The City Council adopts Rosenberg’s Rules of Order to govern the proceedings of City Council meetings, with the following exceptions and additions:
1. Suspension of the Rules. A supermajo rity of the City Counc il (4 members) may suspend the rules for a specific purpose. W hen rules are suspended, the vote to do so should state the purpose for suspending the rules.
2. Special Orders of the Day. Cere monial presentations, announcements and proclamations under Special Or ders of the Day shall be limit ed to no more than fifteen (15) minutes as required by the Sunshine Ordinance. Staff and/or the Mayor will work to prepare recipients prior to the meeting.
3. Public Comment on Non-Agenda Matters. Anyone wishing to speak on matters not on the agenda may do so under “Oral Communication, Non-Agenda.” Speakers shall limit comments to two (2) minutes or less. As required by the Sunshine Ordinance, the meeting agenda shall prov ide up to fifteen (15) minutes fo r this use at the beginning of the meeting. Any speakers not called will be called under the later scheduled non-agenda public comment. Speakers may comment onl y once on the same topic even where multiple meetings are held on the same day. No speaker may cede time to another.
4. Consent Calendar Items. Agenda items listed under the Consent Calendar are considered routine and will be enacted, approved, or adopted by one motion without discussion. Members of the public can comm ent once on the entire Consent Calendar.
Public comments shall be limited to two (2) mi nutes or less. Comments shall be limited to one (1) minute for twelve (12) or more speakers. Any Councilmember may request removal of a specific item for discussion or explanation. Councilmembers can record a non-affirmative vote without removing/”pulling” an item from the Consent Calendar. The removed/“pulled” item will be voted on s eparately. Each Councilmember may ask questions and deliberate for up to five (5) mi nutes on each item remo ved/”pulled” from the Consent Calendar.
5. Public Comment on Regular Agenda Items and Council Referrals. Public comment will be allowed on all agenda items at the time each item is called. All speakers, regardless of elected or appointed status , shall limit comments to th ree (3) minutes or less.
Comments shall be limited to two (2) minutes for items with seven (7) or more speakers and one (1) minute for items with twelve (12) or more speakers. No speaker may cede time to another. Public comment is not permitted on motions. Presentations and Council questions precede public comment. Public comment shall not be used to elicit a debate and speakers shall avoid personal attacks of members of the Council, staff or public.
6. Presentations. All presentations, except Council Referrals are limited to ten (10) minutes and will be timed. C ouncil Referral presentations are limited to five (5) minutes and will be timed. Counc ilmembers should refrain from asking questions during presentations. The Mayor’s State of the City Address shall not be timed.
7. Council Questions and Comments. Ea ch Councilmember may ask questions and deliberate for up to nine (9) minutes per regular agenda item and up to three (3) minutes per Council Referral. Procedural discussio ns are not timed. Special meetings and workshops addressing one topic, taking place on a day no other Council meeting is taking place where regular City business is being considered, also will not be timed.
8. Council Communications. Council members can comment under Council Communications for up to three (3) minutes. Councilmembers shall comment only once during Council Communications.
9. Counting Votes. The vote count on a motion will be determined by the majority of the membership unless a greater threshold is required by law. A supermajority is two-thirds of the City Council (4 members).
10. Latest Time a New Agenda Item May Be Called. No new regular agenda items or Council Referrals will be heard after 11:00 p.m.