[HISTORY: Adopted by the Common Council of
the City of Cohoes 6-1-1915 by Ord. No. 36; amended in its entirety 1-12-1999 by Ord. No.
6-1999. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following rules shall be the rules of order
of the Common Council:
A.
A majority of the Council Members elected shall constitute
a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time and compel
the attendance of absent members. The Council shall be called to order
by the Mayor, President or, if both be absent, by the Vice President
who shall preside until the Mayor or President appears. The Common
Council shall, in the absence of the Mayor, President and Vice President,
at any regular meeting, elect one of its members President pro tempore
to preside for the purpose of that meeting.
B.
After the calling of roll and the reading and approving
of minutes, the order of business, which shall not be departed from
except by the consent of a majority present, shall be as follows:
(1)
Communications from the Mayor, heads of departments
and city officers.
(2)
Consideration of vetoes.
(3)
Presentation of petitions, remonstrances and communications.
(4)
Reports of standing committees.
(5)
Reports of select committees.
(6)
Consideration of proposed ordinances.
(7)
Consideration of ordinances moved for final adoption.
(8)
Resolutions.
(9)
Miscellaneous or unjustified business.
C.
All committees and officers of the Council to whom any petition, account or other matter shall be referred shall make a report thereon, in writing, at the first regular meeting after such reference, and the presiding officer at each regular meeting shall call upon such committees and officers for their reports in the order stated in Subsection B. Committees and officers, on making their reports, shall return the petition, account or other matter referred.
D.
All reports shall be entered in the minutes and filed
with the Clerk.
E.
No question shall be debated or put unless the same
shall be seconded. When a motion is seconded, it shall be stated by
the President before debate, and every such motion shall be reduced
to writing if any member requests it.
F.
Questions of order shall be decided by the chair,
without debate, subject to an appeal to the Council, which shall also
be decided without debate.
G.
The President of the Common Council shall appoint
the chairpersons and members of all standing and select committees
thereof, except where the committee of the whole shall otherwise order.
The President may create such subcommittees of each standing committee,
as may be necessary, and shall appoint the chairpersons and members
of all such subcommittees thereof, except where the committee of the
whole shall otherwise order.
H.
Motions to adjourn, to lay on the table and for the
previous question shall always be in order and shall be decided without
debate.
I.
The standing committees of the Common Council shall
consist of three members each. Appointments to such committees shall
be in writing and filed with the City Clerk. The President may assign
such bills, resolutions, local laws or other matters as he/she deems
necessary to a committee germane to the subject matter. The standing
committees shall be as follows:
[Amended 1-11-2000 by Ord. No. 1-2000; 3-26-2002 by Ord. No.
6-2002]
J.
The regular meeting of all committees to which any
matter has been referred shall be held at a time and place as designated
by the chairperson, at which time any person may appear in person
or by an attorney before any of said committees, concerning any matter
pending before it.
K.
No committee shall have the power to employ any person
for or on behalf of the city or incur any expense, unless specially
authorized by the Council.
L.
Every ordinance proposed shall have the name of the
Council Member introducing the same endorsed thereon, shall contain
a brief statement of the nature of the ordinance and shall contain
the following enactment clause: "The City of Cohoes, in Common Council
convened, ordains as follows." No law or ordinance shall be passed
by the Common Council unless the same shall be approved as to form
by the Corporation Counsel, which approval shall be endorsed thereon,
in writing, by the Corporation Counsel.
M.
The regular meeting of the Council shall be held on
the fourth Tuesday of each month and shall convene at 7:00 p.m. The
Council shall convene on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00
p.m. for a public "workshop." The Mayor and the Corporation Counsel
shall also attend the public workshop. The agenda of city business
to be discussed at the public workshop shall be set by the Common
Council President and the Mayor, although any council member may move
to discuss a topic of business not on the agenda. The Council may
invite any city official or employee, or member of the public, to
discuss a topic on the agenda. The first 15 minutes of the workshop
shall be reserved for public comment if necessary, and the remainder
of the workshop shall be conducted without public comment. No official
action will be taken on any legislation at a workshop; however, resolutions,
ordinances and local laws, if in their final form, may be introduced
to members of the Council and the public.
[Amended 8-15-2000 by Ord. No. 7-2000]
N.
No rule of this Council shall be altered, suspended
or rescinded unless by a majority vote of all the members elected;
and no motion to alter, suspend or rescind any such rule shall be
in order without the unanimous consent of the Council, unless notice
thereof shall have been given at the previous regular meeting, and
no motion to suspend shall embrace more than one rule or relate to
any other subject than the one specified in said motion.
O.
From and after the adoption of these rules of order,
all existing rules of order or procedure of the Common Council are
repealed, but such repeal shall not revive any rule of order or procedure
of the Common Council heretofore repealed.
The President of the Common Council is authorized
and directed to make appointment of all standing committees forthwith
as in these rules of order, provided that such committee appointments
shall expire on the 31st day of December of each year. All standing
committees and appointments thereto heretofore made shall cease and
terminate.
[Added 12-22-2009 by Ord. No. 12-2009]
Every ordinance shall, upon its taking effect as herein provided,
be recorded in a book kept for that purpose by the Clerk. Such records
shall include the signature of the officer presiding, attestation
of the Clerk and the Mayor’s written approval, or, in case of
his/her disapproval, a memorandum of its passage over his/her veto,
or, in case the ordinance took effect because he/she failed to approve
or disapprove and return within 10 days, then a memorandum to that
effect. Such record or a certified copy thereof shall be presumptive
evidence of the passage of the ordinance and of the facts certified.
The original engrossed ordinances for each year shall be kept in the
custody of the Clerk.
