Unless stated otherwise, meetings of the City Council ("Council"),
a public body as defined herein, shall be held in accord with the
Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to 10:4-21 (OPMA).
Means and includes any gathering, whether corporeal or by
means of communication equipment, which is attended by, or open to,
all of the members of a public body, held with the intent, on the
part of the members of the body present, to discuss or act as a unit
upon the specific public business of that body. Meeting does not mean
or include any such gathering 1) attended by less than an effective
majority of the members of a public body or 2) attended by or open
to all the members of three or more similar public bodies at a convention
or similar gathering.
A commission, authority, board, council, committee or any
other group of two or more persons organized under the laws of this
state and collectively empowered as a voting body to perform a public
governmental function affecting the rights, duties, obligations, privileges,
benefits, or other legal relations of any person or collectively authorized
to spend public funds, including the Legislature, but does not mean
or include the judicial branch of the government, any grand or petit
jury, any parole board or any agency or body acting in a parole capacity,
or any political party committee organized under Title 19 of the Revised
Statutes.
Scheduling of regular meetings. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-18, at least once each year, the Council shall post and maintain posted throughout the year in the place described in Subsection E(3), for the purpose of public inspection, a schedule of the regular meetings of the Council to be held during the succeeding year.
Requests for notices of meetings. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-19, any person may request that a public body mail to him copies of any regular meeting schedule or revision described in Subsection A(1) herein and any advance written notice as described herein by Subsection E regarding any regular, special or rescheduled meeting of such body. The Council may, by resolution, fix a reasonable amount to cover the costs of providing such notice. Upon prepayment by such person of a reasonable sum, the public body shall cause written advance notice of all of its meetings to be mailed to such person within the time prescribed herein by Subsection E.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:81-19, special meetings may also be called
by petition signed by voters equal in number to not less than 2% of
the number of persons voting in the City of Hackensack (the "City")
at the past proceeding general election. The petition shall set forth
the business to come before the meeting.
Committee of the Whole. Meetings of a Committee of the Whole must
be held in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order and are subject
to the same notice requirements provided herein for regular meetings.
Adjourned meetings. A meeting adjourned to a fixed time shall be
considered a continuation of the preceding meeting, and the business
of the Council shall be resumed where it was left at the last adjournment.
Notice. All meetings of the Council shall be duly announced, providing
adequate notice, and shall be open to the public pursuant to N.J.S.A.
40:81-19 and the OPMA.
Adequate notice. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-8(d), "adequate notice"
means written advanced notice of at least 48 hours, giving the time,
date, location and, to the extent known, the agenda of any regular,
special, or rescheduled meeting, which notice shall accurately state
whether formal action may or may not be taken and which shall be:
Publication. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-8(d) and 40:53-1, the City
designates the Bergen Record and Star Ledger as the official newspapers
for publication of all advertisements and notices required to be published
by the City.
Posting. In order to comply with N.J.S.A. 10:4-8(d) and 10:4-18,
the City designates the bulletin board located closest to the lobby
entrance to City Hall as the prominent public place reserved for posting
notices.
Exception to providing notice. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-9, a public
body may hold a meeting notwithstanding the failure to provide adequate
notice if:
The meeting is required in order to deal with matters of such
urgency and importance that a delay for the purpose of providing adequate
notice would likely result substantial harm to the public interest;
Either the public body could not reasonably have foreseen the
need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have been
provided, or although the public body could reasonably have foreseen
the need for such meeting at a time when adequate notice could have
been provided, it nevertheless failed to do so.
Electronic notice. In addition to the notice requirements provided
herein, a public body may provide electronic notice of any public
meeting through the Internet.
Statement in minutes of meeting on adequate notice. At the beginning
of every meeting of the Council, the City Clerk shall announce publicly
and enter into the minutes a statement that either:
Adequate notice was not provided, in which case the statement must be consistent with N.J.S.A. 10:4-10 regarding the urgency and importance mentioned in Subsection E(4) herein.
Quorum. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:81-20, a majority of all the members
of the Council shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote
of a majority of all the members shall be necessary to take any action
or pass any measure, except as otherwise provided by law.
It is an ordinance for the immediate preservation of the public
order, peace, health or safety or to remedy an emergency caused by
fire, flood, explosion, storm, epidemic, recovery of judgment, the
act of God or the public enemy, which may be passed to take effect
immediately without publication and at one meeting, by the vote of
one more than a majority of the members of the Council.
Call to order and order of business. The Mayor shall be the presiding
officer, and shall call the meeting to order by determining that a
quorum is present. He/she shall take the chair and announce that the
meeting will come to order. This may be followed by other opening
ceremonies. The following represents the sequence in which business
is to be introduced:
Business is to be brought before the public body by motion in accordance
with Robert's Rules of Order and debated and voted upon pursuant
to same unless otherwise stated in this chapter.
No person shall address the Council except during the portion
of the meeting set aside for public comment pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-12
and during the opportunity to be heard upon the second reading of
an ordinance pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:49-2. Any person who desires
to address the Council shall first seek to be recognized by the presiding
officer.
Remarks during the public comment portion of the meeting shall
be within the time limits set by the Council by resolution in accordance
with N.J.S.A. 10:4-12, for public comment on any governmental issue
that a member of the public expresses may be of concern to the residents
of the City.
Each person addressing the Council shall step up to the microphone
provided for use of the public, give his or her name and address in
an audible tone of voice for the record, state the subject he or she
wishes to discuss, and state whom he or she is representing.
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 the permission
of the presiding officer.
In order to expedite discussion and to avoid repetitious presentations,
whenever any group of persons is to address the Council on the same
subject, the presiding officer may request that a spokesperson, or
spokespersons, be chosen by the group to address the Council and,
if additional matters are to be presented by any other member of this
group, to limit the number of persons addressing the Council.
Taking of the minutes. Minutes shall be kept of every meeting by
the Municipal Clerk as hereinafter prescribed, and any citizen may
have access to the minutes upon application to the Clerk.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 10:4-14, the minutes must include the time
and place, the members present, the subjects considered, the actions
taken, the vote of each member, and any other information required
to be shown in the minutes by law, which must promptly be available
to the public.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:81-20, the minutes of each meeting shall
be signed by a majority of all the members of the Council and the
City Clerk. No member shall sign minutes of a meeting at which he
was not present.
Reading and approval of the minutes. Minutes of the meeting shall
be read and approved at the beginning of a regular meeting immediately
after the call to order and any opening ceremonies.
Where a draft of the minutes of the preceding meeting has been sent to all members in advance, it is presumed that the members have reviewed them. In this case, the minutes will not be read prior to approval unless requested. However, correction and approval continues to be handled as hereinafter prescribed by Subsection F(2)(b).
Approval of the minutes and corrections, if any, are done by
unanimous consent; the Chair shall call for the reading of the minutes,
ask for any corrections, and declare the minutes approved.
Disorderly conduct that disturbs or disrupts the conduct of any meeting,
including but not limited to hand clapping, stamping of feet, whistling,
shouting or other similar demonstrations which may disturb the peace
and order of the meeting.
Any member of the public who makes such remarks or engages in such
conduct will be called to order by the presiding officer. If the conduct
continues, the presiding officer may ask the person to leave the meeting.
Any person who, at the request of the presiding officer, is asked
to leave the meeting, shall do so immediately. If persons do not remove
themselves at the instruction of the presiding officer, the presiding
officer may order the Sergeant at Arms to remove them. Any person
who resists removal by the Sergeant at Arms shall be charged with
violating N.J.S.A. 2C:33-8, Disrupting meetings and processions.
The Chief of Police, or such members of the Police Department as
the Council may designate, shall be Sergeant(s) at Arms at the Council
meetings. He, she, or they shall carry out all orders given by the
presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum
at the Council meeting. On instruction of the presiding officer, the
Sergeant at Arms shall remove from the meeting any person who disturbs
the proceedings of the Council.
Any person may videotape, audiotape or photograph the proceedings
of the Council. Such conduct should be unobtrusive so as not to interfere
with the proceedings. The Council may direct the activities of such
persons to ensure an orderly meeting.