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.