[Ord. #856, § 2100]
All meetings of the Council shall be held in the Council Chamber in the City Hall.
[1]
Editor's Note: For statutory provisions as to City Council meetings, see Gov. Code §§ 36802, 36805 to 36814. Also see Gov. Code §§ 54950 to 54961.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.1; Ord. #1088; Ord. #1200; Ord. #1372; Ord. #1487; Ord. #2214; Ord. #2246; Ord. #2264; Ord. #2303 § 1;11-24-2020 by Ord. No. 2326; 3-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2331]
Except as specified in Subsection 2-1.12 of this Code, regular meetings of the Council shall be held on the first four Tuesdays of each month as follows:
a.
Study sessions may be held as part of the agenda during the first and third Tuesday of each month. Agenda items presented during the study sessions are for purposes of discussion only, no formal action or votes may be taken on study session items.
b.
All regular City Council meetings wherein Closed Session item(s) are to be considered and discussed shall be scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. for the sole purpose of convening and recessing for Closed Session(s) by the City Council. Public Sessions of regular meetings of the City Council shall be scheduled to commence at 5:30 p.m.
c.
Regular meetings falling on days of primary or general municipal elections shall be held on the next succeeding business day at the same hour and place. (For purposes of clarification, this exception shall not constitute a City holiday.) Regular meetings may be adjourned or readjourned to a date certain, which date shall be specified in the order of adjournment, and, when so specified in the order of adjournment, and, when so adjourned, each adjourned meeting shall be a regular meeting for all purposes.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.2]
If a regular meeting shall occur on a legal holiday, such regular meeting shall be held on the next succeeding business day at the same hour and place.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.3]
If, by reason of fire, flood, or other emergency, it shall be unsafe to meet in the place designated in this Code, all meetings may be held for the duration of such emergency at such place as is designated by the Mayor or, if the Mayor should fail to act, by three members of the Council.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.4]
In accordance with the provisions of the City Charter, three members of the Council shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time. In the absence of all members of the Council from any regular meeting or adjourned regular meeting, the City Clerk may declare such meeting adjourned to a stated day and hour. Notice of such adjourned meeting shall be given or may be waived in the same manner as specified in the City Charter of the giving or waiving of notices of special meetings of the Council.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.5; Ord. #1488; Ord. #2195, § 1]
Special meetings may be called at any time by the Mayor, or by three members of the City Council in accordance with and pursuant to the procedures set forth in State law for the calling and conducting of special meetings.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.6; Ord. #1495; Ord. #1961, § 1; Ord. #2007, § 1; Ord. #2123, § 1; Ord. #2195, § 2; Ord. #2220, § 1; Ord. #2230, § 1; Ord. #2303 § 2; 11-24-2020 by Ord. No. 2326; 3-2-2021 by Ord. No. 2331]
The order of business of City Council meetings shall be as follows (please note that the order of agenda items may be changed during the Council meeting at the discretion of the City Council):
b.
Public Meeting:
1.
Call to Order.
2.
Roll Call.
3.
Moment of Silence.
4.
Pledge of Allegiance.
5.
Report on Closed Session Actions.
6.
Introduction of Special Guests.
7.
Commendatory Resolutions/Presentations.
8.
Public Comments on Agenda Items and Non-Agenda Matters within the jurisdiction of the City Council (comments limited to three minutes per speaker).
9.
Public Hearings (except for an applicant, owner and/or appellant; comments limited to two minutes per speaker).
10.
Study Session Items for Review and Discussion.
11.
Consent Agenda Items (Consent Agenda consists of routine items which will be approved by one motion and one vote unless removed for separate discussion):
13.
Unfinished Business.
14.
New Business.
15.
Approval of Warrants.
16.
Council Comments.
17.
Adjournment.
[Ord. #1961, § 2; Ord. #2195, § 3]
a.
All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine and all will be enacted by one vote of the City Council.
b.
Members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on consent agenda items prior to their consideration by the Council. These comments shall be made during the "Public Comments on Agenda Items and Non-Agenda Matters" period on the Agenda (Section 2-1.7h).
c.
Any member of the City Council may request that an item on the consent agenda be separately considered by the City Council. The request will result in the withdrawal of the item from the consent agenda for consideration by the Council under subsection 2-1.7k. No further public comment on any withdrawn consent agenda item will be permitted beyond that provided for under subsection 2-1.7h, "Public Comments on Agenda Items and Non-Agenda Matters."
[Ord. #856, § 2100.7; Ord. #987; Ord. #1495; Ord. #1931, § 1; Ord. #1939, § 1; Ord. #2123, § 2; Ord. #2195, § 4; Ord. #2220, § 2]
All citizens are encouraged to appear before the Council to present grievances, to offer suggestions for the betterment of municipal affairs or comment on agenda items. In order that Council meetings may proceed in an efficient manner for the conduct of the peoples' business, the following time limits are established. The presiding officer may limit the length of time allotted for comments due to the number of persons wishing to speak or if comments become repetitious or irrelevant.
a.
Agenda Items and Non-Agenda Matters. Each person shall be allotted three minutes in which to address the City Council on any item(s) appearing on the agenda and matters that are within the jurisdiction of the Council but do not appear on the agenda. This shall be the only opportunity for public comment except for scheduled public hearing items.
b.
Public Hearings. Each person (other than an applicant, owner or appellant) shall be allotted two minutes in which to address the City Council during a public hearing.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.8; Ord. #1495; Ord. #2164, § 1; Ord. No. 2359]
The City Clerk shall prepare an agenda prior to each meeting of the City Council as follows:
a.
Each item intended to be brought up at the meeting for discussion and/or action shall be listed on the agenda. Matters may be placed on the agenda at the request of any member of the City Council. All submissions are subject to City Attorney or special counsel to the City Council or City Manager approval as to form only. If the City Attorney or special counsel fails to approve the matter "as to form," such action by the City Attorney or special counsel shall not prevent or prohibit the agenda item from being considered or approved by the City Council. The forgoing sentence shall also apply to any contracts subject to review and approval by the City Council and/ or City Manager. All items for the agenda shall be submitted to the City Manager. The City Manager will cause the appropriate staff report to be prepared so that the matter may be scheduled to be placed on the agenda no later than the third regular meeting after its submission.
b.
The City Clerk shall post, file and distribute to each member of the Council, the City Manager, and the City Attorney a written copy of the agenda in accordance with all State and local laws relating to local governmental meetings.
c.
In case of a matter arising after the posting and filing referred to in the immediately preceding section, and the matter cannot reasonably wait until the next regular meeting, the City Clerk shall prepare a supplemental agenda and the City Clerk shall provide as much advance posting, filing and distributing as is possible under the circumstances, complying with all State and local provisions relating to local governmental meetings.
[Ord. #856, § 2100.9; Ord. #1495]
Public hearings before the Council shall be heard at such dates and hours as may be determined by the Council.
[Added by Ord. #1495, § 2100.10]
The Council may appoint such committees as it may deem necessary to assist it in the proper discharge of its duties.
[Added by Ord. #1836, § 1; amended by Ord. #1857, § 1]
That the regular City Council, Urban Community Development Commission and Public Finance Authority meetings scheduled for the month of August beginning in 1991 are hereby ordered adjourned until the first regularly scheduled meeting in September.
[Added by Ord. #1839, § 2; Ord. #2195, § 5; Ord. #2220, § 3]
a.
Decorum. Meetings of the City Council shall be conducted in an orderly manner to ensure that the deliberative process of the Council is retained at all times and the peoples' business is conducted in an efficient manner. The presiding officer of the Council, who shall be the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tempore or, in their absence, another member so designated by the Council, shall be responsible for maintaining the order and decorum of meetings.
b.
Rules of Decorum. While any meeting of the City Council is in session, the following rules and decorum shall be observed:
1.
Councilmembers. The members of the City Council shall preserve order and decorum, and a member shall not by conversation or other means delay or interrupt the Council proceedings or disturb any other member while speaking.
2.
City Staff Member. Employees of the City shall observe the same rules of order and decorum as those which apply to the members of the Council.
3.
Persons Addressing the Council. Public oral communications at the City Council meetings should not be a substitute for any item that can be handled during normal working hours of municipal government. The primary purpose of oral communications is to allow citizens the opportunity to formally communicate with the City Council as a whole on matters that cannot be handled during regular working hours of City government. Each person who addresses the Council shall do so in an orderly manner and shall not make personal, impertinent, slanderous or profane remarks to any member of the Council, staff or general public.
4.
Members of the Audience. No person in the audience at a Council meeting shall engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including the utterance of loud, threatening or abusive language, whistling, stamping of feet or other acts which disturb, disrupt or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of any Council meeting.
c.
Addressing the Council. A person wishing to address the Council regarding any item on the agenda (except for public hearings) and matters not appearing on the agenda, but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council, shall submit a request on the form provided, or at the discretion of the presiding officer, seek recognition by the presiding officer during the place on the agenda set aside for such items. No person shall address the Council without first being recognized by the presiding officer. The following procedure shall be observed by persons addressing the Council:
1.
Each person shall step up to the podium provided for the use of the public and, if the speaker desires to have his or her comments recorded for public record, state his or her name and organization, if any, the speaker represents, and the agenda item(s) and/or subject matter within the jurisdiction of the City Council he or she wishes to discuss.
2.
Each person shall limit his or her comments to three minutes (two minutes for public hearings), unless the presiding officer grants further time.
3.
Each person shall confine his or her comments to the Council agenda item(s) or to matters within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council. The presiding officer may rule persons who do not comply with this rule as out of order.
4.
All comments shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any single member, unless in response to a question from said member.
5.
No question may be asked of a member of the Council or of the City staff without permission of the presiding officer.
d.
Enforcement of Decorum. The rules of decorum set forth above shall be enforced in the following manner:
1.
Warning. Any person who disturbs, disrupts or otherwise impedes the conduct of the City Council meeting is out of order and the presiding officer shall request that such person be orderly and comply with the applicable rules. If, after receiving a warning from the presiding officer, a person persists in disturbing, disrupting or otherwise impeding the meeting, the presiding officer shall order that person to leave the Council meeting and not return for the duration of the meeting. If such person does not remove himself or herself, the presiding officer may order any law enforcement officer who is on duty at said meeting as sergeant-at-arms of the Council to remove that person from the Council chambers.
2.
Removal. Any law enforcement officer who is serving as sergeant-at-arms of the Council shall carry out all lawful orders and instructions given by the presiding office for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council meeting. Upon instruction of the presiding officer, it shall be the duty of the sergeant-at-arms to remove from the Council meeting any person who is disturbing, disrupting or otherwise impeding the proceedings of the Council.
3.
Resisting Removal. Any person who resists removal by the sergeant-at-arms may be charged with a violation of this section or other applicable law.
4.
Penalty. Any person, who violates any provision of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor or subject to the administrative enforcement proceedings of Section 1-7 of this Code.
5.
Motion to Enforce. If the presiding officer fails to enforce the rules set forth above, any member of the Council may move to require him or her to do so, and an affirmative vote of a majority of the Council shall require him or her to do so. If the presiding officer fails to carry out the will of a majority of the Council, the majority may designate another member of the Council to act as presiding officer for the limited purpose of enforcing any rule of this section which it wishes to enforce.
6.
Adjournment. If a meeting of the Council is disturbed or disrupted in such a manner as to make infeasible or improbable the restoration of order, the meeting may be adjourned or continued by the presiding officer or a majority of the Council, and the remaining Council business may be considered at the next meeting.
[Added by Ord. #1869, § 1]
No Council Meeting shall exceed four hours from start to finish, with the exception that a simple majority vote of the Councilmembers present may extend the meeting time.
[Added by Ord. 1869, § 1; Ord. #2195, § 6]
The City Council members shall limit their comments to three minutes per Council member per agenda item and five minutes per Council member for any matters not appearing on the agenda (except for public hearings).
[Added by Ord. #1952, § 1; amended by Ord. #2248; Ord. #2299, §§ 1 — 4; 3-16-2021 by Ord. No. 2332]
The City Council shall designate one of its members as Mayor Pro Tem at the first City Council meeting of each fiscal year to preside over any Council meeting from which the Mayor is absent.
a.
The Mayor Pro Tem seat shall rotate between each City Councilmember, beginning July 1, 2021 with District 2, and continuing with each district, consecutively. Each Mayor Pro Tem designation shall be for a term of one fiscal year.
b.
A City Councilmember may decline the Mayor Pro Tem designation. In such case, the City Council may designate the Mayor Pro Tem seat to the City Councilmember of the next consecutive district.
c.
In the absence of both the Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tem, the remaining City Councilmembers shall appoint one of their members to preside over the Council meeting from which the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are absent.