appropriateness of accepting public comment on the matter under consideration. (d) Items coming before the Council from the Planning Commission, HRA and other boards and commissions that do not require a public hearing may, by a majority vote of the Council, be the subject for public discussion. SECTION 6. VOTING Subd. 1. 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. Subd. 2. Voting Order for Roll Call. The clerk shall call for the vote in consecutive order of wards. The presiding officer shall always vote last. Subd. 3. Discussion Prior to the Vote Prior to the Vote on Any Agenda Item or Council Action Requiring a Vote. Council Members are encouraged to publicly express their reasons for the vote that they will cast on any issue before the Council requires a Council vote. Subd. 4. Excused From Voting. 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." SECTION 7. RULES OF DECORUM Speakers will not be permitted to make director inferred comments on personality conflicts with City Council, commission or staff members and speakers who make personal attacks, campaign endorsements or campaign statements will lose the opportunity of addressing the Council in Open Forum. Subd. 1. 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 speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the presiding officer. Subd. 2. Recognition. Members of the Council shall first be recognized by the presiding officer prior to addressing any other Council member, staff or member of the public. First names will not be used to address Council Members, staff or members of the public. Subd. 3. 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. Subd. 4. Staff. Members of the City staff shall observe the same rules of order and decorum as are applicable to the City Council Subd. 5. Pertinent to Matter Under Debate. Members of the Council, staff and public shall confine remarks to the matter under debate. Subd. 6. Addressing the Council. Each member of the public addressing the Council shall step up to the microphone provided for the use of the public and after being recognized by the presiding officer 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 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 through a member of the Council, 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 athree-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. Subd. 7. 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. Subd. 8. 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. Subd. 9. Conduct. Any member of the Council, staff or person indulging in personal attacks 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. Subd. 10. 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. If, after being cautioned to cease and desists from such behavior, the behavior continues, the presiding officer may call a recess until such time that the members of the audience refrain from such conduct. SECTION 8. ENFORCEMENTS OF DECORUM Subd. 1. Warnin .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. Subd. 2. 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 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. Subd. 3. Resisting Removal. Any person who resists removal by the Sergeant-at- Arms may be charged with violating City ordinance. Subd. 4. 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. Subd. 5. Adjournment. 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. SECTION 9. WORKSESSION MEETINGS Subd. 1. General. Worksession meetings of the City Council may be held at the call of the Mayor. No official Council action will betaken at Worksession meetings. Subd. 2. Rules of Procedure and Decorum. The Rules of Procedure and Decorum of the City Council shall be observed in Worksessions so far as they are applicable. Subd. 3. Audio Recording of Worksessions. All Council Worksessions shall be audio taped and maintained in the same manner used for recording and maintaining audio tapes for regular meetings of the Council. SECTION 10. CAMERA AND RECORDING DEVICES Subd. 1. Use of Cameras and Recording 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. SECTION 11. SEPARABILITY Subd. 1. 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 competent- 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. SECTION 12. ITEMS PRESENTED TO COUNCIL Subd. 1. General. Any and all written materials, documents and other materials presented to the City Council at a Regular, Special or Worksession meeting including but not limited to maps, models, pictures and drawings shall become the properly of the City. SECTION 13. ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS Subd. 1. Introduction and Adoption. All legislation of the City shall be by ordinance. Ordinances, resolutions and other matters requiring Council action shall be introduced by a member of the Council. The Manager may present ordinances, resolutions and other matters for consideration. Subd. 2. Readings. Every ordinance shall receive two readings before the Council prior to final adoption. An ordinance need not be7ead in full unless a member of the Council requests such a reading. Subd. 3. Emergency Ordinances. An emergency ordinance is an ordinance necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and morals, safety, or welfare in which the emergency is defined and declared in the preamble. An emergency ordinance must be adopted by the unanimous vote of the Council Members present. Subd. 4. Amendments. Amendments may be made to a proposed ordinance after either its first or second reading. Subd. 5. City Charter Provisions. The procedure for the adoption of ordinances and resolutions shall conform to the requirements of the Charter. Subd. 6. Public Hearing Requirements. Public hearings will be held only for those matters required by State law or City Charter. SECTION 14. ATTENDANCE AT COUNCIL MEETINGS Subd. 1. Attendance at Council Meetings. Attendance of Council Members at meetings is one of the most important duties imposed by law on members. Member presence to participate in the hearings, delib- erations and decisions of the Council is essential to the proper discharge of the member's official duties.. Recognizing that it is not always possible for a member to be present at all meetings, and that by reason of business demands, state of health, personal problems, vacations and other matters occasional absences are excusable, the following rules apply to absences of Council Members from meetings when invoked by resolution of the Council: (a) such rules shall remain in effect until the end of the calendar year during which the resolution is passed unless revoked prior to that time by resolution of the Council; (b) unless excused by a majority of the City Council, a member of the Council may not be absent from any regular meeting or from such special meetings as the Council may specify in the resolution; (c) for each unexcused absence from a regular or special meeting of the Council each Council Member may be penalized by a fine of not to exceed $75, and the Mayor may be penalized by a fine of an amount not to exceed $100, but the resolution may specify a lesser penalty for absence from a special meeting than a regular meeting; (d) any member of the Council desiring to be excused shall insofar as possible give advance notice to the Manager, stating (i) the meeting at which the member will be absent, (ii) the member's reason for being absent and, (iii) the member's location during the meeting. SECTION 15. RULES OF ORDER Subd. 1. Suspension of Rules. The operation and effect of a rule set forth in this subsection may be suspended upon the unanimous vote of the Council. (Rev. 07/23/01) (Rev. 12/10/01) (Rev. 05/08/07) (Rev. 05/27/08)