[Adopted 9-1-2020 by Ord. No. 1919]
Meetings of the Township Committee shall be conducted in an
orderly manner to ensure that the public has a full opportunity to
be heard and that the deliberative process is retained at all times.
This also includes meetings of all boards and other bodies created
by the Township Committee of the Township of Wyckoff. The presiding
officer shall be responsible for maintaining the order and decorum
of meetings.
While any meeting is in session, the following rules of order
and decorum shall be observed:
A. Rules of Order. Unless otherwise provided by law, Robert's Rules
of Order shall govern the conduct of all meetings when necessary.
The attorney for the body or the attorney's designee shall act
as Parliamentarian.
B. Members. The members of the governing body and members of all boards
and other bodies shall preserve order and decorum, and a member shall
make best efforts not to interrupt or disrupt the proceedings or disturb
any other member while speaking.
C. Matters discussed in closed session. No person shall disclose in
open session the matters discussed in closed session without the expressed
authorization of the Municipal Attorney appointed or in accordance
with the law.
D. Persons addressing the meeting. Each person who addresses the meeting
shall do so in an orderly manner. Any person who utters physically
threatening, patently offensive or abusive language [Note: Robert's
Rules or Order provides that: "In debate a member must confine himself
to the question before the assembly and avoid personalities ….
It is not allowable to arraign the motives of a member, but the nature
or the consequences of a measure may be condemned in strong terms.
It is not the man, but the measure, that is the subject of debate."],
or engages in any other conduct which disrupts, disturbs or otherwise
impedes the orderly conduct of any meeting shall, at the discretion
of the presiding officer or a majority of the members, be asked to
refrain from such conduct.
E. Audience. No person at a meeting shall engage in disorderly or boisterous
conduct, including the utterance of loud, physically threatening or
abusive language, or other acts which disturb, disrupt or otherwise
impede the orderly conduct of any meeting and the ability of the public
to hear or participate. Any person who conducts himself in the aforementioned
manner shall, at the discretion of the presiding officer or a majority
of the body, be requested to refrain from such conduct.
F. Personal comments. All statements are part of the public record and
cannot be redacted.
The public is encouraged to address the members or comment on
any governmental issue that a member of the public feels may be of
concern to the residents of the Township of Wyckoff during the following
portions of the meeting:
A. Hearings. The meeting shall be opened for public comment at the appropriate
point on the agenda for any hearing with respect to an ordinance or
other specific matter required by law. The maximum that any individual
speaker shall be allotted is five minutes.
B. Open public work session meetings. During this period of the agenda,
a member of the public is encouraged to comment on any government
issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern to the residents
of the Township of Wyckoff. The maximum that any individual speaker
shall be allotted is two minutes for a total public comments period
of 10 minutes.
C. Open public business meetings. During this period of the agenda,
a member of the public is encouraged to comment on any governmental
issue that a member of the public feels may be of concern to the residents
of the Township of Wyckoff. The maximum that any individual speaker
shall be allotted is five minutes per speaker.
No person shall address the meeting without first being recognized
by the presiding officer. The following procedures shall be observed
by persons addressing the members:
A. Each person shall step to the microphone provided for the use of
the public and shall state his or her name and address; the organization,
if any, which he or she represents; and, if during the open public
session of the meeting, the subject he or she wishes to discuss. Children
under 18 shall not be required to give their last name or address.
B. During any hearing with respect to an ordinance or other specific
matter required by law, speakers shall limit comments to the specific
ordinance or matter on the agenda. Speakers may be requested not to
be repetitious. [Note: In the often-cited decision in White v Norwalk,
California, a federal appeals court wrote: "In dealing with agenda
items, the Council does not violate the first amendment when it restricts
speakers to the subject at hand…. While a speaker may not be
stopped from speaking because the moderator disagrees with the viewpoint
the speaker is expressing, it certainly may stop him if his speech
becomes irrelevant or repetitious."]
C. All remarks shall be addressed to the body as a whole.
All meetings shall be adjourned by the presiding officer not
later than 10:30 p.m., except the meeting may be extended by a vote
of 2/3 of the members present.
The rules of decorum set forth above shall be enforced in the
following manner:
A. The presiding officer shall request that a person who is breaching
the rules of decorum to be orderly.
B. If, after receiving a warning from the presiding officer, a person
persists in disturbing the meeting, the presiding officer may order
a temporary recess.
C. If the person repeatedly continues to disturb the meeting, the presiding
officer may request that person to leave the meeting.
D. If such person does not leave the meeting and continues disruptive
conduct, the presiding officer may order any law enforcement officer
to remove that person from the chambers. [Note: In a 2002 decision
(State v Charzewski: 356 N.J. Super 151), a New Jersey Appellate Court
ruled that merely being disorderly at a Council meeting was not per
se a criminal offense. The court ruled that the speaker's "conduct
may have been rude and excessive, but it was not criminal. Not every
interruption constitutes a criminal disruption."]
E. If a meeting is disturbed or disrupted in such a manner as to make
the restoration of order infeasible or improbable, the meeting may
be adjourned or continued by the presiding officer or a majority of
the members, and any remaining business may be considered at the next
meeting.
This article shall take effect upon final passage and publication
according to law.