Loading...
1972-024 Note Amended by Ordince 72-49 AN ORDINANCE DECI~RING THE NECESSITY FOR AND ESTABLISHING RULES OF PROCEDUR~ FOR THE CITY COUNCIL OF DENTON, TFXAS, AND DEFINING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, and the Clty Charter of the City of Denton, Texas, authorize the City Councll of sa~d City to promulgate and establish rules of procedure to govern and conduct meetings, order of business, decorum, etc , whlle acting as a legislatzve body representmng said Czty, and WHEREAS, because of mrs desire to effectively and effl¢lently serve the publlc through the medium of public meetings it has be- come necessary to establish guzdelznes relating to proper conduct of all part~es present for such meetzngs, now therefore THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS All meetmng of the Czty Council are open to the public, and during any meeting a reasonable opportunzty shall be given for citi- zens to be heard under the rules set forth below The Rules of Pro- cedure hereby enacted establish guidelines to be followed by all per- sons in the Council Chamber znclud~ng the City Admznlstratmve Staff, news medla, and visitors A Meetings 1 Regular Meetings The City Council will meet at seven o'clock p m on the sec- ond and fourth Tuesday of each month, or at any other times set by the City Council, unless postponed for valid reasons All regular meetings of the City Councml will be held in the Municipal Buzldlng (C~ty Hall) at 215 East McKznney 2 Special Meetings The Cmty Secretary shall call special meetmngs upon the re- quest of the Mayor, the Czty Manager or three (3) members of the Councll, and post advance notice thereof as provided be- low 3 Publmc Notice The agenda for all regular meetzngs and the notice stating the purpose of all special meetmngs shall be posted by the City Secretary on the City's official bulletzn board at least three days preceding the said meetmngs (Art 6252-17 Sec 3A (f), Revmsed Civil Statutes) 4 Quorum Three (3) members shall constmtute a quorum except when the number of Councilmen, due to vacancies, is reduced to less than three (3), in whmch event a quorum shall consist of all of the remamnlng Councmlmen 5 The City Manager, or Acting City Manager, shall attend all meetings of the Council unless excused He may make recommendations to the Council and shall have the right to take part in all dIscussions of the Council, but shall have no vote (Charter, Section 5 03 (d)) 6 The City Attorney, or Asslstant City Attorney, shall be avaIlable upon request for all meetings of the Council un- less excused and shall, upon request, give an opinion, either written or oral, on questlons of law The City Attorney shall act as the Council's parlIamentarian 7 Conference Sessions (a) The Council may meet in conference session prior to any meeting of the Council (b) The Mayor or City Manager may call the Council toqether for a conference session at any time (c) The conference session shall be devoted exclusIvely to any matter regardlng which the lnterchanqe of ~nformat~on preliminary to public discussion is deemed to be essen- tial, and no action shall be taken by the Council except as provided below (d) The Mayor, City Manager or C~ty Attorney may request that the dlscusslon be regarded as confidential ~n an execu- tive session under the following c~rcumstances (1) Appointment, employment or dIsmissal of a public officer or employee or to hear charges or com- plalnts brought agalnst an officer or employee, (2) Dellberat~ons affecting securlty, (3) Dellberatlons pertaining to the acquIsition of real estate, (4) Privileged communications between the City Council and City Attorney (Art 6252-17, Sec 2, Revised C~v~l Statutes) Page Two (e) No formal vote shall be taken on any matter under dis- cussion nor shall any Council Member enter into a com- mitment with another respecting a vote to be taken sub- sequently in a public meeting of the Council except un- der the limiting clrcumstances stated ~n above para- graph (d) B CODE OF CONDUCT 1 Council Members (a) Durlng Councll meetings, Councll Members shall preserve order and decorum and shall neither by conversation or otherwise delay or interrupt the proceedings nor refuse to obey the orders of the Mayor (or Chairman) or the rules of the Council (b) A Councllman, once recognized, shall not be lnterrupted while speaking unless called to order by the Mayor (or Chairman), unless a point of order is raised by another member or the parliamentarian, or unless the speaker chooses to y~eld to questions from another member If a Councilman ~s called to order while he ~s speaking, he shall cease speaklng immediately until the question of order is determined If ruled to be in order, he shall be permitted to proceed If ruled to be not in order, he shall remain silent or shall alter h~s remarks so as to comply wlth rules of the Council 2 Admlnlstratlve Staff (a) Members of the administrative staff and employees of the City shall observe the same rules of Drocedure and decorum applicable to members of the Council, and shall have no voice unless and until recognized by the Chair Page Three (b) Whale the presidang officer shall have the authorat¥ to preserve decorum in meetings as far as staff members and Caty employees are concerned, the Caty Manager also shall be responsable for the orderly conduct and decorum of all Caty employees under has darectlon and control (c) The City Manager shall take such dasclplanary actaon as may be necessary to ansure that such decorum as preserv- ed at all tames by C~ty employees an Council meetings (d) Ail remarks and questaons addressed to the Council shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any ~lndlvldual member thereof (e) No staff member, other than a staff member having the floor, shall enter into any dascusslon either darectly or indarectly without permission of the presadang officer 3 Catizens Qfflclal (a) Citizens are welcome and anvlted to attend all/meetings of the Caty Council, and will be admitted to the Council Chamber up to the fire safety capacaty of the room (b) All male persons wall remove hats and all citizens will refrain from private conversataons in the Chamber while the Caty Coun¢ll is an session (c)Citizens attending Councal Meetings also shall observe ~he same rules of proprletry, decorum, and good conduct applicable to the administrative staff Any person mak- ing personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks or who becomes boasterous while addressing the Council or while attendang the Councal meeting shall be removed from the room if the Sergeant-at-Arms is so directed by the pre- sadlng officer, and such person shall be barred from further audaence before the Council during that session of the Caty Council Page Four (d) Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of feet, whistles, yells, and similar demonstrations shall not be permitted by the presiding officer, who shall d~rect the Sergeant-at-Arms to remove such offenders from the room Aggravated cases shall be prosecuted on appropriate com- plaint signed by the presiding officer In case the pre- sldlng officer shall fall to act, any member of the Council may move to require hlm to act to enforce the rules, and the affirmative vote of the majority of the Council shall require the presiding officer to act (e) No placards, banners or signs of any kind w~ll be permitted in the Council Chamber except exhibIts, d~splays and v~sual aids used in connection with presentations to the City Counclt provided that such exhibits, displays and v~sual aids do not disrupt the meeting (f) There shall be no food or drlnk allowed ~n the Council Cham- ber by cltlzens attending the public meetlngs 4 Enforcement The City Manager in the absence of a deslgnated Law Enforce- ment Officer, shall act as Sergeant-at-Arms for the City Council, and shall furnish whatever assistance ~s needed to enforce the rules of decorum here~n established C DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS 1 Seat~n~ Arrangement The Clty Secretary, Clty Manager and City Attorney shall occupy the respective seats ~n the Council Chamber assigned to them by the Mayor, but any two or more members of the Council may exchange seats Page Flve 2 Right of Floor When recognized by the chair, a member shall confine him- self to the question under debate No member shall address the chair or demand the floor while any vote is being taken 3 Personal Interest No member stopped from voting by personal interest shall remain in the Council Chamber during the debate and vote on any such matter 4 Right of Appeal Any member may appeal to the Council from a ruling of the presiding officer If the appeal is seconded, the member making the appeal may briefly state his reason for the same, and the presiding officer may briefly explain his ruling, but there shall be no debate on the appeal, and 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 pre- sent vote "No", the ruling of the chair is overruled, other- wlse, it is sustained 5 Votin.~. (a) Every member present when a question is Dut shall vote e~ther "Aye" or "No" except on matters involving the con- slderatlon of his own official conduct, or where his finan- cial interests are involved, and in these instances he shall not vote Excuse from voting must be made before the votes are called for The member having briefly stated the rea- son for his request, the excuse from voting shall be made without debate (b) An affirmative vote of three (3) members is necessary to repeal any ordinance or take any official action in the name of the City except as o%herwlse provided in the Charter or Page Slx by the general laws of the State of Texas (Charter, Section 2 06) 6 Demand for Roll Call Upon demand of any member, made before the negative has been put (calling for the negative vote on the question), the roll shall be called for yeas and nays upon any question before the Council It shall not be ~n order for members to explain their vote during the roll call 7 Personal Privilege The right of a member to address the Council on a question of personal privilege shall be l~m~ted to cases ~n which his integrity, character, or motives are assailed, questioned, or impugned 8 Dissents and Protests Any member shall have the right to express dissent from or protest against any ordinance or resolution of the Council and have the reason therefor entered upon the m~nutes Such dissent or protest may be f~led in wrztlng, and presented to the Council not later than the next regular meeting follow- lng the date of passage of the ordinance or resolution ob- 3ected to 9 Excusal from Attendance No member shall be excused from attendance at a Council meeting, except for good and valid reasons 10 Excusal During Meeting No member may leave the Counczl Chamber wh~le in regular session without acknowledgment by the presldlng officer D CHAIRMAN AND DUTIES 1 Chairman The Mayor, if present, shall preszde as Chazrman at all meetings of the Council In the absence of the Mayor, the Page Seven Mayor Pro-Tem shall preside In the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem, the remaining members shall select a temporary chairman who shall preside 2 Call to Order The meetings of the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, or in hls absence, by the Mayor Pro-Tem In the ab- sence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem, the meeting shall be called to order by the Clty Secretary, and a temporary Chair- man shall be elected as provided above 3 Preservation of Order The Chairman shall preserve order and decorum, call upon the Sergeant-at-Arms as necessary to enforce compliance w~th the rules contained here~n and confine all speakers to the ques- tion under discussion 4 Questions to be Stated The Chairman shall state all questions submitted for a vote and announce the result A roll call vote shall be taken upon the request ~f any member, and uDon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions 5 Substztutlon for Chairman The Chairman may call any other member to take his place in the chair, such substitution not to continue beyond adjourn- ment 5 6 Call for Recess The Chairman may call for a recess of up to fifteen (15) mznutes at regular ~ntervals of approximately one hour at appropriate polnts in the meeting agenda, or ~f requested by any two members Page Eight E ORDER OF BUSINESS 1 Agenda The order of busaness of each meeting shall be as contaaned in the Agenda prepared by the Caty Manager The Agenda shall be a lasting by topic of subjects to be considered by the Councal, and shall be delivered to members of the Council each Fraday preceding the regular meeting to which it pertains Conduct of business at Special Meetings will likewise be governed by an agenda and rules of procedure contained here- in 2 Presentations by Members of Council The Agenda shall provide a tame when the Mayor or any Councal- man may bring before the Council any business that he feels should be deliberated upon by the Councal These matters need not be specifically lasted on the Agenda, but formal action on such matters shall be deferred untal a subsequent Council meeting, except that ammedaate action may be taken upon a vote of three (3) members of the Council if an emer- gency exists, or if the matter as routine 3 C~tlzen ~peakers Any person desiring to present a subject for the Council's consaderatlon shall advise the City Secretary's Office of that fact no later than 12 00 noon Thursday praor to the Council meeting at which he washes the subject to be consa- dered Any person who wishes to address the Caty Councal wlthout having made thas preparataon will be scheduled after all other regular bus~ness on the Agenda has been completed 4 Time Limit Citizen speakers will limit remarks to five (5) m~nutes Upon written request to the City Secretary five (5) days an Page Nine advance of the Council meeting at which the speaker w~shes to appear, the tame llmat may be extended to fifteen (15) minutes if approved by the Chairman Longer extensions wall be granted only by a majority vote of the Councal 5 Communications to Mayor and Council The City Manager shall provide the Councal with an analysas of ma]or items to be acted upon by the Council at its meet- lngs The communications shall be delivered to Council mem- bers preceding the meetings at which they will be dascussed 6 0ral Presentations Matters requrlng the Council's attention or action may be presented orally by the City Manager If matters have deve- loped since the deadline for delivery of the Agenda, the City Manager, or any Council member, may make an oral report to the City Council, but formal action, af required, shall be de- layed until the next succeedang meeting, except that ammeda- ate action may be taken if approved by three (3) members of the Council present and voting if the action as routine, or an emergency exists F CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS 1 ~rln~e~Typewrltten Form All ordinances and resolutions shall be presented to the Council only an printed or typewritten form The Council may, by proper motion, amend any ordinance or resolution presented to at, provided such amendment as made in writing prior to passage 2 City Attorney to Approve Ail ordinances, resolutions and contracts and amendments thereto shall be approved by the City Attorney before beang acted upon by the Council (Charter, Section 6 02) Page Ten 3 Distribution of Ordinances and Resolutions The City Manager shall prepare copies of all proposed ordIn- ances and resolutions for d~strlbutlon to all members of the Council at the meeting at which the ordinance is introduced, or at such earlier time as is expedient G RULES OF ORDER Roberts Rules of Order Revised shall govern the proceedings of the Council in all cases, unless they are in conflict with these rules 1 Order of Precedence of Motions (a) The following motions shall have priority in the order indicated 1 Adjourn (when privileged) 2 Take a recess (when privileged) 3 Raise a question of privilege 4 Lay on the table 5 Previous question (2/3 vote required) 6 Limit or extend limits of debate (2/3 vote required) 7 Postpone to a certain time 8 Commit or refer 9 Amend 10 Postpone IndefinItely 11 Main motion (b) The first two motions are not always privileged To adjourn shall lose its privilege character and be a main motion if in any way qualified To take a recess shall be privileged only when other bus~- ness is pending (c) A motion to adjourn is not in order 1 When repeated without intervening business or discussion 2 When made as an interruption of a member while speaking 3 While a vote is being taken Page Eleven (d) Can be amended - others cannot be amended (e) A motaon to amend shall be undebatable when the question to be amended is undebatable 2 Reconslderatlon A motaon to reconsader any actaon of the Council can be made not later than the next succeedIng offac~al meetang of the Council Such a motion can only be made by a member who voted wath the majoratv It can be seconded by any member No question shall be twace re- considered, except by unanimous consent of the Councal, except that actaon relatang to any contract may be re- consadered at any t~me before the f~nal executaon thereof 3 The Prevaous Question When the prevaous questaon as moved and seconded, it shall be put as follows "Shall the maan questaon be now put?" There shall then be no further amendment or debate, but pendang amendments shall be put an their order before the main question If the motion for the prevlous questaon as lost, the main question remaans before the Council An affirmative vote of three-f~fths of the Councal shall be required to move the previous question To demand the previous questaon as e~u~valent in effect to movang "that debate now cease, and the Councll ~mmedlately proceed to vote on the pendang motaon" In practlce, th~s as done with the phase "Call for the Questaon", or slmply saying, "Questaon" 4 Withdrawal of Motaons A motion may be wathdrawn, or modlfaed, by ~ts mover w~th- out asklng permission untal the motion has been stated by the Chalrman If the mover mod~faes h~s motion, the sec- onder may wathdraw his second After the question has been stated, the mover shall neither w~thdraw it nor mof- ~fy ~t w~thout the consent of the Council Page Twelve 5 Amendments to Motions No motaon or proposition of a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment A motlon to amend an amendment shall be an order, but one to amend an amendment to an amendment shall not be an order 6 Appropriations of Money Before formal approval by the Councal of motions provid- ing for approprlatlon of money, Information must be pre- sented to the Councal showing the purpose of the appro- prlataon In addltaon, before f~nally acting on such an appropriation, the Council shall obtain a report from the City Manager as to the avaIlability of funds and his recommendations as to the desirability of the approprlataon 7 Transfer of Appropriations Upon the wratten recommendation of the C~ty Manaqer, the Council may at any tame transfer an unencumbered balance of an appropraatlon made for the use of one department division, or purpose, but no transfer shall be made of revenues or earnings of any non-tax supported public utlllty to any other purpose H VOTES REQUIRED Questaons on which the voting requirement ~s varied by the Charter, State Statutes and these rules are lasted below 1 Charter and State Statutory Requirements (a) Charter Amendment - Four Votes Ordinances submitting proposed Charter Amendments must be adopted by a two-th~rds vote of the Council (Art XI, Sec 3, Texas Constitution and Art 1165, Revised Page Thzrteen Clval Statutes) For a five member Councal, thas means four members must vote affirmatively, as three- fafths as less than two-thirds, hence a four-fafths vote of all the members is required (b) Levyang Taxes - Four Votes Ordananees providing for the assessment and collectaon of taxes require the approval of two-thards of the mem- bers of the Councal (Art 1033, Revised C~vll Statutes) (c) Changang Pavin~ Assessment Plans - Four Votes Changes in plans for pavlng assessment require a two- thards vote of the Council (Art 1105 b , Sec 10, Revised C~vil Statutes) (d) Chan~es ~n Zon~n90rdanance - Four Votes Changes an Zonang Classlflcatlons, ~f den~ed by the Planning and Zonzng Commission, o__r where a hearing is held by the Council and such change ls protested by owners of twenty (20%) percent or more of the area with- an 200 feet of the affected property, must have the approval of four (4) members of the Council (Art 1011 e , Revzsed Clvll Statutes and the Revised Zoning Ordananoe) 2 Council Rules Requirements (a) Matters Not on the Agenda - Three Votes Matters presented by Counczl members that are not speci- fically lasted on the Agenda may be flnalty acted upon at the meetang in whlch they are ~ntroduced ~f approved by three (3) members of the Council (Counczl Rules, E (2) (b) The Prevaous Question - Three Votes An affarmative vote of three (3) members of the Council ls requared to move the previous Guestaon (Counczl Rules, G (3) Page Fourteen I RULES SUSPENSION OR AMENDMENT 1 Suspension of Rules Any provision of these rules not governed by the City Charter or Code may be temporarily suspended by a majority vote of the Council The vote on any such suspension shall be taken by yeas and noes and entered upon the record 2 Amendment of Rules These rules may be amended, or new rules adopted by a ma]- orlty vote of members of the Council present, provided that the proposed amendments or new rules shall have been ~ntro- duced into the record at a prior Council meeting APPROVED by the Council this the 13th day of June, A D 1972 BIlL NEU, MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS ATTEST~ ~KS HOLT, C~TY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS APPROVE~ TO LEGAL FORM W RALPH~ANN, CITY ATTORNEY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS Page Flfteen