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R-8489 e e CA:RMM:lld653/hpca/pc City council Meeting 10-13-92 Santa Monica, California RESOLUTION NUMBER 8489 (CCS) (City council Series) A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING RESOLUTION NUMBER 8168 (CCS) TO AMEND THE RULES OF ORDER AND PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Resolution Number 8168 (CCS) is amended to read as follows: RULES FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS RULE 1. TIME AND PLACE FOR HOLDING REGULAR MEETINGS. Pursuant to the provisions of section 611 of the Santa Monica City Charter, the City council does establish as the days and time for the holding of regular meetings, the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The Regular meeting shall commence at 6:00 p.m. The only agenda item that may be considered between 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. is a Closed Session. All other agenda items shall commence after 7:30 p.m. The amount of time necessary for the Closed Session shall be determined by the Mayor in consultation with the city Manager and city Attorney. However, if any such Tuesday falls on any day designated by law or by the city Council as a day for public feast, thanksgiving, or holiday, such regular meeting shall be held on the date of the - 1 - e e debatable. A motion by a non-prevailing Councilmember or a request by a member of the public for reconsideration may be made only if one year has passed since the action was taken. (h) Calling for the Question. Neither the moving party nor the party seconding any motion is allowed to call for the question. (i) Limitation of Debate. No councilmember shall be allowed to speak more than once upon any particular subject until every other Councilmernber desiring to do so shall have spoken. Each Councilmember speaking on anyone item on the Agenda shall be limited to 10 minutes per item to state his or her opinion and views. RULE 13. REMARKS OF COUNCILMEMBERS AND SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE. A Councilmember may request through the Presiding officer under the privilege of having an abstract of his or her statement on any subject under consideration by the city council entered in the Minutes. If the City Council consents thereto, such statement shall be entered in the Minutes. RULE 14. PROTEST AGAINST CITY COUNCIL ACTION. Any Councilmember shall have the right to have the reasons for his or her dissent from, or his or her protest against, any action of the City Council entered in the Minutes. Such dissent or protest to be entered in the Minutes shall be made in the following manner: "I would like the Minutes to show that I am opposed to this action for the following reasons . . . " - 16 - e e RULE 15. RULES OF ORDER. Except as otherwise provided herein, the City Charter, other rules adopted by the City Council, or applicable provisions of state law, the procedures of the city Council shall be governed by the latest revised edition of Roberts Rules of Order. The City Council rules, or anyone thereof, may be suspended by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Councilmembers present. RULE 16. FAILURE TO OBSERVE RULES OF ORDER. Rules adopted to expedite the transaction of the business of the City Council in an orderly fashion are deemed to be procedural only and the failure to strictly observe such rules shall not affect the jurisdiction of the City councilor invalidate any action taken at a meeting that is otherwise held in conformity with law. RULE 17. ADDRESSING THE CITY COUNCIL. (a) Reqistration. Each person wishing to address the city Council regarding items on the Agenda where public discussion is permitted shall register first with the City Clerk his or her name and address prior to any discussion of that item, and preferably shall register prior to the start of the city council meeting. (b) Manner of Addressing the city Council. Each person desiring to address the City Council shall step up to the microphone in front of the rail, state his or her name and address for the record, state the subj ect he or she wishes to discuss, state whom he or she is representing if he or she - 17 - e . represents an organization or other person. Unless further time is granted by majority vote of the City Council, a person shall limit his or her remarks to three minutes per item, except if he or she is the applicant or appellant on an Administrative Proceeding item, in which case a person shall limit his or her remarks to ten minutes. All remarks shall be addressed to the City council as a whole and not to any member thereof. No questions shall be asked of a Councilmember or a member of the City Staff without the permission of the Presiding Officer. (c) Discretion to Limit Duration and Number of speakers. Where more than one person desires to speak on a particular item, it shall be within the discretion of the Presiding Officer to limit the number and duration of presentations to not less than 10 minutes for each side giving equal time for each position or side. It is recommended that a spokesperson for each side be chosen prior to the meeting and the city Clerk shall advise persons of this recommendation. If a spokesperson has not been selected prior to the meeting, the item may be called and the Presiding Officer may either pass the item or grant a recess to permit the selection of a spokesperson. The Presiding Officer may also determine which persons have a predominate or proprietary interest in an item and perm1t such person or persons to speak first. Nothing in this Section shall be deemed to preclude the presiding Officer or a majority of Councilmembers present from allowing extended debate on any matter. ed) Consent Calendar and Persons speaking on More than One Item. Anyone person wishing to speak on more than one item shall limit his or her remarks to three minutes on the item he or - 18 - e e she considers most important, two minutes on the item he or she considers next most important, and one minute on any other item unless further time is granted by a majority vote of the City Council. With regard to matters appearing on the Consent Calendar, each member of the public wishing to speak will be gi ven no more than one opportunity to address the city Council concerning items on the consent calendar. For purposes of these rules, the consent calendar as a whole shall be considered one item regardless of the number of matters appearing on the consent calendar. Members of the public who request to speak on the consent calendar may speak for no more than three minutes on matters appearing on the Consent Calendar as provided for in these rules. This Rule does not apply with respect to a Report from a Board or Commission nor to an applicant or appellant speaking on an Administrative Proceeding item. (e) After Motion. After a motion has been made or a public hearing has been closed, no member of the public shall address the City Council from the audience on the matter under consideration without first securing permission to do so by a majority vote of the City Council. (f) special Time Limitations. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Rules, if fifteen or more persons wish to speak on such an item, or if 40 or more requests to speak on any combination of items, each speaker's remarks shall be limited to two minutes. This Rule shall not apply with respect to a Report from a Board or Commission nor to an applicant or appellant speaking on an Administrative Proceeding item. - 19 - e e RULE 18. RULES OF DECORUM. (a) Councilmembers. When the City Council is in session, councilmembers must preserve order and decorum, and a Councilmember shall neither by conversation or otherwise delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the City Council nor disturb any Councilmember while speaking or refuse to obey the orders of the presiding Officer. Councilmembers shall not leave their seats during a meeting without first obtaining the permission of the Presiding Officer. (b) Employees. Members of the City Staff and employees shall observe the same rules of order and decorum as are applicable to the City Council, with the exception that members of the City staff who are not seated at the City Council table may leave their seats during a meeting without first obtaining the permission of the Presiding Officer. (c) Persons Addressing the Council. (1) No person other than a Councilmember and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into discussions, either directly or through a councilmember, without permission of the Presiding Officer. (2) No questions shall be asked a Councilmember except through the Presiding Officer. (3) All remarks shall be addressed to the city Council as a body and not to anyone member thereof. (4) Any person making impertinent, slanderous, or profane remarks, or who becomes boisterous while addressing the City Council, shall be called to order by the Presiding Officer and, if such conduct continues, may at the discretion of the - 20 - e e Presiding Officer, be barred from further audience before the City council during that meeting. (d) Members of the Audience. (1) Any person in the audience or at the City council table who engages in disorderly conduct such as hand clapping, stamping of feet, whistling, using profane language, yelling, and similar demonstrations, or who disturbs the peace and good order of the meeting, or who refuses to comply with the lawful orders of the Presiding Officer shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon instructions from the Presiding Officer, with the consent of the majority, through the City Manager, it shall be the duty of the Sergeant at Arms to remove any such person from the City Council Chambers and to place him or her under arrest. (2) No person shall be permitted to interrupt the individual Councilmembers or the City Clerk when the City council is in session. (3) Except with prior authorization of the Presiding Officer, no placards, signs or posters, packages, bundles, suitcases, or other large objects shall be brought into the City Council Chambers. (4) Unless addressing the City Councilor entering or leaving the City council Chambers, all persons in the audience shall remain sitting in the seats provided. No person shall stand or sit in the aisles or along the walls nor shall the doorways be blocked. - 21 - e e (5) Except with prior authorization of the Presiding Officer, the distribution of literature, of whatever nature or kind, is prohibited. (e) Persons Authorized to be within Rail. No person except Councilmembers and City staff and recognized representatives of the news media shall be permitted within the rail without the consent of the Presiding Officer. ef) Enforcement of Decorum. The Chief of Police or such member or members of the Police Department as he or she may designate, shall be Sergeant At Arms of the City Council and shall carry out all orders given by the Presiding Officer through the city Manager for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at City council meetings. Any Councilmember may move to require the Presiding Officer to enforce the rules and the affirmative vote of a majority of the city council shall require him or her to do so. RULE 19. VOTING PROCEDURE. Any vote of the city council, including a roll call vote, may be registered by the members by answering nAye" for an affirmative vote or "No" for a negative vote upon his or her name being called by the City Clerk. Unless a member of the city council states that he or she is not voting, silence shall be recorded as an affirmative vote. RULE 20. DISQUALIFICATION FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Any Councilmember who is disqualified from voting on a particular matter by reason of a conflict of interest shall publicly state or have the Presiding Officer state the nature of - 22 - e e such disqualification in an open meeting. Where no thoroughly disqualifying conflict of interest appears, the matter of disqualification may, at the request of the Councilmember affected, be decided by the other Councilmembers. A Councilmember who is disqualified by reason of a conflict of interest in any matter shall not remain in his or her seat during the debate and vote on such matter, but shall request and be given the permission of the Presiding Officer to step down from the City Council table and leave the City council Chambers. A Councilmember stating such disqualification shall not be counted as part of a quorum and shall be considered absent for the purpose of determining the outcome of any vote on such matter. RULE 21. FAILURE TO VOTE. Every councilmember is entitled to vote unless disqualified by reason of a conflict of interest. A Councilmember who abstains from voting in effect consents that a majority of the quorum may decide the question voted upon. RULE 22. TIE VOTE. Tie votes shall be lost motions and may be reconsidered. RULE 23. CHANGING VOTE. The vote of a councilmember may be changed only if he or she makes a timely request to do so immediately following the announcement of the vote by the City Clerk and prior to the time that the next item in the order of business is taken up. - 23 - e e RULE 24. PROCEDURE ON AGENDA ITEMS REQUIRING A MOTION. The following procedure shall be followed in connection with any Agenda item requiring a motion: (a) City Clerk reads the title. (b) Explanation by City Manager, if called for by the Presiding Officer. (c) Questions to city Manager by Councilmembers. Cd) All background material complete at this point. (e) Public to be heard subject to the limitations set forth herein. (f) Close of public discussion. (g) Presiding Officer to ask for a motion and second. (h) Motion and discussion by the city Council. (i) The maker of the motion to have a chance for further discussion. (j) Presiding Officer to restate the motion. (k) Vote on the motion. RULE 25. ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, AND CONTRACTS. (a) The preparation of ordinances shall be ordered only by a majority vote of the city Council, except for those ordinances specified in Section 619 of the City Charter. All ordinances shall be prepared by the City Attorney. (b) ordinances shall be prepared according to three priorities. When requesting the preparation of ordinances, the City Council shall instruct the city Attorney as to whether the request is "urgent." The city Attorney shall classify all other requests for ordinances as "normal" or "extended." - 24 - e e (c) Ordinances designated as "urgent" shall be returned to the City Council at the next subsequent City Council meeting. Likewise, ordinances for second reading shall be returned to the city Council at the next subsequent meeting. Ordinances designated as "normal" or "extended" shall be returned according to the schedule of due dates prepared by the city Attorney. (d) Specific due dates for each ordinance, other than those designated t1urgent,t1 shall be determined by the city Attorney and due dates for all ordinances shall be communicated to the City Council in the next subsequent Agenda package. Insofar as practicable, the City Attorney shall endeavor to return ordinances to the city Council which have been designated as "normal" within four weeks of the request therefor. (e) Ordinances designated as "normaltl shall be processed in the following manner: (l) The City Attorney shall schedule due dates for such requests on the day following the city Council meeting at which the request is made. (2) By 12: 00 noon one calendar week and two days following said meeting (the second Thursday following), the city Attorney shall submit drafts of requested ordinances to the City Manager for review. (3) By 12: 00 noon one calendar week and six days following said meeting (the second Monday following), and following his review, the City Manager shall return said drafts to the City Attorney. (4) By 10:00 a.m. two weeks and two days following said meeting (the third Thursday following), the city Attorney - 25 - e e shall submit final documents of requested ordinances to the city Manager, to be included in the Agenda package for the next subsequent City Council meeting for first reading. (f) Resolutions shall be prepared, when requested by the City council, in the same manner as ordinances in the "normal" cycle. (g) Ordinances and resolutions may be voted on in a group rather than separately, unless a councilmember expresses a desire to debate a particular ordinance or resolution, where there is a division of votes "pro" or "con," or where a specific number of votes is required by law, in which cases the particular ordinance or resolution shall be considered separately. (h) A resolution, unless laid over by a majority vote of the city Council, shall be acted upon on the day of presentation. (i) Matters coming before the City Council in the form of recommendations which require the preparation of an ordinance and subsequent first and second readings shall be open to public discussion, except at the time of second reading. (j) The Presiding Officer, before calling for a motion on the adoption of any resolution, shall first inquire if there is anyone who desires to be heard on said proposed resolution. All persons desiring to be heard must have registered with the City Clerk, prior to the discussion of the resolution, their name and address, and the resolution item they wish to speak on and the Presiding Officer will call upon speakers from that list. Public hearings held at the time of first reading and introduction of ordinances shall be conducted, insofar as applicable, in the same manner. - 26 - e e (k) At the time of adoption of an ordinance or a resolution, it shall be read in full unless after reading the title thereof, further reading is waived by a unanimous vote of the Councilmembers present. Such consent may be expressed by a statement of the Presiding Officer that "If there is no objection, the further reading of the Ordinance or Resolution is waived." (1) Resolutions may be adopted by the city council by title only, and the City council may direct that the resolution, other than the title, be drafted following such adoption. In this event, it is not necessary that resolutions so adopted be returned to the City Council after the date of their adoption. (m) Contracts for which amounts have been budgeted previously by the City Council shall be deemed approved by the budgeting of such amounts and shall not be required to be presented to the city Council for further approval or authorization for the City Manager to execute the same, so long as the amounts represented by such contracts are the same as those amounts approved and budgeted. RULE 26. PRIOR APPROVAL BY ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF. All ordinances, resolutions, and contract documents shall, before presentation to the city Council, have been approved as to form and legality by the City Attorney, and shall have been examined for administration by the city Manager or his or her authorized representative. No request for the preparation of an ordinance or other item by the City council shall be placed on - 27 - e e the Agenda before the final, reviewed document has been received by the City Manager. RULE 27. INFORMAL MEETINGS. The City Council, subject to notice and other requirements imposed by law, may hold informal meetings in the City Council Chamber of city Hall at such times as may be designated in an order for a special meeting. At any such informal meeting, the City Council shall not take any formal or binding action upon any formal motion, resolution, ordinance, nor any other action required by law to be taken by the City Council. Such informal sessions shall be devoted exclusively to the presentation and exchange of information. RULE 28. JOINT MEETINGS WITH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. The city council, during the year, shall meet with the individual Boards and Commissions at least once, when feasible with the Agenda of the City council, said meetings to be calendared as study sessions, to be held in the City council Chamber at such time as is convenient to the Councilmembers. RULE 29. COMMUNICATIONS BY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. No City Board or Commission shall transmit an official resolution or any other correspondence of said Board or Commission on any matter of City policy to any non-City Agency, Board, or Commission without a vote of such Board or Commission to do so, nor without the prior approval of the city Council that such communication be so transmitted. - 28 - e e RULE 30. PRESENCE OF CITY STAFF AT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. The City Manager, city Clerk, and City Attorney, or, in their absence, their authorized representative, shall attend and be present during all city Council meetings and give necessary service and advice. However, any of the above is permitted to leave the City council Chamber after seeking and obtaining permission from the Presiding Officer and be absent therefrom for a period of time not to exceed 10 minutes without said absence causing a halt in the City council proceedings. RULE 31. ADJOURNMENT. All City Council meetings unless otherwise determined by Councilmembers present. shall adjourn at 11:00 a two-thirds vote of p.m., those RULE 32. RECORD OF MEETINGS. All public meetings of the City Council shall be recorded by tape recorder. The recording shall be made by the City Clerk and shall be part of the records of the city Council. The use of other recording or television equipment is permitted so long as it is not disruptive of the meeting. RULE 33. INTERPRETATION AND MODIFICATION OF THESE RULES. These rules shall be interpreted liberally in order to provide for the optimum in the free interchange of information and public debate without an unnecessary waste of time or duplication of effort. These rules may be amended by resolution. SECTION 2. Resolution Numbers 4525 (CCS), 4548 (CCS), 4570 (CCS), 4631 (CcS), 4848 (CCS), 4909 (CCS), 6387 (CCS), 6744 - 29 - e e (CCS), 7212 (CCS), 7279 (CCS), 7353 (CCS), 7417 (CCS), 7447 (CCS), 8168 (CCS), and each of them, and any other resolution adopting, amending, or relating to city council Rules of Order, are hereby repealed in its entirety. SECTION 3. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect. APPROVED AS TO FORM: ~~ JO H LAWRENCE Acting City Attorney - 30 - e e Adopted and approved this 13th day of October, 1992. I hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. 8489 (CCS) was duly adopted by the city council of the City of Santa Monica at a meeting thereof held on October 13, 1992 by the following Council vote: Ayes: Counci1members: Abdo, Genser, Holbrook, Katz, Olsen, Vazquez, Zane Noes: Councilmembers: None Abstain: Councilmembers: None Absent: councilmembers: None -~ -, - ATTEST: ~ ~;;~~ ~ ~ City Cl-e:r;k{ ~ - ~