[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Schenectady 10-14-1980 by Ord.
No. 80-143. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The rules of parliamentary practice as contained
in Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the Council in all cases except
as herein provided for.
[Amended 1-12-1987 by Ord. No. 87-01; 12-28-1998 by Ord. No. 98-27; 8-11-2003 by Ord. No. 2003-15]
Regular meetings of the City Council shall take
place in City Hall, in Council Chambers or Room 110, at 7:00 p.m.
on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, unless otherwise posted
by public notice, and may be adjourned to an alternate time and place.
City Council committee meetings shall be held on the first and third
Mondays of each month at 5:30 p.m. in Room 110 of City Hall, unless
otherwise posted by public notice for a different time or place.
Special meetings may be called at any time by
any member of the Council, on three days' notice, specifying the object
of the meeting. The City Clerk shall cause the written notice thereof,
specifying the object of the meeting, to be served upon each member
personally or to be delivered at his usual place of residence. At
such special meeting, no business other than that named in the notice
of meeting shall be transacted, except by unanimous consent. At the
time fixed in the notice of special meeting, the City Council shall
convene, the President shall take the chair, and the following shall
be the order of business:
Whenever the Council shall determine to transact
any business in an executive meeting, the presiding officer shall
direct all persons except members and officers of the Council to withdraw,
and the doors shall be closed. In respect to proceedings at such executive
meetings, every member and officer shall observe such secrecy as may
be enjoyed by the Council.
The majority of the Council members shall constitute
a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day. In a case
where a lesser number than a quorum of the Council shall convene at
any regular or special meeting or if while the meeting is in progress
any lesser number than a quorum shall be present, the majority of
the members of such Council present are authorized to send the Sergeant
at Arms or other persons so authorized for any or all absent members,
as such majority of members shall agree.
The President shall preside over all meetings
of the Council. In the absence of the President, the President Pro
Tem shall preside. The President Pro Tem shall be the Majority Leader
of the Council. In the absence of the President Pro Tem, the City
Clerk shall call the meeting to order, and the Council shall select
one of its members as a presiding officer pro tem.
The presiding officer shall preserve decorum,
enforce the rules of procedure herein prescribed and determine without
debate, subject to the final decision of the Council on appeal, all
questions of procedure and order. Any member may appeal to the Council
from such ruling of the presiding officer, and if the appeal is only
seconded, the appellant may speak once solely on the question involved,
and the presiding officer may explain his ruling, but no other member
shall participate in the discussion. The presiding officer shall then
put the question: "Shall the decision of the chair be sustained?"
If a majority of the members present vote nay, the ruling of the chair
is overruled; otherwise it is sustained.
The presiding officer shall not participate
in the debate of any matter under consideration by the Council except
as follows: If he desires to participate in the debate, he shall leave
the chair and take the place on the floor of the President Pro Tem,
and he shall not resume the chair until the matter under consideration
has been acted upon by the Council. Nothing herein shall be construed
to prevent the presiding officer, while in the chair, from explaining
his ruling on any question or explaining his vote on the roll call.
The elected Mayor with executive powers may
answer questions when questioned by a member of the Council and may
have the privilege of the floor when questioned by a member of the
City Council during the order of business designated "miscellaneous
business." The Mayor may address the City Council at the first meeting
of each year.
[Amended 1-29-1996 by Ord. No. 96-06]
The following shall be the order of business
at regular Council meetings:
A.
Invocation.
B.
Pledge of allegiance to the flag.
C.
Roll call.
D.
Public hearings.
E.
Approval of the minutes.
G.
Presentation and reference of petitions and remonstrances.
H.
Reports of committees.
I.
Privilege of the floor concerning matters upon the
agenda.
J.
Introduction of and action upon local laws, ordinances
and resolutions.
K.
Privilege of the floor concerning any matter.
L.
Miscellaneous business.
M.
Adjournment.
[Amended 1-29-1996 by Ord. No. 96-06]
No motion or resolution may be put, recorded
or debated without the same being seconded.
No person except members and City officers shall
be allowed to come within the bar during the session of the Council
without the permission of the Council.
When a member is about to speak, he shall rise
from his seat and address the chair, and when two or more members
rise at once, the member to speak shall be named by the presiding
officer. The speaker shall confine himself to the question under debate
and avoid personalities. No member shall speak upon the subject under
discussion more than twice nor more than five minutes each time, except
by unanimous consent. If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses
the rules, the presiding officer shall, or any member may, call him
to order, in which case he shall immediately sit down and shall not
rise unless to explain or proceed in order. The question shall be
decided by the presiding officer without debate.
On the passage of every piece of legislation
which is not adopted by unanimous vote and on the selection of any
officer other than by unanimous vote and on the enactment of any local
law, the ayes and nays of the members voting thereon shall be entered
in full upon the journal. If a member being present does not vote,
the roll call as to his name shall be marked "present." In case of
ties on votes on any question, the question shall be deemed to be
lost.
[Added 2-6-1989 by Ord. No. 89-06A]
When a member is about to speak, he shall rise
from his seat and address the chair, and when two or more members
rise at once, the member to speak shall be named by the presiding
officer. No member shall speak more than twice nor more than five
minutes each time, except by unanimous consent. If any member transgresses
these rules, the presiding officer shall, or any member may, call
him to order, in which case he shall immediately sit down.
When a question is before the Council, no motion
shall be entertained except as follows: first, to adjourn; second,
to fix the hour of adjournment; third, for the previous question;
fourth, to lay on the table; fifth, to postpone indefinitely; sixth,
to postpone to a day certain; seventh, to refer; and eighth, to amend.
These motions shall have precedence in the order indicated. Any such
motion, except a motion to amend, shall be put to vote without debate.
The previous question shall be put as follows:
"Shall the main question be now put?" If this question is decided
in the negative, the main question remains before the Council.
If the question contains two or more divisible
propositions, the presiding officer shall, upon the request of any
member, divide the same, but a motion to strike out a provision and
insert a substitute is not divisible.
After the decision on any question, a member
who voted in the majority may move its reconsideration at the same
or the next succeeding meeting. If a motion for reconsideration is
lost, it shall not be renewed without unanimous consent of the members
present, and no question shall, a second time, be reconsidered without
a similar unanimous consent. After an ordinance has been adopted,
it shall not be reconsidered, but such ordinance may be repealed or
amended.
Any motion may be withdrawn by the maker before
it has been amended or voted upon, but in such case, any other member
may renew the motion at that time.
A.
Request for legislation. A request for legislation
shall be submitted in writing to the City Clerk whenever the Mayor,
an individual Council member or a department director desires the
City Council to pass new legislation. The City Clerk and the President
of the City Council shall designate the appropriate committee or committees
to review the request and provide the Mayor with a copy of all requests
for legislation. All such requests shall be submitted to the City
Clerk no less than seven business days prior to the City Council meeting
at which the legislation is requested to be enacted.
[Amended 1-29-1996 by Ord. No. 96-06]
B.
Committee approval. After reviewing, revising and
approving the request for legislation, the committee(s) may authorize
legal counsel to draft the legislation. The draft legislation shall
be unnumbered, undated, without committee or sponsor(s) designation
and shall be returned by legal counsel to the City Clerk to be included
on the agenda of the next Council meeting.
C.
If a proposed legislative enactment should fail to
obtain approval of the Council committee to which it has been referred,
it may be placed upon the agenda at the next or any subsequent City
Council meeting only if the request has at least one cosponsor in
addition to the original proposer. The proposer and the cosponsor
need not be members of the Council committee to which the enactment
had been referred.
[Amended 1-29-1996 by Ord. No. 96-06]
D.
After adoption. After the legislation is adopted,
the City Clerk shall assign a number to the legislation, sign the
legislation and forward it to the Mayor for his consideration.
A.
Except as otherwise provided by local law, no ordinance
shall be voted upon earlier than the 12th day after its introduction
except by unanimous consent of all the members of the Council present,
being not less than 2/3 of all members thereof. The passage of
an ordinance requires the affirmative vote of at least a majority
of all the members of the Council. The same number of votes shall
be required to adopt an amending ordinance as was necessary for adoption
of the ordinance it purports to amend.
B.
All ordinances and local laws shall be presented either
in printed or typewritten form, and a copy of all proposed ordinances
and local laws shall be delivered under the direction of the Clerk
to each member of the Council at least seven days before the same
shall be put upon their passage, except when unanimous consent is
granted for immediate adoption of an ordinance.
C.
One copy of every proposed ordinance shall be prepared
and delivered to the City Clerk no later than 12:00 noon on the Thursday
preceding the Council meeting at which the ordinance is to be introduced.
The City Clerk shall provide a copy for each member of City Council
and the Mayor. No City officer shall be required to prepare or approve
a proposed ordinance within 24 hours of the meeting at which it is
to be presented, and no ordinance shall be introduced until approved
as to form by the Corporation Counsel or one of his assistants.
[Amended 10-13-1981 by Ord. No. 81-110]
No ordinance granting any right, franchise or
property shall be introduced until approved by the Corporation Counsel
or one of his assistants as to its form and legality. The Corporation
Counsel shall report the same within 10 days after reference to him.
[Amended 10-13-1981 by Ord. No. 81-110]
All resolutions shall be delivered to the City
Clerk no later than 12:00 noon on the Thursday preceding the Council
meeting before which such resolutions shall be acted upon for passage,
except when unanimous consent of the Council members present is granted
for immediate consideration for adoption of resolutions not timely
filed with the City Clerk in accordance with this chapter.
[Added 1-12-1987 by Ord. No. 87-02[1]]
Prior to the commencement of regular meetings
of the Council of the City of Schenectady, the Council shall determine
which legislation it shall pass by unanimous vote. Such legislation
shall be incorporated into a consent agenda for which the Council
will vote once, and such vote will have the same force and effect
upon all included legislation as if each piece had been acted upon
individually. Any council member may remove any piece of legislation
from the consent agenda prior to its passage, and such legislation
will be acted upon separately.
Every proposed ordinance, the passage of which
has not been recommended to the Council by a committee, shall be referred
by the presiding officer to an appropriate committee unless otherwise
disposed of by a vote of the Council.
A.
There are the following standing committees:
(1)
City Development and Planning.
(2)
Claims and Litigation.
[Amended 24-1991 by Ord. No. 91-03]
(3)
Finance.
(4)
Health and Recreation.
(5)
Intergovernmental Relations.
(6)
Public Safety.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: On 3-30-1981, the City Council
adopted Res. No. 81-74, to provide as follows: RESOLVED that the Public
Safety Committee of the Council of the City of Schenectady is hereby
designated the City Traffic Safety Committee, under the provision
of § 333 of the Executive Law, to coordinate the local highway
safety program with the County Safety Board and the state program,
and it is further; RESOLVED that the Committee is authorized to appoint
other members to the City Traffic Safety Committee, as needed.
(7)
Public Service and Utilities.
(8)
Governmental Operations.
(9)
Administrative
Efficiency.
[Added 2-8-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-01]
B.
Each committee consists of three members.
C.
Members are assigned to committees by the President
of the City Council.
D.
The President of the City Council designates the Chairman
of each committee.
E.
Committees are appointed at the organization meeting
of the Council or as soon thereafter as is feasible.
Two committee members shall constitute a quorum.
Reports of committees shall be in writing and shall not be received
unless signed by at least two members.
Standing committees shall meet at the call of
their Chairman or of any two members. No committee shall have the
power of employing any person for or on behalf of the City or incur
any expenses unless specially authorized by the Council, and every
committee shall have the power and authority to send for persons and
papers and examine witnesses under oath, pursuant to the laws of the
state, in any matter or proceeding referred to or before it, and such
examination, together with all papers and proceedings, shall be returned
to the Council.
No rules 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 all members of the Council
present, 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
the motion.
Smoking is not permitted in the Council Chambers
during meetings of the Council.
