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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 2011 Amending Council Rules of ProcedureCity of West University Place Harris County, Texas ORDINANCE NO. 2011 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS; AMENDING APPENDIX B, RULES OF PROCEDURE, OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS, THAT: Section 1. Appendix B, Rules of Procedure, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of West University Place, Texas is amended to read as set out in Appendix A, attached hereto. All other portions of Appendix B of the Code of Ordinances not specifically amended hereby remain in full force and effect. Section 2. All ordinances and parts of ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance are repealed to the extent of the conflict only. Section 3. If any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall ever be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, neither the remainder of this Ordinance, nor the application of such word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, section or other part of this Ordinance to any other persons or circumstances, shall be affected thereby. Section 4. The City Council officially finds, determines and declares that a sufficient written notice of the date, hour, place and subject of each meeting at which this Ordinance was discussed, considered or acted upon was given in the manner required by the Texas Open Meetings Act, as amended, and that each such meeting has been open to the public as required by law at all times during such discussion, consideration and action. The City Council ratifies, approves and confirms such notices and the contents and posting thereof. Section 5. This Ordinance takes effect immediately upon its passage and adoption on second reading. {oa ro29sa. DOC2 I PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED ON FIRST READING on the « ?Nday of August 2015. PASSED, APPROVED / AND ADOPTED ON SECOND READING, AND SIGNED, on the day of Cti u , 2015. ASS oniv�ys�r` S 1) o MUNW18 AP ;I 9,FAW.J 10 f7M City Secretary Recommended by: IY nterim City Manager Approved as to legal form City Attorney 100172984.DOC2 1 2 L Appendix A to Ordinance No. 2011 CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE RULES OF PROCEDURE Part I. General Provisions Rule 1. Scope of Rules. These rules shall govern the conduct of the Council and shall be interpreted to insure fair and open deliberations and decision making. Rule 2. Technical Parliamentary Forms Abolished. Except as specifically required by these rules, the Council shall not use any formal points of parliamentary order, personal privilege, parliamentary inquiry or other technical forms. Rule 3. Rulings; Matters Not Covered. The presiding officer shall rule, initially, on all questions of procedure. The ruling of the presiding officer may be appealed to the entire Council. Any matter or order or procedure not covered by these rules shall be decided in the same manner. Rule 4. Interpretation. These rules are intended to supplement and shall be interpreted to conform with the statutes of the State of Texas and the charter and ordinances of the City of West University Place. In general, these rules shall be interpreted to allow the majority to prevail but preserve the right of the minority to be heard. Part II. Time and Place of Meeting Rule 5. Regular Meetings. The City Council shall meet in regular session on each second and fourth Monday in each calendar month beginning at 6:30 PM. The City Council, by motion, resolution or ordinance, may reschedule any regular meeting. If a regular meeting falls on a legal holiday, it is automatically rescheduled for the following Monday, unless rescheduled by the City Council. Rule 6. Special Meetings. Calling special meetings is governed by Section 2.09 of the Charter, which currently provides: "Special meetings may be called by the City Secretary at the request of the Mayor or two Members of Council. The City Manager shall be notified of all special meetings." A request for special meeting shall be filed with the City Secretary in written form unless made at a regular meeting at which all Council Members are present. Rule 7. Quorum, Majority Voting. Quorum and majority voting are governed by Section 2.10 of the Charter, which currently provides: A majority of Council, qualified and serving, shall constitute a quorum at all meetings for the transaction of business, and no action of the Council shall be of any effect unless it is adopted by the favorable vote of a majority of Council present unless otherwise provided by this Charter. 100172984.DOC2 } and no action of the Council shall be of any effect unless it is adopted by the favorable vote of a majority of Council present unless otherwise provided by this Charter. Part III. Agenda Rule 8. Preparation of Agenda; Requests. As a general rule the City Manager creates each City Council agenda. The City Secretary prepares, posts and distributes notices of meetings and assembles the agenda package. The City Manager is responsible for approving each agenda package before posting. The City Manager must place a subject on the agenda if the subject is requested by the Mayor or by two or more Council Members. Rule 9. Consent Agenda. In preparing an Agenda the City Secretary may separately designate items as "Consent Agenda" which may be acted upon by the Council under Rule 34. The "Consent Agenda" shall consist of routine items, which in the City Secretary's determination can be appropriately considered as a group (without separate discussion) at the Council meeting. Rule 10. Agenda Deadline. All requests to place a subject on the agenda must be in writing (including fax or e-mail) and provided to the City Secretary or City Manager by 5:00 PM on the fifth day preceding the meeting. Rule 11. Requests to Include. Each request to include an agenda item shall be forwarded to all members of the Council at the time the request is submitted to the City Secretary. When a Council Member will be absent from a meeting, the Council Member may request that an item not be included and such request shall not be unreasonably denied. Rule 12. Withdrawal of Items. The person who requests an item be placed on the agenda may withdraw the item from the agenda prior to the Council meeting, but in withdrawing the item shall state the reason and such reason shall be transmitted to the Council. Rule 13. Council Action to Defer, Continue or Not Act. A Council Member wishing to withdraw, defer or continue an item may make a motion to that effect. Such a motion shall be considered before any other action on that item. Rule 14. [Reserved] Part IV. Conduct of Meetings Rule 15. Roll Call. Before proceeding with the business of the Council, the City Secretary shall note the Members present, and enter their names in the minutes. The presiding officer shall determine the presence of a quorum as required by law and these rules. (00172984. DOC2 ) 4 Rule 16. Call to Order. The presiding officer shall call the meeting to order. Rule 17. Presiding Officer. The Mayor, or in the Mayor's absence or inability to perform, the Mayor Pro Tem, shall be the presiding officer at all Council meetings. If both the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tern are absent or unable to perform, the most senior Council Member present shall preside. In the event two or more Members equally possess the greatest seniority, then the eldest person among them shall preside. For this purpose, seniority is measured by current, continuous service on the City Council. Rule 18. Control of Discussion. The presiding officer shall moderate discussion of the Council on each agenda item to assure full participation in accordance with these rules. The presiding officer will preserve order and decorum, preventing the impugning of any member's motives or other personal comment not relevant to the orderly conduct of business. The presiding officer shall request all speakers to keep comments brief and relevant to the question before the Council. All persons present in the meeting room should avoid abusive, rude or inappropriate conduct. See Chapter 38 of the Texas Penal Code regarding the "hindering" of official proceedings. Rule 19. Order of Consideration of Agenda. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, each agenda item shall be considered in the numerical order assigned by the City Secretary. Each agenda item shall be introduced by the presiding officer. To introduce an item, it shall be sufficient to identify the item by the number assigned by the City Secretary. However, as provided in Section 2.11 of the City Charter: Every ordinance shall be introduced in writing or printed form and have a clearly summarized and fully descriptive title or caption. After a measure is introduced, the standard procedure is as follows: (1) Reading of the measure by the City Secretary (or other person designated by the presiding officer). Reading ordinances or resolutions by caption or summary is allowed if the full text is available as prescribed by the Charter. (Note: Section 2.11 of the Charter currently requires additional steps for ordinances: "The reading aloud of the title or caption of the ordinance shall suffice as a reading provided that printed copies of the ordinance, in the form required for adoption, are available to all members of Council and that a reasonable number of additional copies is available to interested citizens present at the Council meeting. A majority of the Council qualified and serving may require an ordinance to be read in its entirety. ") (2) The City Manager or other person may present a staff statement. (3) Public comments that have been deferred to the agenda item. (4) Discussion. (5) Motion and second. (6) Additional discussion, if necessary. (7) Vote. Informal voice voting shall be used, unless a Council Member requests a roll call vote. On a roll call vote, the moving member votes first, the seconding member votes second, the remaining members vote in alphabetical order and the presiding officer votes last (unless the presiding officer has moved or (00172984.00c2 ) 5 seconded the motion). In case of a tie, the motion fails. Rule 20. Presiding Officer's Right to Enter into Discussion. The Mayor (or other presiding officer) as a Member of the Council may enter into any discussion. Rule 21. Limit on Remarks. Each Council Member shall limit his or her remarks to a reasonable length. Rule 22. Presiding Officer's Right to Speak Last. The presiding officer has the right to speak last on any item. Rule 23. Closing Debate or Discussion. Debate or discussion shall be closed on any item by the presiding officer with the concurrence of a majority of the Council present. Except as provided by Rule 32, a call for the vote shall not close discussion if any Member of the Council still wishes to be heard or the presiding officer determines the continued participation of others will be helpful to the Council. Part V. Citizen Participation Rule 24. Public Participation. Comments and suggestions by the public are highly valued and encouraged during those parts of a meeting designated for public participation. Speakers should register in advance and should limit their presentations to three minutes each. Speakers should direct all remarks and questions to the Council. The presiding officer may refer a matter for investigation, response or other action. Public comments by a speaker relating to a non- agenda item shall be heard after the pledges at the beginning of a meeting. For comments relating to an agenda item, the speaker has the option of speaking during the Public Comment Period or may defer his/her remarks until the subject agenda item is addressed by Council. Council members may ask questions of a speaker or discuss a matter raised by a speaker if the matter is included as an item on the agenda. The Mayor may request a staff report or comments on an agenda item before calling for public comments. The "Texas Open Meetings Act' requires the City to post a notice, in advance, listing every topic or subject to be considered by the Council. This law may prevent the Council from considering a subject raised by a member of the public. In this case, the presiding officer may refer the matter, and the Council may direct that the matter be placed on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. Rule 25. Manner of Addressing Council. A person desiring to address the Council shall step to the lectern or other designated place, state his or her name and address for the record. Rule 26. Total Time Limits. Total time for public comment on any subject under Council consideration can be limited to a fixed period by the presiding officer. A majority vote of the Council may extend the time limitations of this rule. {00172984.DOC2 1 6 Rule 27. Remarks to be Germane. Public comments must be kept relevant to the subject before the Council. The presiding officer shall rule on the relevance of comments. Persons making irrelevant, personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks may be barred by the presiding officer from further comment before the Council during the meeting. Rule 28. Matters Not On the Agenda. Discussion of matters not on the agenda is usually governed by Section 551.042 of the Texas Government Code, which currently provides: (a) If, at a meeting of a governmental body, a member of the public or of the governmental body inquires about a subject for which notice has not been given as required by this subchapter, the notice provisions of this subchapter do not apply to: (1) a statement of specific factual information given in response to the inquiry; or (2) a recitation of existing policy in response to the inquiry. (b) Any deliberation of or decision about the subject of the inquiry shall be limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a subsequent meeting. Part VI. Council Action Rule 29. Motion Required. All action requiring a vote shall be moved by a Member of the Council. Rule 30. Motion to Reconsider. Except in case of a tie vote, a motion to reconsider must be made by a Council Member who was on the prevailing side in the original action or by a Council Member absent at the time of the original action. The motion must be made at a meeting when the subject is on the agenda. See Rule 8. Rule 31. Less Than a Full Deck. When only three Members of the Council are in attendance at a meeting and an agenda item fails to receive two affirmative or negative votes, the item shall, upon the request of any Council Member in attendance at the meeting, be continued and placed on the agenda for the next Council meeting, and continued thereafter upon the agenda for subsequent meetings until it shall receive sufficient affirmative or negative votes to pass or fail. If consideration of an ordinance is continued under this rule, the ordinance shall not be considered to have been read or voted upon. Rule 32. Call for Vote. At the conclusion (or closure) of debate or discussion, the presiding officer shall call for a vote, provided however, a majority of the Council present may close further discussion and require a vote at any time. Rule 33. Separate Consideration. Except as otherwise required by these rules each agenda item shall be voted upon separately and each separate vote shall be recorded by the City Secretary. {00172984. DOC2 } 7 Rule 34. Action on Consent Agenda. Except as herein provided, the "Consent Agenda" shall be considered as a group (without separate discussion on each item). When the Consent Agenda is introduced, each Council Member has the right to remove any item, in which case the item is handled under Rule 19. After items are removed, the presiding officer shall ask the Members to indicate their votes on the remaining Consent Agenda items. Each Member may indicate a separate affirmative vote on each remaining item by saying "aye," or the Member may indicate a different vote on any particular item, in which case that item is automatically removed from the Consent Agenda and handled under Rule 19. The City Secretary shall record the votes on each item separately. Rule 35. Consideration Out of Order. With the consent of the Council any agenda item may be considered out of order, at the request of a Council Member. Rule 36. Recording Names of Moving Members. The City Secretary shall record the name of the Council Member making each motion and seconding each motion. Rule 37. [Reserved] Rule 38. [Reserved] Part VII. Miscellaneous Rule 39. Voting Required. Section 2.10 of the Charter requires Members to vote, as follows: Each member of Council present shall vote on every action taken by Council unless the action involves the member's own conduct or presents a possible conflict of interest. In that case, the member shall file with the City Secretary a written statement of the reason for abstaining. Any Member prohibited from voting by personal interest shall announce at the commencement of consideration of the matter and shall not enter into discussion or debate on any such matter. Any Council Member refusing to vote - -and not excused from voting - -shall be recorded in the minutes as voting in the affirmative. Rule 40. Suspension of Rules. These rules or any part hereof may be suspended for a specific purpose, or any single meeting, by a vote of three - fourths of the Council Members present. Rule 41. Informal Requests. A Member of the Council, before or during the consideration of any matter, or in the course of a hearing, may request and receive information, explanations or the opinions of the City Manager, City Attorney, City Secretary or any City employee present, all subject to Rules 23 and 32. (00172984. ooc2 ) 8