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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 98-33 RESOLUTION NO. R-98-33 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, GALVESTON/HARRIS COUNTIES, ADOPTING RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS OF THE CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS; AND REPEALING RESOLUTION R96-18 PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY CONTAINED IN ARTICLE III, OF THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS: Section 1. The following rules of procedure shall govern all meetings and proceedings of the city council of the city of Friendswood, and the conduct of all members and other persons in attendance at such meetings. Rule 1. Meetin�gular and Special (A) The city council shall meet in the council chambers of the city hall on the first and third Mondays of each month, commencing at 7:00 p.m. In the event Monday falls on a holiday, the meeting for that day shall be rescheduled as determined by council. Any meeting of city council may be recessed from hour to hour for a period of time not to exceed 24 hours, by a majority vote of the members of council present at such meeting, and such recessed meeting shall be held without further posted notice. (B) Other special meetings shall be held on the call of the mayor or of four (4) or more councilmembers. The agenda for such meetings shall be established at the discretion of those calling the meeting. (C) When there are five Mondays in a month, the city council may hold a special meeting on such fifth Monday, to commence at 7:00 p.m., for the purpose of conducting a town meeting. The agenda for such town meeting shall include a period during which members of the general public are afforded an opportunity to address city council on any subject. The purpose of such town meeting shall be to hear public concerns, grievances, or comments regarding city policy or city projects, or any other matter of public business or concern. Any matter not posted on the agenda may not be discussed by Council except to refer it to staff or indicate that the matter may be placed on a later agenda. (D) Special meetings may be held at city hall or another location to be designated by the council in accordance with charter provision section 3.09. (E) Four councilmembers shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. (F) The City Council may retire into Executive Session as authorized by the Open Meetings Act (Texas Government Code Chapter 551). These Rules of Procedure shall apply to FW D/RES./RULES.10/20/98 � f the conduct of councilmembers in an Executive Session, provided they do not conflict with the provisions of the Open Meetings Act. Rule 2. Chairman and call to order The mayor or in his/her absence the mayor pro-tem, shall preside at all meetings of the city council. If the mayor and the mayor pro-tem are absent, any councilmember may be appointed by the mayor or a majority of the council to preside. At the hour or the meeting, the mayor shall assume the chair, call the council to order, and the city secretary shall record the roll. Rule 3. Handling of agenda subjects The city council is the sole judge of its own procedure and in full control of the business before it. Neither the mayor, the mayor pro-tem, nor any councilmember appointed to preside shall have any power to either recess a meeting or adjourn a meeting, or prevent the city council from considering an agenda item or lay the same out for consideration except in strict accordance with Texas open meetings act, the city charter, and as enacted herein. If, not withstanding the positive provisions of this rule, the presiding, officer whether mayor, mayor pro-tem, or councilmember presiding, shall attempt to prevent city council from taking any action on any agenda item brought before it, any councilmember present may call for a vote of the city council to consider the matter. Rule 4. Conduct of mavor and councilmembers Any member of the city council including the mayor, who fails to observe decorous and orderly behavior during a meeting or who disturbs a meeting of council with such disorderly conduct is subject to being expelled from such meeting upon motion passed by 2/3 vote of the council present at this meeting. Any member reprimanded by motion or expelled from a meeting by motion who thereafter commits another breach of decorous and disorderly behavior during a subsequent meeting and again disturbs any meeting of the council by such disorderly conduct shall be subject to the same power of council to reprimand him/her, expel him/her from the meeting, or subject such member to complaint, investigation, and conviction of official misconduct. Rule 5. Non-interruption Each member of the city council shall be permitted to address the chair while either seated or standing, and after recognition shall not be interrupted while speaking without his/her consent. Rule 6. Handling of question of order All questions of order shall be decided by the presiding officer with the right of appeal of his/her decision by the city council, and a majority of the councilmembers present may over FWD/RES./RULES.10/14/98 2 rule the decision of the chair. When the chair makes a ruling on a point of order and one of the councilmembers states "I appeal the ruling of the chair", or words to such effect, no other business shall be transacted until the question, "shall the ruling of the chair be sustained?" is voted on. The presiding officer shall immediately put such question to vote without debate, and, if he/she fails to do so immediately, any member of the city council may put the question to a vote. Rule 7. Procedure for submitting agenda items Any and all ordinances, resolutions or other matters, including all written data, except emergency items, to be brought before the city council for its consideration by the mayor or by any member of the council shall be submitted to the city secretary not later than noon of the Tuesday preceding the meeting at which the same is to be considered. Rule 8. Motion to table Since the city council of the city of Friendswood will always have meetings, the motion to table, when carried, does not permanently defeat an ordinance, resolution or other measure if an ordinance, resolution, motion or other measure is tabled by a majority vote of the city council, such ordinance, resolution, motion, or other measure shall be considered always to be lying upon the table and may be called from the table at any time by a majority vote of the councilmembers present, and again considered. Rule 9. Procedure to debate Upon any ordinance, resolution or other measure being laid out, or any motion being made, any councilmember present, before there is any debate opened on the subject, may make a parliamentary objection to the consideration of the subject which need not be seconded. No debate shall then be permitted, and the presiding officer shall immediately put the question, "shall the objection be sustained"? If the objection is sustained by a vote of two-thirds of the councilmembers present the ordinance, resolution, motion, or other measure is permanently defeated for that meeting and shall not be debated (except in accordance with Rule 11). Rule 10. Closin� of debate If, during debate upon any ordinance, resolution, motion or other matter before the council, any member moves that the subject under discussion be put to a vote without further debate (and such a motion need not be seconded), the presiding officer shall immediately ask the council, "is there any objection to proceeding to a vote on the ordinance, resolution, motion, or other measure before the council being taken immediately?" If any member objects, the presiding officer shall irrunediately and without debate put the question, "shall the subject being discussed be put to a vote, without debate?" To a vote of the council, and if two thirds of the councilmembers present vote in favor of ordering the vote, debate on the question shall be closed and a vote on the ordinance, resolution, motion or other measure taken immediately. FW D/RES./RULES.10/14/98 3 � . Rule 11. Reconsideration of a subject When an ordinance, resolution, motion, or other measure of any sort has been placed before the city council and defeated, the same identical question shall not again be considered by the city council until ninety (90) days have elapsed. Rule 12. Reducing motion to writin� All oral motions must be seconded before being put to vote by the chair (except where otherwise provided in these rules), and upon request of any other member of the council, or mayor, the party making any such oral motion (except a motion to order a vote on a subject being considered per rule 10 or to table, or other such procedural matter) shall reduce the same to writing, or request the city secretary to so the same. If a motion be made by any member of the council in writing and filed with the presiding office, it shall still require a second. Rule 13. Secretarial procedure The city secretary shall be the secretary of the council and shall act as reading and recording clerk to the council. By his or her signature, the secretary shall certify the correctness of the minutes and journals, shall record all actions taken by the council, shall record the vote upon each measure when taken by the ayes and nays, and shall schedule and place on council agendas, public hearings at the earliest practicable dates and shall perform such other duties as may be required of the city secretary by the mayor and the city council. The city secretary shall mark the absence of the mayor or any other member of council. The city secretary shall test and attest to the satisfactory operation of the tape recorder, and maintain proper functioning and tape changes as needed throughout the meeting. In the absence of the city secretary, any suitable person may be appointed by the ciry secretary or mayor to serve as acting city secretary of any meeting. The city secretary shall ensure that a tape recording of any executive session shall be made and shall secure such following each meeting. The city secretary shall keep a copy of these rules and the charter in the council chamber, available for reference. Rule 14. Votin� Unless otherwise required by state law, the city charter, ordinances of the City of Friendswood, or this resolution, all action required of the city council shall be made by a majority vote of the members of the council present at such council meetings. Excluding conflicts of interest as provided by state law or by city charter, all councilmembers present at each meeting must vote on each subject presented for council vote. All votes must be taken in accordance with section 3.10, article III of the city charter. Rule 15. Citizens' ri�ht to be heard FW D/RES./RULES.10/14/98 4 Any citizen shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any and all regular meetings of the city council in regard to any and all matters to be considered at any such meeting, or such other matters as citizens may wish to bring to council's attention, provided, however, that any matter not posted on the agenda may not be discussed by council nor shall any action be taken by council except to indicate that the matter may be placed on a later agenda. A time shall be set aside during each council meeting for the council to hear from the public with a five minute time limit. Citizens may appear at the council meeting they desire, to speak before council, and complete a form to appear and present to the city secretary. Citizens may request that a council member place an item on the agenda. All requests to be placed on the agenda to appear before council, must be received no later than noon on the Tuesday preceding the meeting with a time limit not to exceed ten minutes. No member of the public shall be heard until recognized by the presiding officer. Any member of the public interrupting city council proceedings, or failing to abide by these rules of procedure in addressing city council, shall be deemed guilty of disorderly conduct and, at the direction of the presiding officer, shall be removed from council chambers by the sergeant-at- arms or other agent designated by city council. Any citizen shall be entitled to visit city hall, during regular business hours, and inspect all past council meeting minutes, city audits, and the agenda to be considered by the council in advance of the meeting and inform himself or herself as to the matters to be considered. Rule 16. Order of Business Unless agreed to otherwise by majority vote of council, the normal order of business before the city council in any regular meeting shall be as follows: (1) Call to order (2) Invocation (3) Pledge of allegiance (4) Public hearings - as called. (5) Communications from the mayor and council shall be presented. �• (6) The council shall receive petitions and hear any member of the public as provided in Rule 15, and any appeal or other matter shall then be heard by the city council and receive reports of special and standing committees. (7) City manager reports. (8) The council may then receive reports of various city departments. (9) Tabled items shall then be considered. (10) Items for discussion and action shall then be considered. (11) Then the council shall consider any resolutions and/or ordinances that are currently before them. (12) Consent agenda: A. Warrants. B. Bids. FWD/RES./RULES.10/14/98 5 C. Appointments. D. Matters routine in nature. E. Routine resolutions F. Minutes. Rule 17. Order of business for special meetings Unless agreed to otherwise by majority vote of council, the normal order of business before the city council in any special meeting shall be as follows: (1) Call to order (2) The presiding of�cer shall state the purpose(s) of the meeting. (3) No business shall be discussed or acted upon at such meeting unless the subject has been duly posted in accordance with the Texas open meetings act. (4) Adjourn meeting. Rule 18. Suspension of rules of nrocedure Any one or all of these rules of procedure may be suspended in order to allow a particular consideration of a matter, provided that it does not violate the state law or home rule charter, and provided that not less that two-thirds councilmembers vote in favor of such suspension. Where any rule embodies a provision of state law, identically or in substance, such rule may not be suspended. The requirement of two thirds to suspend a rule shall not apply to rules 16 and 17, but the order of business may be suspended by a majority vote. Rule 19. Rules of Procedure Except where in conflict with any state law, city charter, city ordinance or the rules of procedure adopted by this resolution, the rules of procedure laid down in Robert's rules of order, 75"' anniversary edition, shall govern the proceedings of the city council. Section 2. The city of Friendswood, Galveston/Harris counties, Texas, resolution no.R97-24is hereby repealed. Passed, approved and adopted by the city council of the City of Friendswood, Texas on this the 19th day of October, 1998. Mayor Harold L. Whitaker City of Friendswood, Texas FW D/RES./RULES.10/14/98 6 ATTEST: S • r D loris McKenzie, C City Secretary FW D/RES./RULES.10/14/98 7