[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Burlington 1-5-1988 by Ord. No. 1203(25) as §§ 1.01,
1.02 and 1.03 and Ch. 2 of the 1988 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The City of Burlington operates under the Mayor-Council
form of government pursuant to Ch. 62, Wis. Stats.
The Mayor shall be elected at the regular spring
election in even-numbered years for a term of two years.
There shall be two Alderpersons from each aldermanic
district of the City. One Alderperson from each aldermanic district
shall be elected at the regular spring election each year for a term
of two years.
[Amended 2-1-1994 by Ord. No. 1461(37); 3-1-1994 by Ord. No. 1465(39); 11-21-2000 by Ord. No. 1642(46)]
A.
Regular meetings. The first regular meeting of the
Common Council, to be known as the "organization meeting," shall be
held on the third Tuesday of April each year at 6:30 p.m. Thereafter,
regular meetings shall be held in the Council chambers following the
Committee of the Whole workshop at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third
Tuesday of each month or at such other times as the Council may direct,
except that where a regular meeting falls on a legal holiday or election
day, such meeting shall be determined by the Council.
[Amended 7-5-2011 by Ord. No. 1928(5)]
B.
Special meetings. The Mayor may call a special meeting
at any time by written notice to each member delivered to him personally
or left at his usual abode at least six hours before the meeting.
C.
Committee of the Whole workshops. The Common Council
will also meet as a Committee of the Whole preceding regular meetings
of the Common Council on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
These workshop sessions shall be held in the Council chambers at 6:30
p.m.
D.
Excused absence of members. Every Alderperson who
for whatever reason cannot attend a regularly scheduled meeting of
the Common Council shall file with the City Clerk a written explanation
of absence stating a reason therefor by 9:00 a.m. Friday prior to
the meeting in question. All such excused absences shall be entered
in the record of the Common Council. In cases where unavoidable circumstances
make such advance notice of absence impossible, the written statement
of excused absence shall be filed with the City Clerk within one week
of the absence and entered in the record of the Common Council.
E.
Meeting
attendance by electronic means. Unless otherwise prohibited by state
or federal law, any member of the Common Council or any City committee,
board, commission or authority, may attend any meeting of such body
by telephone, videoconference or other electronic means as established
by the Mayor. A member so participating shall count toward the quorum
of the body. Appropriate equipment shall be used so that the attending
public of the meeting can contemporaneously hear such person's
participation in the meeting. No person shall be allowed to participate
in any meeting where such equipment is unavailable or unusable at
the time of the meeting.
[Added 7-6-2021 by Ord. No. 2068(4)]
A.
Mayor or President to preside. The Mayor or, in his
absence, the President of the Council, who shall be elected at the
organization meeting each year, shall at the hour stated call the
meeting to order. In case of the absence of the Mayor and the President
of the Council, the Clerk shall call the meeting to order and the
Alderpersons present shall elect one of their number President Pro
Tem.
[Amended 3-7-1989 by Ord. No. 1253(48)]
B.
Duties. The presiding officer shall preserve order
and decorum and decide all questions of order. Any member shall have
the right to appeal from a decision of the presiding officer, but
no appeal shall be debatable. An appeal shall be sustained by a two-thirds
vote of the members present exclusive of the presiding officer.
A.
Roll call; procedure when quorum not in attendance.
As soon as the Council shall be called to order, the Clerk shall proceed
to call the names of the members in alphabetical order, noting who
is present and who is absent and recording the same in the proceedings
of the Council. If it shall appear that there is not a quorum present,
the fact shall be entered on the journal and a lesser number may adjourn
or may issue a process to any police officer commanding him forthwith
to summon the absentees.
B.
Quorum. Two-thirds of the members shall constitute
a quorum. The Mayor shall not be counted in computing a quorum, majority
or other proportion under the requirements of law for the same and
shall not vote, except in case of a tie.
[Amended 6-1-1993 by Ord. No. 1433(4); 2-1-1994 by Ord. No. 1461(37)]
At each regular meeting of the Common Council,
the order of business shall be as follows:
A.
Reading and correcting the journal of the last preceding
meeting.
B.
Approving minutes from the preceding Committee of
the Whole workshops.
C.
Receiving petitions, memorials, remembrances and other
communications.
D.
Reports of boards and commissions and select committees.
With the exception of any communication or report, the approval of
which appropriates funds, creates a liability or authorizes the payment
of bills, the reading of correspondence and reports may be dispensed
with if 2/3 of the members present concur on a roll call vote.
G.
Other business authorized by law.
[Amended 3-7-1989 by Ord. No. 1250(47)[1]]
A.
Except upon unanimous consent of all members present, no resolution or measure assessing or levying taxes, appropriating or disbursing money, or creating any liability or charge against the City or any funds thereof shall be adopted without first having been referred to the Committee of the Whole and the report thereon of such Committee having been made to the Council, unless the resolution is one that carries into effect the action of the Council upon a Committee of the Whole report. All other ordinances and resolutions shall be subject to the requirements of § 50-9.
B.
The procedures used for the adoption of or amendment
to the City's budget shall be pursuant to § 65.90, Wis.
Stats. Any transfer of funds between or within accounts shall require
a two-thirds vote of the entire membership of the Council, and the
amendment shall be published as a Class 1 notice within 10 days of
the Council's action.
C.
All capital outlay or expense shall be subject to
Common Council authorization by resolution or ordinance.
[Amended 1-7-1992 by Ord. No. 1370(36)]
A.
All ordinances, resolutions, memorials or other communications
shall be in writing with a brief statement of their contents endorsed
thereon, together with the name of the member presenting the same,
and shall be delivered to the Clerk and shall be read by the Clerk.
Each committee to which any matter shall be referred shall report
thereon in writing.
B.
No ordinance or resolution shall be introduced and
passed by the Common Council unless copies of any such proposed ordinance
or resolution shall first be distributed to the Mayor and all members
of the Council before 5:00 p.m. at least five days prior to any regular
or special meeting of the Common Council at which the matter is set
to be adopted.
C.
Upon motion and a second, the Council may, by majority
vote of a quorum of the Council, accept late ordinances and resolutions
for introduction and passing at any regular or special meeting of
the Common Council, unless a member objects. If there is an objection,
said ordinance or resolution may be put for action if 2/3 of
the members present concur.[1]
When a motion is made and seconded, it shall
be stated by the presiding officer or read by the Clerk previous to
debate.
A.
When a member is about to speak or deliver any matter
to the Council, he shall either rise from his seat or raise his hand
and respectfully address the presiding officer but shall not proceed
with his remarks until he is recognized by the Chair.
B.
Should a member wish to hear from a member of the
audience, he shall make such request to the presiding officer and
the presiding officer may grant such a request. The presiding officer
may directly question, or ask for comment from, a member of the audience
as necessary to the good order and facilitation of the meeting.
[Added 3-7-1989 by Ord. No. 1252(46)]
When a member is called to order, he shall take
his seat and not be allowed to proceed until the question of order
is decided, and no member shall speak more than twice at the same
meeting on any question except by leave of the Council.
A call of the Council shall be ordered at any
time by request of one or more members and absent members shall be
sent for, but a call shall not be made after voting has commenced,
and a call of the Council being requested and ordered and the absentees
noted, the doors shall be closed until the report of the officer has
been received and acted upon or further proceedings under call are
dispensed with by a majority of the whole Council.
Whenever any disturbance or disorderly conduct
occurs in the Council chamber, the presiding officer may cause the
room to be cleared of all persons guilty of such disorderly conduct,
except members of the Council, and in case a member of the Council
shall be guilty of disorderly conduct, the presiding officer may order
any police officer to take him into custody for a period of time or
until the Council shall adjourn. Such member shall have the right
to appeal such an order to the Council as in other cases but shall
not be permitted to debate the appeal.
[Amended 2-1-1994 by Ord. No. 1461(37)]
The Common Council shall meet as a Committee
of the Whole in workshop sessions where no formal action is taken
by the Common Council. The Committee of the Whole workshops will be
conducted with the following types of discussion:
A.
Citizen questions and concerns.
B.
Items of discussion as requested by the Mayor or Alderpersons.
C.
Review of policy action for future Common Council
meetings.
D.
Updates on department operations.
E.
Preliminary policy and strategy discussions.
F.
Staff reports and recommendations.
G.
Presentations by other groups and agencies.
When any member is speaking, no member shall
entertain any private discourse or in any way interrupt the speaker,
except to a question of order.
Any member may call for a division of the question
when the same may admit thereof.
When a question is under debate, no motion shall
be received unless to adjourn, to lay on the table or for the previous
question, to commit, to amend, or to postpone, and these several motions
shall have precedence in the order in which they stand arranged.
In all cases where a resolution or motion shall
be entered in the minutes, the name of the member moving the same
shall be entered in the minutes.
No ordinance shall be passed, accounts allowed,
or appropriation of money voted unless a majority of the whole Council
shall vote in favor thereof. The vote shall be by ayes and noes and
shall be recorded in the journal.
It shall require a vote of 2/3 of the members present to suspend any rule of the Common Council except any rule established by § 50-8. The votes shall be by ayes and noes and shall be recorded in the journal.
The City Clerk shall see that all ordinances
and resolutions are correctly engrossed and enrolled before the same
are published or signed by the Mayor.
The Clerk shall, in addition to his other duties,
be present and keep a correct journal of the proceedings of each meeting
of the Common Council and make a record of the same; engross all ordinances
and bylaws and record the same in a book of ordinances; furnish the
committees with copies of resolutions and other matters that may be
referred to them (unless the original papers are furnished); and do
such other clerical duties as may be prescribed by the Council.
These rules may be amended or altered or new
rules adopted by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected at any
meeting of the Council on the report of a committee to which the subject
has been referred at a previous meeting.
Unless otherwise specified by statute or this
Code, a majority of any authority, board, commission or committee
shall constitute a quorum.
Action upon any report of a committee to the
Council or any appointment by the Mayor requiring Council approval
shall be deferred to the next regular meeting of the Common Council
by a request of two of the Alderpersons present. Appointments of Alderpersons
to committees or as aldermanic members of various boards or commissions,
even though requiring Council approval, if any, shall not be affected
by this rule.
Every ordinance shall have its first and second
readings at the time of its introduction and may be referred to an
appropriate committee.
The rules of parliamentary practice comprised
in Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the Common
Council in all cases in which they are applicable and in which they
are not inconsistent with these rules.
No real property shall be purchased by or under
the authority of the Common Council until an appraisal thereof has
been made by qualified and disinterested persons.
All ordinances, the substance of which would
have the effect of amending, altering or adding to the provisions
of the Code of the City, shall be drawn as amendments, alterations
or additions to such Code and every section shall be given a number
which shall locate such section in the proper sequence in the Code.
The City Attorney shall assign proper section numbers for all ordinances
introduced into the Common Council creating new sections to the Code.
No such ordinance shall be introduced into the Common Council unless
so numbered.
Proposed ordinances or resolutions may be amended
by the introduction of a substitute to the originally proposed ordinance
or resolution by submitting it as follows: "Substitute Amendment Number
1 to Ordinance (or Resolution) Number _____." Such substitute amendment
must include the proposed amendment or amendments and the entire text
of portions not to be amended. Passage of a substitute amendment eliminates
further consideration of the original proposed ordinance or resolution
and any other substitute amendment or amendments. There shall be no
limit on the number of substitute amendments that may be offered.
