WALDPORT
CITY COUNCIL
(Revised
08/13/09)
1.
AUTHORITY
1.1
WALDPORT CITY CHARTER: The
Waldport City Charter provides that the Council may determine its own rules of
procedures for meetings. The
following set of rules shall be in effect upon their adoption by the Council
and until such time they are amended or new rules are adopted in the manner
provided by these rules. When
applicable, these rules apply to any committee of the Council.
2.
GENERAL RULES
2.1
MEETINGS TO BE PUBLIC: All
official meetings of the Council shall be open to the public with exception of
the executive session for certain limited topics, as defined in Section 3.5.
The Journal of Proceedings shall be maintained by the Chief
Administrative Officer (CAO) and
shall be open to public inspection.
2.2
QUORUM: Four members of council shall be in attendance to constitute
a quorum. If a quorum is not
present, those in attendance will be named and they shall adjourn.
2.3
ORDINANCES: No
ordinance except an appropriation ordinance, an ordinance adopting or
embodying an administrative or governmental code, or an ordinance adopting a
code of ordinances, shall relate to more than one subject, which subject shall
be clearly stated in the title.
2.4
RULES OF FLOOR: Any member
desiring to speak shall be recognized by the Chair and shall confine their remarks
to one subject under consideration or to be considered.
2.5
RULES OF ORDER: Whenever
the rulings of the Chair are challenged by a councilor, Robert's Rules
of Order, newly revised, shall govern the proceedings of the Council, unless such rules are in conflict with these rules.
2.6
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER (CAO):
Unless excused, the CAO or designee shall attend all meetings of the
Council. The CAO shall keep the
Council fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the City.
The CAO may make recommendations to the Council and may take part in
discussion on all matters concerning the welfare of the City; provided,
however, that the CAO shall not, unless requested by a councilor, participate
in deliberations on any motion.
2.7
CITY ATTORNEY: The City Attorney shall attend all regularly scheduled
meetings of the Council, unless excused by the Council.
The Council may, at any time during a regular
or special meeting of the Council, call upon the City Attorney for an oral or
written opinion to decide any question of the law.
2.8
OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES: Department
Heads of the City shall attend council or committee meetings when requested by a
councilor or a member of the committee.
2.9 COUNCIL MEMBER ABSENCE: The City Charter contains language concerning vacancies (Chapter VII, Section 29) that refers to absences requiring "consent" of the Council. When the Mayor or a Councilor must be absent from the City for more than 30 days, or from a regular meeting, s/he shall notify either the Mayor or another Councilor or the City Administrator of the intended absence. The notification shall then be announced at the beginning of the meeting. The Council may then consent to the absence.
3.
TYPES OF MEETINGS
3.1
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING: The
Council's regular meeting shall be scheduled by resolution of the Council.
The time of these meetings will be 2:00 p.m. When the Council meeting falls on a holiday, the regular
meeting date shall be set at the meeting prior to that date. The meeting place shall be the commonly used Council Chambers
and all regular and special meetings shall be public.
3.2
SPECIAL MEETINGS: Special
meetings may be called by two or more members of the Council.
The CAO shall prepare a notice of special sessions, stating time, place
and subject. It shall also be the
duty of the CAO to make diligent effort to notify each member of the Council in
person, by telephone or otherwise, of such special session. Notice of such special session shall be properly publicized
by news media as specified by the law. Only
matters set forth in the notice of the meeting shall be discussed at such
meeting.
3.3
ADJOURNED SESSIONS: Any
session of the Council may be continued or adjourned, but for no period longer
than until the next regularly or special scheduled meeting thereafter.
3.4
WORKSHOPS: The Council may meet informally in workshop session (open to
the public) at the call of any two or more members of the Council.
3.5
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS: Executive
Sessions shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Oregon State
Public Meeting Laws.
3.6
ATTENDANCE OF MEDIA AT COUNCIL MEETINGS:
Other than during executive sessions, meetings of the City Council and
its committees shall be open to the media, freely subject to recording by radio,
television and photographic services at any time, provided that such
arrangements do not interfere with the orderly conduct of the meetings.
4.
CHAIR AND DUTIES
4.1
CHAIR: The Mayor, if present, shall preside as the Chair at all
meetings of the Council. In the
absence of the Mayor, the Council President shall preside.
In the absence of both the
Mayor and Council President, the Council shall select a temporary presiding
officer.
4.2
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting of the Council shall be called to order by the
Mayor, or in his/her absence, by the Council President. In the absence of both the Mayor and Council President the
meeting shall be called to order by the CAO or designee for the selection of the
temporary chair. Roll call shall
then be called by the CAO or designee, who shall enter in the minutes of the
meeting the names of the members present.
4.3
PRESERVATION OF ORDER: The
Mayor or other presiding officer shall call the meeting to order; announce the
order of business as provided in the agenda; state motions, put them to a vote
and announce the result of the vote; prevent irrelevant or frivolous debate or
discussion; maintain order and decorum; and otherwise enforce the Council's
rules and appropriate parliamentary procedures.
4.4
POINTS OF ORDER: The Chair
shall determine all points of order, subject to the right of any member to
appeal to the Council. If any
appeal is taken, the question shall be, "Shall the decision of the Chair be
sustained?"
4.5
QUESTIONS TO BE STATED: The
Chair shall state all questions submitted for a vote and announce the result.
A roll call vote shall be taken upon the request of any member, in the
manner provided in Section 6.5 of these rules.
4.6
PRESIDING OFFICER - POWERS: The
presiding officer may move, second, and debate from the chair, subject only to
such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed on all members.
4.7
VOTING: All official actions of the Council shall be taken by public
vote and the vote of each member shall be recorded, pursuant to ORS
192.650(1)(c) -- Public Meetings Law. Secret
ballots are prohibited.
5.
ORDER OF BUSINESS AND AGENDA
5.1
ORDER OF BUSINESS: The business of all
regular meetings of the Council will be determined by the City
Council and shall be transacted in the following order, unless the
Council by a majority vote of the members present, suspends the
rules and changes the order:
Roll Call
Minutes
Citizen Comments and Concerns
Public Hearings (Including any related Ordinances or Resolutions)
Discussion/Action Items
Council Comments and Concerns
Staff Reports
Consent Calendar
Good of the Order
Adjournment
5.2
AGENDA: The order of business of
each regular meeting shall be as contained in the agenda prepared by the
CAO. The agenda shall be a listing
by topic of subjects to be considered by the Council and shall be made available
to the members of the Council by the Friday preceding the regular council
meeting and at least 24 hours in advance of a special meeting.
Items to be placed on the agenda must be in the office of the CAO by 1:00
p.m. on the Thursday (7 days) preceding the meeting.
5.3
CONSENT CALENDAR: The
Consent Calendar may contain items which are of a routine and non-controversial
nature which may include, but are not limited to the following:
communications, memos and reports for information of council, agreement
petitions, minutes of commissions and boards, applications, approval of accounts
which may be accepted by consent of the Council by a single vote without
reading, unless a member of the Council should request such reading and such
request shall be granted. Minutes
of the preceding meeting, and bills tendered for payment shall not be read in
detail at each meeting prior to approval. Any
item of the consent agenda may be removed and considered separately as an agenda
item at the request of any council member.
5.4
FINANCIAL REPORT: Financial
reports will be presented by the CAO and will specifically include, but not be
limited to include: all bills for
routine outside contract services; i.e. attorney, engineering, insuring and
accounting, and, in addition, any current special contractual services. Financial reports will be included in the Consent Calendar.
5.5
CITIZEN'S OR COUNCIL CONCERNS: Items
brought to the Council under "citizen's or council concerns" will not
become agenda or discussion items when presented.
Unless the Council by vote deems an emergency to exist, items shall be
referred to the appropriate committee or placed on the next agenda.
6.
ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, AND MOTIONS
6.1
FORM: Ordinances and resolutions shall be presented to the Council
only in typewritten form.
6.2
FUNDING: All ordinances and resolutions authorizing any expenditure of
money shall include the exact source of the funds to be expended.
6.3
ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS INTRODUCTION:
All proposed ordinances and resolutions shall be prepared by the CAO or
City Attorney. All ordinances will
be reviewed by the Attorney.
6.4
RECORDING OF VOTES: The ayes
and nays shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions and
entered upon the official record of the Council.
When any vote is called, each council member shall respond
"yes" or "no" or "abstain".
Any council member who responds "abstain" shall
state their reason for abstention, being limited to a possible conflict
of interest and the abstention shall be accepted or rejected by the Council.
6.5
RESOLUTION: Any reading may
be by title only or any council member present may request reading in full.
6.6
REQUESTS FOR LEGAL OPINIONS: Any
member of the City Council may request a legal
opinion, relating to City business from the City Attorney.
These requests should be made after exhausting other sources; i.e.
Committee Heads, Department Heads and should be made if possible through the CAO
and at either the regularly scheduled Council meeting or the informal monthly
meeting attended by the attorney.
7.
CREATION OF COMMITTEES, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
7.1
STANDING COMMITTEES:
A.
Committees and their membership will be reviewed and membership
established by the Council at the first meeting of odd-numbered years.
Members of the Council will indicate committee preference in order of
priority.
B.
Chairs of committees will be determined by the committees at their first
meeting.
C.
If during the two (2) year term of the committee, the committee as a
whole determines a restructuring is necessary, the issue will be determined
internally, and if consensus cannot be reached, the issue may be referred to
full council for resolution.
7.2
CITIZENS COMMITTEES, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS:
A.
The Council may create committees, boards and commissions to assist City
government with such duties as the Council shall specify.
B.
Depending on its function, members of any board shall be:
1.
Only residents of Waldport, or
2.
A majority of residents of Waldport.
Selection will be determined by the Council.
Any committee, board or commission so created shall cease to exist upon
the accomplishment of the special purpose for which it was created, or when
abolished by a majority vote of the Council.
No committee so appointed shall have powers other than advisory to the
Council.
7.3
REMOVAL OF MEMBERS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS:
The Council may remove any member of any board or commission which it has
created by a vote of a majority of the Council present and voting.
8.
CITIZEN'S RIGHTS
8.1
MANNER OF ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL - TIME LIMITS:
Each person addressing the Council shall step up to the microphone, or
designated area of the meeting room, will give his/her name and general area of
residence in an audible tone of voice for the record.
Unless further time is granted by the presiding officer with concurrence
of the Council, comments should be limited to five minutes.
All remarks shall be addressed from the podium to the Council as a body.
Questions should be asked of the Council members through the presiding
officer. The Council may then
determine the disposition of the issue, (placed on present agenda if an
emergency exists, workshop, other agendas, or do not consider).
8.2
PERSONAL AND SLANDEROUS REMARKS: Any
person making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks or who shall become
boisterous while addressing the Council, may be requested to leave the meeting
and may forthwith, by the presiding officer, be barred from further audience
before the Council during that council meeting.
8.3
READING OF PROTESTS: Interested
persons, or their authorized representatives may address the Council for the
reading of protests, petitions or communications relating to any matter over
which the Council has control, when the item is under consideration by the
Council, if a majority of the Council present agrees to let them be heard.
8.4
CITIZEN COMPLAINTS OF CAO: Citizen
complaints concerning the CAO must be submitted in writing, signed, to the
Mayor. The Council shall be fully
informed of the complaint.
8.5
CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AGAINST DEPARTMENT HEADS:
Citizen complaints concerning department heads of the City must be
submitted in writing, signed, to the CAO. The
Council shall be fully informed of the complaint, and any action taken.
8.6
CITIZEN COMPLAINTS AGAINST CITY EMPLOYEES:
Complaints will be submitted in
writing, signed, to the CAO and handled in accordance with the established
personnel policy.
8.7
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: Interested
parties, or their authorized representatives may address the Council by written
communication in regard to any matter concerning the City's business or over
which the Council has control at the time by direct mail or by addressing the
CAO and copies will be distributed to the Council members.
9.
SUSPENSIONS AND AMENDMENT OF THESE RULES
9.1
SUSPENSION OF THESE RULES: Any
provision of these rules not governed by the Waldport City Charter may be
temporarily suspended by a vote of a majority of the Council.
The vote on any such suspension shall be taken by ayes and nays and
entered upon the record.
9.2
AMENDMENTS OF THESE RULES: These
rules may be amended, or new rules adopted, by a majority vote of all members of
the Council, provided that the proposed amendments or new rules shall have been
introduced into the record at the prior council meeting.