R-8489
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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
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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 . . . "
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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(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
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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.
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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."
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(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
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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.
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(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
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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.
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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
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(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:
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JO H LAWRENCE
Acting City Attorney
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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
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ATTEST: ~
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~ City Cl-e:r;k{ ~ - ~