02-25- Handout - Donna Bartle2�1251iq &V�- o6dl�t&
Sec. 2-19. - Rules of conduct and procedure at meetings.
The following rules shall govern procedure and conduct of city commission meetings
(1) Rule 1. The mayor -commission shall preside at all meetings of the city commission, call the
members to order at the hour appointed for each meeting and, upon the appearance of a
quorum, proceed to business. He shall have general control of the chamber and in case of
disturbance or disorderly conduct therein, he may cause the same to be cleared. The mayor
shall preserve decorum and order, may speak to points of order in preference to other
members, and shall decide all questions relating to the priority of business or of order, without
debate, subject to appeal to the city commission by any member as a matter of course, and on
the appeal, it shall require a majority vote of the members to sustain the appeal.
(2) Rule 2. The mayor -commissioner shall declare all votes. A roll call of the yeas and nays on any
question shall be taken upon the request of any one (1) member. The roll call shall be
conducted as follows: The city clerk shall arrange the names of the members of the city
commission in alphabetical order, and each call of the roll shall be restated in a manner so that
upon each call thereof, he will commence with the member's name that was called second upon
the preceding roll call, and thereafter proceed to call the roll according to alphabetical order;
except, that the mayor -commissioner's name shall be called last.
(3) Rule 3. When a member is called to order, he shall immediately take his seat, and the
presiding officer shall pass upon the point of order.
(4) Rule 4. No member shall speak at any meeting more than twice on the same question, or more
than five (5) minutes at any one time.
(5) Rule 5. No member shall be interrupted by another without the consent of the member who has
the floor, except by rising to a question of order.
(6) Rule 6. No member shall absent himself from the meeting before adjournment for more than
five (5) minutes at a time without leave of the presiding officer.
(7) Rule 7. The order of business shall be as follows:
a. Approval of minutes of preceding meetings;
b. Courtesy of floor to any visitors who desire to bring a matter to the city commission's
attention;
c. City manager reports;
d. Reports and/or requests from city commissioners;
e. Unfinished business of preceding meeting;
f. Consent agenda;
g. Report of committees;
h. Action on resolutions;
i. Action on ordinances;
j. Miscellaneous business;
k. City Attorney/city clerk reports and/or requests; and
I. Closing comments by city commissioners and city manager, if desired.
(8) Rule 8. The mayor -commissioner may appoint, from time to time, such special or select
committees as in his discretion he deems desirable, or as may be desired by the city
commission, to expedite the handling of the business and affairs of the city.
(9) Rule 9. It shall be the duty of all committees to report on every subject referred to them at the
next regular meeting following the reference; provided, the city commission may direct a report
to be made at an intervening adjourned meeting. If any committee fails to report on any matter
as required, they may be relieved of further consideration of the matter, and it be otherwise
disposed of by the city commission.
(10) Rule 10. Upon every matter referred to a committee, the committee or a majority thereof shall
meet for inquiry or deliberation, and no report of or concerning the matter shall be made unless
a majority of the committee shall have signed the same.
(11) Rule 11. It shall be the duty of the chairman or vice-chairman of all committees to which any
pending matters have been referred to cause their committee to meet to consider and dispose
of its pending business, and as far as practicable, to give advance notice of the time and place
of such meeting to all members of the city commission, the city clerk, city manager and other
persons known to be interested in favor of, or opposed to, the particular matters proposed to be
considered.
(12) Rule 12. All reports of committees shall be in writing and shall be filed by the city clerk. All
special reports shall state the facts substantially appearing before the committee.
(13) Rule 13. Upon the reading of petitions and communications and upon introduction of bills and
resolutions other than those appearing upon the official agenda, the presiding officer shall order
same received or filed or referred to proper committees, and the order made shall prevail unless
motion for other disposition of the matter in question shall be made and prevail.
(14) Rule 14. Every petition or other paper shall, previous to presentation, be so endorsed as to
clearly indicate the substance of the contents. Its reference or other disposition shall be
endorsed on it by the city clerk.
(15) Rule 15. Proposed ordinances may be introduced at any meeting of the city commission,
provided the same are prepared in written or printed form. Unless copies of the proposed
ordinances shall have been previously delivered to the mayor -commissioner and each member
of the city commission at least three (3) days prior to the meeting at which they are introduced,
no action on the passage of the same shall be taken at the meeting at which introduced except
by unanimous consent of all members of the city commission present. The city manager, city
clerk and city attorney shall, when requested by the mayor-commissicher or any member of the
city commission, exert their best efforts to assist in the preparation of proposed ordinances and
cause copies thereof to be delivered to the mayor -commissioner and each member of the city
commission at least three (3) days prior to the next scheduled meeting of the city commission
following the request.
(16) Rule 16. In acting upon all proposed ordinances or resolutions, the yeas and nays shall be
taken upon the disposition made at each reading thereof, and shall be entered upon the journal
of the proceedings of the city commission.
(17) Rule 17. Any proposed motion, resolution, ordinance or suggested amendment thereto may
be withdrawn by the mover or the proposer at any time before amendment or putting it to a vote.
(18) Rule 18. The city manager shall furnish each member of the city commission with a list of
unfinished business of the preceding meetings, and a separate list of unfinished business
generally, in the order of its introduction, and a separate list of new matters expected to be
presented at the meeting, prior to every meeting.
(19) Rule 19. The city manager shall submit regular written monthly reports to the city commission
(20) Rule 20. After the decision of any question, it shall be in order only for a member voting on the
prevailing side to move a reconsideration at the same or next regular meeting. If a motion to
reconsider is lost, it shall not be renewed and reconsidered without the unanimous consent of
the city commission in attendance at the meeting at which reconsideration is requested.
(21) Rule 21. Any rule, except Rules 16 and 17, may be temporarily suspended for special
reasons by a vote of the majority of the members of the city commission present.
(22) Rule 22. In all cases involving points of parliamentary law, "Robert's Rules of Order" shall be
the book of reference, and its rules, so far as they are applicable and not in conflict with the
provisions of the city's Charter, this Code or other city ordinances, shall be the rules of the city
commission.
(23) Rule 23. The mayor pro tem shall exercise the duties and powers of the mayor -commissioner
during his absence or disability.
(24) Rule 24. It shall be the duty of the city clerk or her/his designee to attend all meetings of the
city commission and to record and keep the minutes and records thereof. The minutes of such
meetings shall be promptly recorded for public inspection as required by state law. It shall be
the duty of the mayor -commissioner, and in his absence, the mayor pro tem or other city
commissioner, to see that the proceedings of every meeting are properly and promptly recorded
by the city clerk or her/his designee, and the record of every meeting shall be signed, when
approved, by the city clerk or her/his designee and the mayor -commissioner or the mayor pro
tem or other city commissioner who presided thereat.
(25) Rule 25. Any city commissioner or charter officer may request that any motion be presented in
writing.
(26) Rule 26. The city commission may take action on a matter which, because of time constraints,
has not been included on the agenda for their meeting, if such matter is declared to be an
emergency by the affirmative votes of the majority of the members of the city commission. The
passage of emergency ordinances and resolutions, however, shall be in accordance with
Section 18 of the City Charter.
(27) Rule 27. It shall be the duty of a city commissioner who will be absent from any city
commission meeting to notify the other commissioners of any such anticipated absence. Said
notice shall be given as far in advance as possible, either orally at a meeting prior to the one
which the commissioner will be absent from, or by e-mail to the city clerk, who will then forward
the notice to the other commissioners. If the notice includes a request for an excused absence,
it shall state briefly the reasons why the excused absence is being requested, and the other
commissioners shall vote on the request at the meeting at which it is orally requested or as an
agenda item at a subsequent meeting following notice by e-mail.
(28) Rule 28. City commissioners shall be prohibited from accepting or sending any electronic
communications via cell phone or other device during the course of a city commission meeting.
Electronic communications include, but are not limited to, emails, Blackberry PINs, SMS
communications (text messaging), MMS communications (multimedia content), and instant
messaging. City commissioners may have cell phones turned on during city commission
meetings, to be used only in the event of an emergency.
(Code 1970, § 2-5; Ord. No. 5-88-20, § 1, 12-12-88; Ord. No. 5-97-29, § 1, 2-24-97; Ord. No. 5-
01-36, § 1, 11-12-01; Ord. No. 5-12-56, §§ 1, 2, 8-27-12; Ord. No. 5-12-57, § 1, 11-26-12; Ord.
No. 5-18-65, § 2(Exh. A), 2-26718)