Step 2: After the recusal is made, the C ommissioner should leave the room. The Commissioner may listen from outside of the r oom and spe ak on the item as a member of the public by fi lling out a spea ker slip and approaching the podium when called by the Chair or Vice Chair.
Consent Calendar agenda items:
Step 1: Immediately prior to any discussion or adoption of the consent calendar, the Co mmissioner mu st state on the reco rd that he or she is recusing himself/herself due to a c onflict of interest exp laining with specificity the nature of the conflict, such as property related or due to a financial relationship.
Step 2: A fter the recu sal is made, the item will be remov ed from the consen t calendar and the C ommissioner should leave the r oom. The Comm issioner may listen from outside of the room and spe ak on the item as a m ember of th e public by filling out a speaker slip and approaching the podium when called by the Chair or Vice Chair.
Public actions of the P lanning Commission shall be recorded in the mi nutes o f any m eeting of the C ommission. Resolutions sh all also be recorded sep arately, serially numbered, and filed sequentially in the office of the Planning Commission Secretary.
The Planning Commission cannot take action on items not included on the posted agenda e xcept as pr ovided for em ergency o r urgent items as pr ovided i n t he Brown Act.
Tie Votes
a. A tie vote on any matter where the P lanning Commission is acting as an advisory body o n le gislative action (i .e., Gene ral P lan or Development District A mendment), the item sh all be for warded to the City Co uncil with no recommendation.
b. On any matter where the mandatory time for a decision on an application (California G overnment Code Se ctions 65950 an d 66452.1) will expire prior to the next regular meeting, the application shall be deemed denied, without prejudice.
c. On any matter not in jeopardy of such mandatory decision time periods, the action shall be forwarded to the City Council with no recommendation.
U. REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENDA ITEM SUBMISSION
Members ma y request items for inclusion on a future agenda by or ally makin g the request under Committee Comments subject to subsequent approval by the City Manager.
Department d irectors, s ubject to the d iscretion of the City Manager, may submit staff reports or descriptions of oral reports to the P lanning Commission for placement on the agenda.
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V. DECLARATION OF POLICY
No resolution, motion or item of business shall be introduced o r acted upon at a meeting of the P lanning Commission without it appearing on a duly noticed and poste d agenda in accordance with the Bro wn A ct, exceptions to th is rule are limit ed to those provided by state law.
No resolution, mo tion or item of business will be considered wh ich does not affect the conduct of the business of the City of Hespe ria, its subsidiary districts, or its corporate powers or duties as a municipal corporation.
W. AGENDA FORMAT
1. P ublic Comment
Pursuant to the Brown Act, public comment will be allowed on items on the Planning Commission agenda at the time e ach item is considered. At the beginnin g of the agenda under Public Comments, public comments will also be allowed on items not on the age nda but within the ju risdiction of the City Council. P ublic comments are limited to no more than three (3) minutes each. Individuals desiring to speak are encouraged to submit a request to speak form to the Planning Commission Secretary prior to the mee ting. Speakers shall not concede any p art of their allotted t ime to another speaker.
The P lanning C ommission may not d eliberate or take action on any re quest/item brought before them during Public Comment/Oral Communications. The Commission may ask clarifying questions and refer the request/item to staff.
Members of the Pla nning Comm ission are d iscouraged from e ngaging in deb ate with a member of the public at C ommission meetings sin ce these debat es seldom resolve concerns and many times inflame feelings at a public meeting.
The Brown Act permits the clearing of the Council Chamber in the event any meeting is willfully disturbed.
2. C onsent Items
Those items on the C ommission age nda, wh ich are considered to be of a r outine and non-contro versial natu re b y th e City Manage r, Manager in cluding d raft minutes, warrant r uns, and rou tine con tracts shall be listed on the “Consen t Calendar.” These items shall be a pproved, adopted, accepted, etc. by one motion and vote of the P lanning Co mmission. A member of the P lanning Comm ission o r public may remove any item from the “Consent Calendar” for discussion. Any item removed from the Consent Calendar will be heard immediately f ollowing action on the remaining Consent Calendar items.
3. P ublic Hearings
Public hearings may be required on certain items as prescribed by the Municipal Code or by state or federal law. Co uncil resolution establishes the regular time for public City Council Procedures Manual January 2023
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hearings. The general procedure for public hearings is as follows:
a. staff presents its report, Commission Members may ask questions of staff; b. the Chair opens the public hearing;
c. the ap plicant/appellant has the opportunity to present his/her comments, testimony, or arguments, adequate time must be allotted for the ap plicant or appellant to pr esent his/he r case (the Chair may ask the ap plicant/appellant in advance the amount of time needed in order to better control the time); d. members of the public may present their comments subject to established time limits (five [5] minutes);
e. the Chair closes the public hearing after everyone wishing to speak has had the opportunity to do so; and
f. Commission proceeds with discussion and makes a final decision.
4. Planning Commission Business or Reports
The P lanning Comm ission Business Reports portion o f t he me eting pr ovides Commission Members the o pportunity to b riefly comment on Commission business or on activities as representatives of the Planning Commission. Commission Members should govern themselves as to the length of their comments.
5. Principal Plann
er Reports
The P rincipal P lanner or s taff may b riefly comment on City business, ope rations, projects and other items of Planning Commission interest.
X. Parlia
mentary Procedures
On January 2
2, 2018, the City Council voted to adopt Rosenberg’s Rules of Order as the parliamentary procedures for conducting City meetings. The rules established by Rosenberg’s Rules of Order include, but are not limited to those outlined below. A full transcript of Rosenberg’s Rules of Order is available in the City Clerk’s Office upon request.
A. Items for
Discussion
Any items
listed on the agenda are available for discussion by Commission Members .
However, new business and public hearing items require a separate discussion and vote for each item. If a Member must recuse themselves from discussion of an item due to a financial interest in the item being considered, it must be disclosed immediately prior to consideration of the item. If the Member leaves the meeting prior to the agenda item being discussed they are required to publicly identify the agenda item and the financial interest prior to leaving the meeting. If the Member joins the meeting after consideration of the item, the Member must publicly identify the agenda item and the financial interest City Council Procedures Manual January 2023
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immediately upon joining the meeting.
1. The Chair is responsible for announcing each agenda item for discussion;
2. The Chair asks Commission Members if there are any clarifying questions of staff;
3. After Commission questions, the Chair asks for public comment;
4. After public comment, the Chair invites a motion and a second from the Commission;
5. The Chair restates the motion before the Commission and invites discussion of the motion; and
6. After discussion, the Chair calls for the vote and announces the result for the public.
B. Multiple Motions
There can be multiple motions on the floor for Commission Members to consider. In the event that multiple motions are presented to the Commission for consideration, the Chair will follow the procedures below.
The Chair will handle the last motion proposed first. Motions will be dealt with in descending order 3, 2, 1 as follows:
1. The Chair asks for discussion on the last motion proposed to the Commission;
2. After discussion, the Chair will ask for a motion to second;
3. The Chair will restate the motion; and
4. The Chair will call for the vote and announce the result for the public.
C. Failed Motions
There may be instances in which a motion made by a Commission Member will be rejected by a vote of the Commission. Should this happen, the Chair will follow the proce dures below.
1. The Chair announces that the motion has failed;
2. The Chair asks for an amended or substitute motion;
3. The Chair asks for a motion to second;
4. The Chair will restate the motion; and
5. The Chair will call for the vote and announce the vote for the public.
D. Additional Types of Motions
Several types of motions require an immediate vote by the Commission without any discussion and require a majority vote to pass. They are as follows:
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v. A motion to adjourn requires an immediate adjournment to the next regularly scheduled meeting;
vi. A motion to recess requires the Commission to take a brief recess of time specified by the Chair;
vii. A motion to fix the time to adjourn, adjourns the meeting to a specific date and time; and
viii. A motion to table puts the agenda item on hold until a future meeting, this can be a specified time or a date to be determined.
A motion to withdraw can be made by the Commission Member who proposed the motion.
The motion is immediately deemed withdrawn and the Chair may ask if any member of the Commission wishes to move the motion.
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CHAPTER 10- ADVISORY COMMITTEES
A. RULES OF PROCEDURE HANDBOOK
The City Council will review and revise the City Council, Commission, & Committee Rules of Procedure (“Policy”) annually in January.
Until such time as they are amended or new rules adopted by Resolution, these rules shall prevail to govern th e order and co nduct of business of the City Co uncil and othe r legislative bod ies th at meet concurren tly with the C ity Co uncil, as we ll as v arious City Committees, an d City Coun cil-established B oards and C ommissions. T hose City Co uncil established Boards and Commissions that are required by law to adopt rules of procedure shall adopt rules that are consistent with these Rules to the extent possible.
B. AMENDMENT
Any Rules may be adopted, altered, amended or repealed by Resolution at any time by a majority vote of the City Council.
C. SUSPENSION
Any Rules may be t empor arily suspe nded by an affirmative vote of at least three (3) Council Members present.
Certain s tate laws an d other established re gulations ex ist wh ich gove rn various responsibilities of the Advisory Committees. This manual is not intended to duplicate or repeat any existing statutes or regulations. Advisory Committee Members are responsible for becoming familiar with these statutes and regulations.
D. THE BROWN ACT
The Ralph M. Brown Act is a law which provides that all meetings of a legislative body, whether meetings of the C ity Council, subsidiary districts, or its appointed commissions and committees, shall be open and public, and all persons sh all be p ermitted to attend.
Notices of such meetings must include a brief general description of each item of business and be posted in a location freely accessible to the members of the public 72 hours prior to the meeting. A “meeting” takes place whenever a quorum is present and subject matter related to city business is heard, discussed, or deliberated upon.
The A ct mak es punishable as a
m isdemeanor the attendance by a memb er of th e
legislative body at a meeting at wh ich action is taken in viola tion of the Ac t. Action taken has been defined as a collective decision, commitment or promise by a majority of the members of a legislative body to ma ke a po sitive or neg ative decision, or an actual vote by a majority o f t he members w hen si tting as a body upon a motion, propo sal, resolution, order, or ordinance.
Serial mee tings th at are co nducted thro ugh d irect comm unications, intermediaries, o r technological devices for the purpose of developing a concurrence as to action to be taken are prohibited by the Act.
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E. POLITICAL REFORM ACT
The Political Reform Act states that public officials shall perform their duties in an impartial manner, free from bias caused by their own financial interest or the financial interests of persons who have su pported them. The Political Reform Ac t establishes reg ulations regarding Conflicts of Interests. (See Gov. Code Sections 81000 - 91014) Advisory Co mmittees member s must also disqualify themselv es from mak ing or participating in making or influenc ing any go vernmental dec ision tha t will have a foreseeable material financial effect on any economic interest of the Committee Member or certain family members.
F. CITY OF HESPERIA MUNICIPAL CODE
The Municipal Code consists of those codified ordinances of general municipal regulations and laws, as well as the City of Hesperia Development Code and is available on the City’s website. The Office of the City Clerk maintains the Municipal Code.
G. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
Committees serve as advisory bodies to facilitate public input and citizen participation in the determination of public policies. This is acco mplished by formulating recommended courses of action and policy and forwa rding to the City Cou ncil with whom final determination rests. Advisory Boards are established by Council Resolution and members shall serve terms tha t are at-large, at-w ill and at the pleasur e of the City Council until removed from the Committee as provided by resolution. Members must be 18 years of age, a resident of California, and reside within City limits. There are is currently two one
Advisory Boards; the City Council Advisory Committee. and the Pu blic Safety Advisory Committee. The ter m of each in dividually ap pointed Commit tee Member shall commence upon appointment and shall termina te thirty (30) days after the expiration of each respective appointing Council Member’s term subject to reappointment.
The appointing Council Member may remove a Committee Member from service at any time with subsequent notification to the City Council.
The City Clerk sha ll ma intain a list of all committee ap pointments/terms and solicit applications for vacancies in accordance with state law or City procedures.
The Cou ncil ma y disband any co mmission, boa rd or advisory body pro vided state law does not prohibit such action.
Planning Commission and Advi sory Co mmittee Appointees ma y not serve concur rent terms on any Commission or Committee.
Training will be provided for Advisory Committee Members when they are requested to perform duties outside of routine Committee function.
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H. NEWLY APPOINTED MEMBERS
Newly a ppointed Co mmittee M embers are swo rn i nto o ffice at the first re gular Commission meeting attended. Immediately upon appointment (even before being sworn into o ffice), newly a ppointed C ommittee Me mbers are sub ject to the pr ovisions of the Brown Act.
I. DUTI ES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEES
Advisory Committee members shall conduct the business of the City of Hesperia:
o Recognizing th at the ste wardship of th e public interest must be of primary concern;
o Working for the common good of the people of Hesperia; and o Assuring fair and equal treatment of all persons, claims and transactions coming before the Advisory Committee.
J. DUTI ES OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR
The Chair shall be:
o Appointed from members of the Adviso ry Committees by a majority vote at its first meeting in January annually;
o The presiding officer at all meetings of the Committee; o Responsible for the control, debate and order of speakers; o Referred to as “Chair” when acting as presiding officer; o Entitled to make and second motions on matters before the Advisory Committees and vote on a ctions, but shall possess no veto power over actions of the Advisory Committees.
The Vice Chair shall:
o Be appointed from members of the Adviso ry Committees by a majority vote at its first meeting in January annually; and
o In the absen ce of the Chair from an Advisory Committees meeting, assume the duties of the Chair.
In the e vent the Chair and Vice Chair are absent, the Advisory Committee may appoint one of its Members to serve as Vice Chair.
K. M EETING ATTENDANCE BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS
It is important th at all Advisory Committee Membe rs commit to attending meetings to ensure that the business of the City can be conducted effectively and to ensure fairness to the public, other Commission Members, and staff that attend the meetings. Attendance records will be provided to the City Council on a quarterly basis. Committee members may be subject to dismissal based on attendance records.
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L. USE OF PUBLIC PROPERTY
City stationery, technology and/or staff support shall not be used for personal or campaign purposes.
M. ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBER CONDUCT
1. G eneral Conduct
Advisory Committee Members shall:
o Treat each other and everyone with courtesy and refrain from inappropriate behavior and derogatory comments;
o Be fair, impartial and unbiased when voting on quasi-judicial actions; o Use the electronic speaker se quencing sy stem to info rm the Ch air of th eir wish to speak and shall be acknowledged by the Chair before speaking; o Move to re quire t h e Ch air to enfo rce the ru les and the Ch air sh all do so upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the Members present; o Preserve order and decorum during the meeting;
o Not delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the Committee meetings, nor disturb any Member while speaking, by conversation or otherwise, no r disobey the ord ers o f th e p residing o fficer, except as otherwise herein provided;
o Support the laws established by the City Council;
o Abide by the Ru le of Proce dure in co nducting the business of the City of Hesperia; and
o Refrain from
the use of pe rsonal ce llular tele phones, pe rsonal com puters, and other personal electronic devices during public hearings unless used solely to view agenda packet contents.
2. C onduct with Members
Advisory Committee Members shall:
o Value each other’s time;
o Govern themselves as to the length of their comments; o Limit their comments to the subject matter, item, or motion being currently considered;
o Attempt to build consensus on an item tho ugh an opportunity for d ialogue; but when this is not possible, the majority vote shall prevail and the majority shall show respect for the opinion of the minority; o Have the right to dissent from, protest, or comment upon any action of the Committee;
o Respect each other’s opportunity to speak and, if necessary, agree to disagree;
o Avoid offensive negative comments and practice civility and decorum during discussions and debate; and
o Assist the Chair’s exercise of duty to maintain order.
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3. C onduct with Staff
HMC 2.08.080 - Internal relations
Attendance at Commission Meetings. The city manager may attend any and all meetings of the planning commission and any other commissions, boards or committees created by the city council, upon his/her own volition or upon direction of the city council. At such meetings which the city manager attends, he/she shall be heard by such commissions, boards or committees as to all matte rs upon which he/she wishes to address the members thereof, and he/she shall inform said members as to the status of any matter being considered by the city council, and he/she shall cooperate to the fullest extent with the members of all commissions, boards or committees appointed by the city council.
Additionally, Advisory Committees Members shall:
o Speak to the designated staff liaison directly on issues and concerns; o Not direct staff to initiate any action, change a course of action, or prepare any report that is significant in nature or initiate any project or study; o Treat staff professionally and refrain from publicly criticizing individual employees;
o Avoid involvement in personnel issues;
o Discuss d irectly with the designat ed staff liaison p rivately, as a ppropriate, any displeasure over w ork or behavior with a department or staff; o Request information or rese arch on a gi ven topic from the design ated staff liaison for response (responses will be copied to all Committee Members); o Request answers to questions on Advisory Committee agenda items from the designated staff liaison prior to the meeting whenever possible; and o Present ci tizen comp laints to design ated staff liaison so the comp laint an d request for information can be disseminated to staff for appropriate action.
4. C onduct with the Public
Advisory Committees Members shall:
o Make the public feel welcome;
o Be impartial, respectful and without prejudice toward the public; o Listen courteously and attentively to public comment; o Not argue back and forth with members of the public;
o Represent official policies or positions of the Advisory Committees first; o Explicitly state when their opinions and positions do not represent the Advisory Committees when representing their individual opinions and Positions; and
o Make no promises to the public on behalf of the Advisory Committee.
5. C onduct with Other Agencies
Advisory Committee Members shall:
o Project a positive image of the City when dealing with other agencies; City Council Procedures Manual January 2023
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o Show tolerance and respe ct for other agen cies’ opinions and issues and, if necessary, agree to disagree;
o Represent o fficial po licies or po sitions of the Adviso ry C ommittees first when designated as delegates of a legislative body;
o Explicitly st ate whe n t heir opinions an d positions d o not r epresent th e Advisory C ommittees whe n r epresenting t heir indivi dual opinions an d positions, and shall not allow the interference that they do; and
6. C onduct with the Media
Advisory C ommittees Membe rs shou ld refer all media re quests to the City Public Information Officer. If no t, they shall:
o Not discuss or go “off the record” with the media to d iscuss confidential or privileged information;
o Provide non-confidential, non-privileged background information when acceptable.
Press releases will be prepared by the P ublic Information Officer and routed to the City Manager for approval before release to the media.
N. CITY STAFF
City Staff shall:
o Prepare well-written staff reports and provide accompanying documents on all age nda items in a ccordance with t he age nda form at and prep aration schedule;
o Be available for general questions from Committee Members in accordance with the Brown Act prior to and during meetings;
o Respond to questions from the public during meetings when re quested to do so by Committee Members, t he City Manager, or designated staff person;
o Refrain from arguing with the public or Committee Members; and o Switch any elec tronic equipment such as pagers and ce llular telephones to silent or off mode during Commission meetings.
Staff will rem ain obje ctive on issues and shou ld not be a dvocates for issues unless so directed by the legislative body.
Staff will not participate in political activities while on duty or on City property.
O. PUBLIC
Members of the public:
o Attending Committee m eetings sh all observe the same ru les and d ecorum applicable to the Members and staff as noted in this Chapter; o May attend meetings at any te leconference loca tions in accordance with the Brown Act;
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o Must a pproach the podium when reco gnized by the Ch air and spe ak on ly from the podium. Stamping of feet, whistles, yells or shouting, and / or similar demonstrations are unacceptable public behavior and will be prohibited by the City Council;
o Wishing to provide documents to the Co uncil shall comply with Chapter 8 Section B of these Rules;
o Speakers wishing to subm it ele ctronic media as p art o f the ir public comment must submit it to th e City Clerk’s Office via thumb drive or compact disk (cd) at least 24 hours prior to the Advisory Committee meeting in order to be screened for computer viruses and offensive or inappropriate content. The City Clerk will have it available at the ne xt Advisory Committee meeting during the public comment po rtion of the meeting. The City is not responsible fo r in accurate informa tion d isplayed as p art o f a public comment presentation;
o Must switch any electronic equipment such as pagers and cellular telephones to a silent or off mode during Committee meetings; o Wishing to speak to the Co mmittee shou ld complete, and tu rn in to th e Committee Secretary prior t o th e ite m bein g ca lled, a spe aker’s slip indicating the agenda item o r off-agenda (public comment) item which they wish to address; and
o May con tact the staff person with questions concerning Consent Calendar items p rior to the me eting to re duce the n eed fo r discussion of Consen t Calendar items.
P. REGULAR MEETINGS
o Regular meetings of Advisory Committees are established by resolution; o Staff reports sh all be limited to five minutes unless unusual circumstances exist;
o Voting will be conducted utilizing the electronic voting system and the Chai r shall announce the voting results;
o Public comments shall be limited to three mi nutes, the Chair shall notify the speaker when 30 seconds remain and has the discretion of extending the time for public hearings if a formal presentation is being made; o No new age nda i tems shall be considered after 9:30 p.m. unless agreed to do so by the majority of the Committee, all remaining items shall be continued to the next regular meeting; and
o All mee ting n otices are to be po sted on the City’s website, public no tice case outside City Hall and at the Hesperia Branch Library 72-hours prior to the meeting in compliance with the Brown Act.
Q. SPECIAL MEETINGS
o The Chair or Majo rity of the Membe rs may call a spe cial meeting for items within the C ommittee’s purview by pr oviding notice twenty-four (24) hours in advan ce of the mee ting to all Co mmission Members, media ou tlets an d persons having re quested in writing notification of su ch meetings pursuant to state law; and
o All spe cial mee ting notices are to be posted on the City’s web site, public notice case outside City Hall and at the Hesperia Branch Library.
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R. AGENDA PACKET PREPARATION
o The City Manager reviews and ap proves all it ems for the Advisory Committee agenda;
o The agenda and agenda packets are compiled and distributed through designated departments. Agenda packets are generally ready for distribution by 5:30 p.m. on the Th ursday before the Advisory Committee meeting; - agenda packets are also ava ilable to the public on the City’s website, at the public library; and
o Committee Members are encour aged to me et wit h the Committee staff liaison before Advisory Co mmittees me etings if they ne ed clarification on agenda items.
S. GENERAL
The Advisory Committees acts as a body and policy is established by majority vote. A decision of the
majority binds the Committee to a course of action. No Committee Member has any extraordinary powers beyond those of other members and all members have equal votes.
The Advisory Committees shall follow the guidelines provided in Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, as outlined under Section W. Parliamentary Procedures below, to govern the procedural conduct of City Council Meetings.
Action by the Advisory Co mmittees shall be taken by me ans of resolut ion, or or al motion duly made and passed by the majority (unless otherwise provided in state law).
Public actions of the Advisory Co mmittees sha ll be recorded in the min utes of any meeting of the Commissio n. Resolutions shall also be recorded separa tely, serially numbered, and filed sequentially in the office of the Advisory Committee Secretary.
The Advisory Co mmittees cannot tak e act ion on items not inc luded on the posted agenda except as provided for emergenc y or urgent ite ms as provided in the Brown Act.
A tie vote is considered as “no action” by the Advisory Committees and the item will automatically be brou ght back befor e the City Council at the ne xt meeting at which the full membership of the Council is present.
T. REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENDA ITEM SUBMISSION
Members may request items for inclusion on a future agenda by verbally making the request under Committee Comments or contacting the staff l iaison to the Committee. All requests are subject to approval by the City Manager. Requests for items that are informational only may be responded to by staff in memo format distributed to all
Committee Members. Depa rtment directors, subjec t to the discretion of the City Manager, ma y submi t staff reports or des criptions of or al reports to the Advisory Committee for placement on the agenda.
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U. DECLARATION OF POLICY
No resolution, motion or ite m of business sh all be in troduced or acted upon at a meeting of the Advisory Co mmittee without it appe aring on a duly no ticed and posted agenda in accordance with the Brown Act, exceptions to this rule are limited to those provided by state law. City staff attending Advisory Committee meetings will assist to ensure compliance with the Brown Act.
No resolution, motion or item of business will be considered which does not affect the conduct of the business of the City of Hesperia, its subsidiary districts, or its corporate powers or duties as a municipal corporation.
V. AGENDA FORMAT
1. P ublic Comment
Pursuant to the Brown Act, public comment will be allowed on items on the Committee agenda at the time each item is considered. Public comments are limited to no mor e than three (3) minutes each. Individuals desiring to speak are encouraged to submit a request to speak form to the Advisory Committee Secretary prior to the meeting.
Speakers shall not concede any part of their allotted time to another speaker.
The Advisory C ommittee m ay not d eliberate or take action on any request/item brought before them during Public Comment/Oral Communications. The Committee may ask clarifying questions and refer the request/item to staff.
Members of the Advisory Committee are discouraged from engaging in debate with a memb er of the public at mee tings sin ce these deb ates seldom resolve con cerns and many times inflame feelings at a public meeting.
The Brown Act permits the clearing of the Council Chamber in the event any meeting is willfully disturbed.
2. Ite ms for Consideration
Those items on the Committee agenda which have not been previously discussed or which require Committee direction.
3. Commi ttee Member and Staff Comments
The Comments portion of the meeting provides Committee Members and s taff the opportunity to b riefly co mment on Committee business or on ac tivities as representatives of the Advisory Committee. Commit tee Members and staff shou ld govern themselves as to the length of their comments.
W. Parli
amentary Procedures
On January 22, 2018, the City Council voted to adopt Rosenberg’s Rules of Order as the parliamentary procedures for conducting City meetings. The rules established by Rosenberg’s Rules of Order include, but are not limited to those outlined below. A full City Council Procedures Manual January 2023
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transcript of Rosenberg’s Rules of Order is available in the City Clerk’s Office upon request.
A. Items for Discussion
1. The Chair is responsible for announcing each agenda item for discussion;
2. The Chair asks Committee Members if there are any clarifying questions of staff;
3. After Committee questions, the Chair asks for public comment;
4. After public comment, the Chair invites a motion and a second from the Committee;
5. The Chair restates the motion before the Committee and invites discussion of the motion; and
6. After discussion, the Chair calls for the vote and announces the result for the public.
B. Multiple Motions
There can be multiple motions on the floor for the Committee to consider. In the event that multiple motions are pres ented to the Committee for consideration, the Chair will follow the procedures below.
The Chair will handle the last motion proposed first. Motions will be dealt with in descending order 3, 2, 1 as follows:
1. The Chair asks for discussion on the last motion proposed to the Council;
2. After discussion, the Chair will ask for a motion to second;
3. The Chair will restate the motion; and
4. The Chair will call for the vote and announce the result for the public.
C. Failed Motions
There may be instances in which a motion made by a C ommittee Member will be rejected by a vote of the Committee. Should this happen, the Chair will follow the procedures below.
1. The Chair announces that the motion has failed;
2. The Chair asks for an amended or substitute motion;
3. The Chair asks for a motion to second;
4. The Chair will restate the motion; and
5. The Chair will call for the vote and announce the vote for the public.
D. Additional Types of Motions
Several types of motions require an immediate vote by the Committee without any discussion and require a majority vote to pass. They are as follows:
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i. A motion to adjourn requires an immediate adjournment to the next regularly scheduled meeting;
ii. A motion to recess requires the Committee to take a brief recess of time specified by the Chair;
iii. A motion to fix the time to adjourn, adjourns the meeting to a specific date and time; and
iv. A motion to table puts the agenda item on hold until a future meeting, this can be a specified time or a date to be determined.
A motion to withdraw can be made by the Committee Member who proposed the motion.
The motion is immediately deemed withdrawn and the Chair may ask if any member of the Committee wishes to move the motion.
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