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Home My WebLink AboutRES 19-280RESOLUTION NO. 19-280 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEAUMONT: THAT the Council Procedures and Decorum Policy, substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A," is hereby in all things adopted. The meeting at which this resolution was approved was in all things conducted in strict compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Beaumont this the 3rd day of December, 2019. e W 1 I ,� % /_ �7.�• - City Council Procedure and Decorum Policy Authority The City of Beaumont Charter Article III, Section 9 states that the City Council shall determine its own rules and order of business. These rules of procedure and decorum were adopted on December 3, 2019 through resolution by the City Council and are in effect until such time as amended, suspended or new rules are adopted. City Council Agenda The City Manager and Mayor can place items on the agenda. The City Manager is responsible for processing the agenda and agenda materials for City Council meetings. The City Manager is responsible for directing and managing the daily operations of the City government. Two Council Members may request the City Manager to place an item on an agenda for an action item or a work session. Should extraordinary staff time be required to address any suggested item, the City Manager will communicate the agenda time frame to those requesting the item. Agenda items placed on the agenda by the Mayor or two members of the City Council previously considered and whereby action was taken by the City Council may not be placed on a future agenda for reconsideration within six months of such action except by two Council Members in writing to the City Manager. In this case, at least one member,who is requesting that the item be renewed on an agenda shall have been on the prevailing side of the previous vote on the item. Executive Session Items to be discussed .in closed (Executive) session under conditions allowed by applicable law: The City Council may not take final action during executive session. It is understood and agreed that information discussed in Executive Session is considered completely confidential and should remain so until the Council takes action in public on the matter. Any final action resulting from an Executive Session discussion must be taken during the open public session. General Procedures The Mayor shall preside over all meetings of the City Council as the Chair and enforce these rules and procedures during meetings. In the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tempore shall assume the Chair responsibility at the meeting. In the absence of the Mayor Pro-Tempore, the City Council will decide on the Chair by majority vote. The Chair has the responsibility to control the discussion and the order of speakers. The Chair shall attempt to call upon Council Members in the order of their request to speak. Generally, a Council Member may not be recognized to speak subsequently until each Council Member has had an opportunity to obtain the floor. Council Members will limit their comments to the item currently being considered. 1 A Council Member shall not present the same or substantially the same items or arguments to the City Council repeatedly to be repetitious in presenting oral comments. The Chair may call a recess at any time during a meeting. Any Council Member wishing to speak shall first obtain the floor by making a request to the Chair. The Chair shall recognize any Council Member who seeks the floor when appropriately entitled to do so. If the Chair determines that a motion is 'in order, he/she can end the discussion and call for a motion. The following is the General Procedure for making motions: • The item is presented by the City Manager followed by the agenda item being announced by the Chair. • A Council Member who wishes to make a motion shall first obtain the floor. • A Council Member who wishes to second the motion should do so through a request to the Chair. • Before a motion is to be discussed, it should be seconded. • Once the motion has been properly made and seconded, the Chair shall open the matter for further discussion from any Council Member properly recognized by the Chair. • Vote When a motion is on the floor and an amendment is offered, the amendment shall be acted upon prior to action on the main motion. No motion of a subject other than the agenda item under consideration shall be admitted as an amendment. Action shall be taken on the amended motion prior to any other action to further amend the original motion. All Council Members must vote either "aye" in the affirmative or "nay" in the negative. A present member who does not register an audible vote will be officially recorded as an "aye" or affirmative vote unless that member has recused oneself from the vote. Decorum Council Members shall preserve order and decorum, shall not interrupt or delay proceedings and shall obey the rules of the Council. Council Members shall demonstrate respect and courtesy to one another, to City Staff and to members of the public appearing before the Council. Council Members may express differing ideas and opinions. -Equitable representations helps promote unity of purpose by allowing the public to be informed on each Members position during his/ her term of office. Once an item has been decided with a majority vote, the item is resolved and Council Members should respect the opinion of the prevailing side and accept it as the final decision of the body. Mayoral Responsibilities: 2 • The Mayor shall serve as the Chair of all meetings. • The Chair is responsible for preserving order and decorum and shall keep the meetings orderly by recognizing each Member for discussion, limiting speaking on items, encouraging debate among Members and keeping discussion limited to the agenda item being considered. • The Mayor is the official spokesperson for the Council. The views presented by the Mayor or the Mayor Pro Tempore in his/ her absence, should provide equitable representation of all Council Members. • The Chair will give each Member an opportunity to speak before any Member can speak again on the same subject. • The Mayor may call for a recess at any time during a meeting. Council Member Responsibilities: • It is the responsibility of Council Members to be informed about action taken by the Council in their absence. In the case of being absent from a Work Session, the Council Member is responsible for obtaining this information from the City Manager prior to the Council Meeting during which said item is to be voted upon. • When addressing an agenda item, the Council Member shall first be recognized by the Chair, confine comments to the question under debate, avoid reference to personalities, refrain from unnecessarily dominating or extending the discussion, and refrain from impugning the integrity or motives of any other Council Member or Staff during debate or vote. • Any Council Member may appeal a ruling by the Chair to the Council as a whole. If the appeal is seconded, the Member making the appeal may make a brief statement. The affirmative consensus of a majority of the Council Members present shall determine the outcome. • Any Council Member may ask the Chair to enforce the policy established by the Council. Should the Chair fail to do so, a majority consensus of the Council Members present shall require the Chair to enforce the policy. • While a Council Member is speaking, other Members shall not hold private discourse or in any manner interrupt the speaker. In all discussions, disrespectful language shall be avoided. • All personal communication devices should be placed in silent mode during any City Council meeting. Personal communication devices shall not be used for communicating City related business during any City Council meeting. Staff Relations In order to ensure proper presentation of agenda items by Staff, questions arising from Council Members after receiving their information packet should be, whenever possible, presented to the City Manager prior to the Council Meeting. This allows Staff the time to address Council Members concern and provide all Council Members with additional information. 3 The City Manager is directly responsible for providing information to all the Council concerning any inquiries by a specific Council Member that is significant in nature and would be beneficial to other Members. If the City Manager or the Staff's time is being dominated or misdirected by.a Council Member, it is the City Manager's responsibility to inform the Mayor who could bring in to the Council as a whole. Statements by Public Officials Regarding Litigation If the City of Beaumont is involved in litigation or a legal dispute, Council Members shall refrain from commenting on settlements, appeals or other issues related to the subject until the matter is resolved. The Mayor, City Manager or City Attorney shall be authorized to provide any public responses if necessary regarding litigation. Disbursement of Council Requested Information As a general courtesy and to maintain equality in the disbursement of information, documentation or data requested by a Council Member from Staff shall be provided to all City Council Members. Staff time should not be dominated by such requests. Policy Enforcement If a Council Member believes this policy has been violated, the topic shall be placed on a meeting agenda following proper procedure by the Mayor, City Manager or two Council Members. A determination of violation shall be stated by majority vote of those present during the deliberation. If a Council Member is deemed to be in violation of this policy, a standard letter of violation as approved by the City Council and signed by the Mayor (or the Mayor Pro Tempore if the letter is going to the Mayor) shall be issued to the violating Member. A copy of the letter shall become a permanent part of that Council Member's official file with the City. 4