HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 1715 - procedural rules for council
Ordinance No. 1715
AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING PROCEDURAL RULES FOR THE CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE, TEXAS; AND
CONTAINING FINDINGS AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE SUBJECT.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST
UNIVERSITY PLACE:
Section 1. Procedural rules for the City Council of the City of West University
Place, Texas are hereby adopted as set out in Appendix A, which is attached and made
a part of this ordinance.
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 are repealed to the extent of the conflict only.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 wordf phrase, clause, sentencef paragraph1 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, sentencel 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 date1 hour, place and subject of each meeting at which
this Ordinance was discussedt considered or acted upon was given in the manner
required by the Texas Open Meetings ActJ 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, which imposes no criminal penalty~ shall take effect
immediately upon adoption and signature.
~/O
1 ~h--
PASSED AND APPROVED on first reading on
Councilmembers Voting Aye:
Councilmembers Voting No:
Councilmembers Absent:
~ PASSED and APPROVED on second reading on AND ADOPTED on
3lI ,;Joo;J-.; ~
Councifmembers Voting Aye:
Councilmembers Voting No:
Councilmembers Absent:
Recommended:
Signed:
DRAFT · For discussion purposes only.
PROCEDURAL RULES
WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE CITY COUNCIL
Effective , 2002
Part I. General Provision
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. Rulings on procedure are
governed by Section 2.002 of the Code of Ordinances, which
currently provides:
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 wi th 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~ Scheduling regular meetings is
governed by Section 2.001 of the Code of Ordinances, which
currently provides:
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DRAFT. For discussion purposes only.
The City Council shall meet in regular session on each
second and ~ourth 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 maj or i ty of Council, qual ified 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 unles s it is adopted by the favorable vote of a
maj ori ty of Council present unless otherwise provided by
this Charter.
Part III. Agenda
Rule 8. Preparation of Agenda; Requests. Preparation of agendas
is governed by Section 2 ~ 001 of the Code of Ordinances I which
currently provides:
The City Secretary shall prepare, post and distribute
notices of meetings and the assembled agenda packages.
* * *
The City Manager is responsible for assembling the agenda
package for each meeting. 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. Other persons may
request the City Manager to place an item on the agenda.
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DRAFT. For discussion purposes only.
Rule 9. Consent Agenda. In preparing an Agenda the City Secretary
may separately d~signate items as ItConsent AgendaT1 which may be
acted upon by the Council under Rule 35.. The UConsent Agendarl
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. The deadline for items to be placed on
the agenda is governed by Section 2..001 of the Code of
Ordinances, which currently provides:
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 or Exclude Items. Each request to
include or exclude 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 I the Council Member may request that an item not be
included and such request shall not be unreasonably denied.
Rule 12. Staff Withdrawal of Items. The City Manager may withdraw
an item on the Agenda prior to the Council meeting, but in
withdrawing the item shall state the reason therefore which
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 call the roll of Members
present, and enter those named in the minutes. The presiding
officer shall determine the presence of a quorum as required by
law and these rules..
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 Tern, shall be the
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DRAFT · For discussion purposes only.
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.
Rule 18. Control of Discussion. The presiding officer shall
control discussion of the Council on each Agenda item to assure
full participation in accordance with these rules and Section
2.002 of the Code of Ordinances, which current provides:
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. In regular meetings, all remarks by members
should be directed to the chair, not to other members. All
persons present in the meeting room should eschew abusive,
rude or inappropriate conduct. See Chapter 38 of the Texas
Penal Code regarding the "hinderingH of official
proceedings.
Rule 19. Order of Consideration of Agenda. Except as otherwise
provided in these rulesl each Agenda item shall be considered in
the numerical order assigned by the City SecretarY9 Each Agenda
item shall be introduced by the presiding officer9 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 wri ting or printed
form and ha ve a clearly summari zed and full y descr ipti ve
title or caption.
After a measure is introduced, the standard procedure is
governed by Section 2.002 of the Code of Ordinance, which
currently provides 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 tha t pr inted copies of the ordinance 1 in
the form required for adoption, are available to all
members of Council and that a reasonable number of
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DRAFT · For discussion purposes only.
additional copies is available to interested citizens
present at ~he 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) Motion and second.
(4) Discussion.
(5) Vote.
With unanimous consent, the Council may vary the standard
procedure (for example, by discussing a measure before a motion
is made) .
. Voting is governed by Section 2..002 of the Code of Ordinances,
which provides:
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 seconded the motion). In case of a
tie, the motion fails.
Rule 206 Discussion.. A Council Member shall speak only after
being recognized by the presiding officer~ A Council Member
recognized for a specific purpose shall limit remarks to that
purpose. A Council Member I after being recognized shall not be
interrupted except by the presiding officer to enforce these
rules.
Rule 216 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 22.. Limit on Remarks. Each Council Member shall limit his or
her remarks to a reasonable length.
Rule 23. Presiding Officer's Right to Speak Last. The presiding
officer has the right to speak last on any item.
Rule 24. 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 331 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~
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DRAFT · For discussion purposes only.
Part V. Citizen Participation
Rule 25. Public Participation. Participation by members of the
public is governed by Section 2.002 of the Code of Ordinances,
which currently provides as follows:
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 presiding officer, who may refer them for
investigation, response or other action. 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 26. 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 27. 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.
Rule 28.. Remarks to be Germane. Public comments must be kept
relevant to the subj ect before the Council. The presiding
officer shall rule on the relevance of comments. Persons making
irrelevant, personal I impertinent, or slanderous remarks may be
barred by the presiding officer from further comment before the
Council during the meeting.
Rule 29. 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
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DRAFT. For discussion purposes only.
do not apply to:
(1) a state~ent 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 30. Motion Required. All action requiring a vote shall be
moved by a Member of the Council.
Rule 31. 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 32. 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 i tern shall f
upon the request of any Council Member in attendance at the
meeting f be continued and placed on the Agenda for the next
Council meeting I 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 33. Call for Votee At the conclusion (or closure) of debate
or discussionl the presiding officer shall call for a votef
provided however I a majority of the Council present may require a
vote at any time.
Rule 34. 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~
Rule 35. Action on Consent Agenda. Except as herein provided, the
UConsent Agendal1 shall be considered as a group (without separate
discussion on each item). When the Consent Agenda is introducedf
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 i terns. Each Member may
indicate a separate affirmative vote on each remaining item by
saying ...'"" aye III or the Member may indicate a different vote on
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DRAFT · For discussion purposes only.
any particular i tern, in which case that i tern is automatically
removed from the Consent Agenda and handled under Rule 19. The
City Secretary snaIl record the votes on each item separately.
Rule 36. Consideration Out of Order. With the consent
council any Agenda item may be considered out of order,
request of a Council Member.
of the
at the
Rule 37. Recording Names of Moving Members. The City Secretary
shall record the name of the Council Member making each motion.
Rule 38. [Reserved]
Rule 39. [Reserved]
Part VII. Miscellaneous
Rule 40. Voting Required. Section 2.10 of the Charter requires
Members to votej as follows:
Each member of Council present shall vote on every action
taken by Council unless the action involves the member 1 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 41. Suspension of Rules. These rules or any part hereof may
be suspended for a specific purpose, or any single meeting, by a
vote or three-fourths of the Council Members present. This
applies to Section 2.002 of the Code of Ordinances, but not to
the City Charter or other sections of the Code of Ordinances~
Rule 42. 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 24 and 33.
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