ATTACHMENT 3
RULES OF DEBATE EXAMPLES
City of Inglewood
Excerpt from Rules of Decorum
Limitation of Debate.
No Councilmember shall be allowed to speak more than once upon any particular agenda item until every other Councilmember desiring to do so shall have spoken. In addition, the Presiding Officer may establish a time limit for each Councilmember’s participation on any one agenda item to question speakers or staff or to state his or her position, opinion or views.
When no other time limit is set, each Councilmember shall confine his or her remarks to the following time limits:
(a) Under the “Council Initiatives” section of the agenda, each Councilmember shall confine his or her remarks to a total of ten minutes.
(b) Under the “Closing Remarks” section of the agenda, each Councilmember shall confine his or her remarks to a total of three minutes.
(c) During other portions of the agenda, general debate, or debate on any particular agenda item a Councilmember shall confine his or her remarks to a total of five minutes.
City of Victorville
Excerpt from City Council Policy and Procedures Manual
RULES OF DISCUSSION AND DEBATE
A. Discussion Procedure. While discussing any question under consideration by the Council, it shall be the duty of the members thereof to remain seated and address their remarks to the Presiding Officer and their fellow members. Any remarks or orders to the audience shall be addressed by the Presiding Officer, or with his/her permission, by members of the Council.
B. Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer shall have the authority to prevent the misuse of the legitimate form of motions, the abuse of privilege of renewing certain motions, or the obstruction of the business of the City Council. The Presiding Officer may preserve orderly business by ruling such motions out of order. In so ruling, the Presiding Officer shall be courteous and fair and shall presume that the moving party is making the motion in good faith. The Presiding Officer may move, second, debate, and vote from the chair. The Presiding Officer may also adjourn a meeting by a simple declaration thereof in the absence of a protest by any Councilmember.
C. Councilmembers to Address Presiding Officer. Every Councilmember desiring to speak shall first address the chair, gain recognition by the Presiding Officer, and confine himself/herself to the subject matter, item, or motion being currently considered by the Council, avoiding personalities and crude language.
D. Questions to Staff. Every Councilmember desiring to ask questions of city staff shall, after recognition by the Presiding Officer, address his/her question to the City Attorney or the City Manager, who shall be entitled either to answer the inquiry himself/herself or designate a member of the staff for that purpose.
On the assumption that Councilmembers have already sought clarification of agenda materials in advance of the meeting pursuant to Chapter 2, Section IV. A of this Manual, Councilmember questions to City staff shall be subject to a two-minute time limit per agenda item, not including the time taken for staff response(s). Statements masquerading as questions may be ruled out of order by the Presiding Officer.
E. Germane Comments/Time Limit for Council. Councilmembers shall limit their comments to the subject matter, item, or motion being currently considered by the Council. A determination of relevance shall be made by the Presiding Officer but may be appealed to the full Council. Councilmembers shall govern themselves as to the length of their comments but generally shall not exceed a total of five (5) minutes per agenda item (not including the two-minute period for Questions to Staff referenced in Section D, above), unless additional time is approved by a majority vote of the Council. The Presiding Officer or the City Clerk, as may be designated by the Presiding Officer, has the responsibility to assist Councilmembers by signaling when the Councilmember has spoken for five (5) minutes. The five-minute time limit may be extended by a majority vote of City Council. No Councilmember shall be allowed to speak more than once on any particular item until every other Councilmember desiring to do so shall have spoken.
City of Mission Viejo
Excerpt from City Council Meeting Rules of Order
A. Obtaining the Floor. Any Council Member wishing to speak must first obtain the floor by being recognized by the Mayor. The Mayor must recognize any Council Member who seeks the floor when that Council Member is appropriately entitled to do so.
B. Council Member Comment Time Limits. Each Council Member shall be allowed an initial three minutes to speak on an Agenda item. Following the comments by all members of the City Council, the Mayor may provide additional rounds of comments with a maximum of three minutes for each Council Member. Council Members shall not be allowed to defer any portion of their time to other Council Members, however; unused time may be added to the second round or subsequent rounds of Council Member comments.
C. Motions. The Mayor or any member of the Council may call an action on any matter before the Council by making a motion. Before the motion can be considered or debated it must be seconded. Once the motion has been properly made and seconded, the Mayor shall open the matter for debate offering the first opportunity to debate to the moving party and, thereafter, to any Council Member properly recognized by the Mayor. Once the motion has been fully debated and the Mayor calls for a vote, no further debate will be allowed. However, Council Members may be allowed to explain their vote. Council participation during the presentation of public testimony or staff reports shall be limited to questions asked at the conclusion of the testimony. No general discussion should be permitted until the testimony has been completed. Council discussion not relevant to the matter should be reserved for the Council Comment portion of the Agenda. Comments inconsistent with the aforementioned should be ruled out of order by the Mayor.