[1]
Editor's Note: For statutory provisions on
the City Council, see 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-5 et seq.
The City Council shall consist of the Mayor
and six Aldermen who shall be elected and serve for a four-year term
as is provided by statute. The Council shall be the legislative department
of the City government, and it shall perform such duties and have
such powers as may be delegated to it by statute.
The members of the City Council shall take the
oath of office prescribed by statute, and they shall receive such
compensation as may from time to time be provided by ordinance.
[Amended 6-26-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-4]
The regular meetings of the City Council shall
be held at the City Hall on the second and fourth Mondays of each
month at 7:00 p.m., except when the second or fourth Monday shall
be on a public holiday, in which case the Council shall meet at the
same hour on the next day following. Public notice of the schedule
of regular meetings shall be given by the City Clerk in the manner
required by law.
A.
Special meetings. The Mayor or three Aldermen may
call a special meeting by giving at least 48 hours' notice, stating
the object and purpose of the meeting to all members of the corporate
authority and providing such public and media notice as is required
by law.
[Amended 6-14-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-4]
B.
Rescheduled regular meetings. The City Clerk shall
give such additional public and media notice as is required by law
of any rescheduled regular meeting.
C.
Reconvened meetings. Public and media notice of reconvened
meetings shall be given in the same manner as notice given for special
meetings; provided, however, no such notice need be given to meetings
reconvened within 24 hours nor to meetings where an announcement of
the time and place of the reconvened meeting was made at the original
meeting and there is no change of agenda.
The Mayor shall preside at all meetings of the
City Council and at all times when the Council meets as a committee
of the whole. In the absence of the Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem and Acting
Mayor, the Aldermen present may elect an Alderman to serve as a presiding
officer.
A majority of the corporate authority shall
constitute a quorum to do business. Unless otherwise provided by law,
any ordinance and any resolution or motion creating a liability against
the City or making an appropriation or expenditure of its money shall
require the concurrence of a majority of all members of the corporate
authority.
The order of business at meetings of the City
Council shall be as follows:
No vote or action of the Council shall be reconsidered
after adjournment of the meeting where rights of other persons have
intervened nor shall any such vote or action be reconsidered or rescinded
at a special meeting unless there are present at the special meeting
as many Aldermen as were present when the vote was taken.
Any resolution submitted to the Council shall
be reduced to writing before voted upon on request of any two members
of the Council.
No person other than the Mayor or a member of
the Council shall address that body at any regular or special meeting
except upon the consent of a majority of the members present.
Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the deliberation
of the Council except when in conflict with any of the other specific
provisions of this code.
The rules of order, other than those prescribed
by statute, may be suspended at any time by the consent of a majority
of the members present at any meeting.
B.
Special committees shall be created from time to time
as directed by the Council.
C.
All standing
and special committees, other than Emergency Management, shall consist
of three members, including the chairman, unless the Council directs
otherwise. The Emergency Management Committee shall consist of two
Council members, the City Police Chief, and three or four at-large
members from the community.
D.
All committees
shall be appointed by the Mayor.
It is unlawful for any person to knowingly do
any act or engage in any conduct which disrupts, disturbs or interferes
with the orderly presentation and transaction of business pending
before the Council.
Whenever any Alderman shall absent himself/herself
from any meeting of the City Council or depart therefrom before he/she
is excused by the presiding officer or by the Aldermen, for a period
of more than three months, the City Council, upon the motion of any
one of them, shall take such steps as necessary to compel the attendance
of such absent Alderman or, in the alternative, shall commence proceedings
to remove such Alderman from his/her office as provided by statute
and this chapter. The vote of a majority of Aldermen shall be necessary
for the removal of an Alderman for nonattendance.
A.
The City Council may fix the salary of all City officers,
except those who are elected for a definite term, and of all employees,
in the annual appropriation ordinance.
B.
The City Council may fix the salary of all officers
who are elected for a definite term in an ordinance other than the
appropriation ordinance. The salaries which are fixed in the annual
appropriation ordinance shall neither be increased nor diminished
during the fiscal year for which the appropriation is made. The salaries
which are fixed by ordinance for those officers who are elected for
a definite term shall neither be increased nor diminished during that
term, and shall be fixed at least 180 days before the beginning of
the terms of the officers whose compensation is to be fixed. No compensation
shall be paid to any City officer or employee in addition to that
provided in the ordinance fixing his/her salary.[1]
