[Added 9-11-2007 by Ord. No. 07-22]
Members of the governing body (Mayor and Council) shall observe order and decorum during Council meetings. A member of the Council shall neither, by conversation or otherwise, delay or interrupt the proceedings of the Council nor disturb any member while speaking nor refuse to obey the orders of the Mayor. Council members shall inform the Mayor before leaving their seats during a Council meeting.
Members of the Borough staff shall observe the same rules of order and decorum applicable to the Council in § 5-57 above.
Any person making personal, defamatory or profane remarks or who willfully utters loud, threatening or abusive language or engages in any disorderly conduct which disturbs or disrupts the orderly conduct of any meeting shall be called to order by the Mayor. If such conduct continues, the Mayor, at his discretion, may order such person removed from the meeting by the Chief of Police or any member of the Police Department.
The Mayor may, in his discretion, limit the length of comments by persons wishing to address the Mayor and Council, subject to the provisions of the Open Public Meetings Act of the State of New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq.
No person in the audience shall engage in disorderly conduct which may disturb the peace and order of the Council meeting.
All persons shall, at the request of the Mayor, be silent. If, after receiving a warning from the Mayor, any person persists in disrupting the meeting, the Mayor may order that person to leave the meeting. If he or she does not remove himself or herself, the Mayor may request that the Chief of Police or any member of the Police Department remove him or her.
[Amended 8-25-2022 by Ord. No. 22-12]
Video and/or audio capture of public meetings is permitted, provided that the following guidelines are compiled with:
A. 
All video and/or audio capture, including live streaming to the internet or any other method of broadcasting, is to be conducted at a time and in a manner and place which does not disrupt any public meeting. The presiding officer of a public meeting shall address any disruption caused by this activity as a question of order.
B. 
The Borough of Garwood shall audio and video record each public meeting of the governing body and Planning Board, and shall make said recordings available to the public via links on the Borough Website. In the event the Borough’s audio and/or video equipment is malfunctioning, or broken or due to circumstances beyond the control of the Borough Council or Planning Board, the meeting cannot be recorded, the Borough Clerk’s minutes or Planning Board Secretary minutes of the meeting shall satisfy the requirements of this policy.
C. 
A notice shall be prominently posted in Borough Hall, and on the Borough website, that public meetings of the governing body and of the Planning Board are both audio and video recorded by the Borough of Garwood.
D. 
Audio and/or video capture devices, which are not owned or operated by the Borough of Garwood, must be self-contained with built in lighting and power sources.
E. 
A battery powered tape or digital recorder will be used to audio record all meetings.
Any person violating or failing to comply with any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine of no less than $100 nor more than $1,250, by imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or by community service of not more than 90 days, or any combination of fine, imprisonment and community service as determined by the Court.