[Adopted 11-15-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-8]
The purpose of the public comment/public hearing is to allow
citizens of the municipality or others who have standing in the municipality
an opportunity to tell members of City Council their opinions or comments.
It is not intended to be a debate or a dialogue. Therefore, no response
by Councilmembers during the public comment or public hearing should
be expected. Meetings of the City Council shall be conducted, by the
City Council, in an orderly manner to ensure that the City Council
has an opportunity to hear members of the public and that the orderly
and deliberative process of the City Council is maintained at all
times by the City Council. The presiding officer of the City Council,
who shall be the Mayor, Mayor Pro -Tempore or, in their absence, other
member so designated by the City Council, shall be responsible for
maintaining the order and decorum of meetings.
While any meeting of the City Council is in session, the following
rules of order and decorum shall be observed:
A. 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 City Council proceedings or disturb any other member while that
member, who has been recognized by the presiding officer to speak,
so has the floor to speak.
(1) Members
of the City Council shall not use or make inappropriate, vulgar, opprobrious
words or offensive comments.
(2) Members
shall maintain a civil manner and tone.
(3) Members
of the City Council shall only speak to the matter currently under
consideration by the City Council.
(4) During
presentations, discussion or debate, members of the City Council shall
refrain from communicating among each other, giving attention and
due respect for the speaker or Councilmember addressing the body.
(5) While
a member of the City Council has the floor, members of Council and
members of the public shall not interrupt the speaker unless the speaker
is ruled out of order.
(6) A member
who violates any rule of decorum may be ruled out of order by the
presiding officer.
(7) A member
who violates the rules of decorum may be removed from the meeting
according to applicable rules.
B. City staff
members. Employees of the City shall observe the same rules of order
and decorum as those which apply to the City Council.
C. Persons
addressing the City Council. Public comment/public hearing at the
City Council meetings should not be a substitute for any item that
can be handled during the normal working hours of the municipal government.
The primary purpose of public comment/public hearing is to allow citizens
the opportunity formally to communicate with the City Council as a
body, solely for matters that cannot be handled during the regular
working hours of the City government. Each person who addresses the
City Council shall do so in an orderly manner and shall not make personal,
impertinent, defamatory or profane remarks to any member of the City
Council, staff, general public or otherwise generally. Any person
who makes such remarks, or who utters loud, threatening, personal
or abusive language, or engages in any other disorderly conduct which
disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any
City Council meeting shall, at the discretion of the presiding officer
or a majority of the City Council, be barred from further audience
before the City Council during that meeting and/or any future meeting(s).
D. Members
of the audience. A person in the audience at a City Council meeting
shall not engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including the
utterance of loud, threatening or abusive language, whistling, applause,
booing, stamping of feet or other acts which the presiding officer
and/or the City Council deem to disturb, disrupt or otherwise impede
the orderly conduct of any City Council meeting. Any person who conducts
himself or herself in the aforementioned manner shall, at the discretion
of the presiding officer or a majority of the City Council, be barred
from further audience before the City Council during that meeting
and/or any future meeting(s).
E. Addressing
the City Council.
(1) A person
wishing to address the City Council regarding an item which is on
the City Council meeting agenda shall submit a request on the form
provided, or that person may orderly seek recognition by the presiding
officer of the City Council during discussion of any such item. Persons
wishing to discuss a non-agenda item may seek recognition by the presiding
officer during the public comment/public hearing portion, if any,
of the meeting. No person shall address the City Council without first
being recognized by the presiding officer. The following procedures
shall be observed by persons addressing the City Council:
(a) Each
person shall step to the podium, if one is provided for the use of
the public, or otherwise step to a place generally viewable by all
members of City Council near the center of the meeting room, shall
state the person's name and address, the organization, if any, which
that person represents, and the subject that person wishes to discuss.
(b) Each
person shall confine that person's remarks to the City Council agenda
item or approved public comment/public hearing subject being discussed.
(c) Each
person shall limit that person's remarks to five minutes, unless further
time is granted by the presiding officer.
(d) All
remarks shall be addressed to the City Council as a body and not to
any single member thereof, unless in response to a question asked
by a City Council member of the person speaking.
(e) No
question may be asked of a member of the City Council or of the City
staff without permission of the presiding officer.
(f) The
presiding officer may determine the subject of a person's comments
are not relevant for consideration and may direct the person speaking
to suspend comments on that particular subject or otherwise to yield
the floor.
(2) No person,
other than a member of City Council and the speaker, shall be permitted
to enter into any discussion, either directly or through a member
of City Council, without the permission of the presiding officer.
Failure to comply with this rule by those in attendance may lead to
the termination of the public comment and/or the public hearing.
The rules of decorum set forth above shall be enforced in the
following manner:
A. Warning.
The presiding officer shall request that any person who is breaching
the rules of decorum be orderly and silent. If, after receiving a
warning from the presiding officer, any person persists in disturbing
the meeting, then the presiding officer shall order that person to
leave the City Council meeting. If the person directed to leave fails
to do so immediately, then the presiding officer may order any available
City law enforcement officer to remove that person from the City Council
meeting. The presiding officer is entitled to warn and remove the
entire audience from any City Council meeting.
B. Removal.
Any available City law enforcement officer shall carry out all instructions
given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order
and decorum at the City Council meeting.
C. Resisting
removal. Any person who resists removal from a City Council meeting
may be charged with a violation of this section.
D. Penalty.
A person who violates any provision of this article may be criminally
charged with a violation of South Carolina law with, for example,
disorderly conduct, breach of peace and assault.
E. Motion to
enforce. If the presiding officer of the City Council fails to enforce
any portion of this article, then any member of the City Council may
move to require the presiding officer to do so, and an affirmative
vote of a majority of the City Council shall require the presiding
officer to do so. If the presiding officer of the City Council fails
to carry out the will of a majority of the City Council, then the
majority may designate another member of the City Council to act as
presiding officer for the limited purpose of enforcing this article.
F. Adjournment.
If a meeting of the City Council is disturbed or disrupted in such
a manner as to make infeasible or improbable the restoration of order,
then the meeting may be adjourned or continued by the presiding officer
or a majority of the City Council, and any remaining City Council
business may be considered at the next meeting.
G. Roberts
Rules of Order shall be considered as prevailing should anything arise
that is not addressed by this article.
[Adopted 11-15-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-9]
The purpose of the public forum/public hearing is to allow citizens
of the municipality or others who have standing in the municipality
an opportunity to tell members of City Council their opinions or comments.
It is not intended to be a debate or a dialogue. Therefore, no response
by Councilmembers during the public forum or public hearing should
be expected. Meetings of boards and commissions shall be conducted
in an orderly manner to ensure that the public has a full opportunity
to be heard and that the deliberative process of the board or commission
is retained at all times. The presiding officer of the board or commission,
who shall be the chair, vice chair, or, in their absence, other member
so designated by the board or commission, shall be responsible for
maintaining the order and decorum of meetings.
The City has numerous public meetings such as commission meetings,
board meetings, etc. ( hereinafter "public meetings"). In order to
safeguard participatory democracy in Walhalla, all persons attending
public meetings in Walhalla should strive to:
A. Treat everyone
courteously.
B. Listen to
others respectfully.
D. Give open-minded
consideration to all viewpoints.
E. Focus on
the issues and avoid personalizing debate.
F. Embrace
respectful disagreement and dissent as democratic rights that are
inherent components of an inclusive public process and tools for forging
sound decisions.
The City Council, all City boards and commissions and City staff
shall promote the use of and adherence to these guidelines for behavior
at all public meetings within the City.