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CC Resolution No. 747 1262 RESOLUTION NO. 747 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN ESTABLISHING RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING COUNCIL MEETINGS; REPEALING PRIOR RESOLUTIONS PERTAINING TO COUNCIL RULES AND PROCEDURES ; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE . WHEREAS, Sections 25 and 27 of the City Charter authorize the Council to fix the time of its regular meeting and to determine its rules and order of business ; and WHEREAS , it is deemed advisable for the Council to establish rules for the conduct of Council meetings, both formal and informal , and to establish rules of courtesy for those persons attending meetings of the Council ; NOW THERE- FORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN, TEXAS : Section 1 : The following rules are established for the conduct of formal and informal meetings of the Council : (a) Regular meetings. The Council shall hold its regular meetings in the Council Chamber at City Hall on the second and fourth Thursday of each month beginning at 6 : 30 p .m. , unless otherwise established by the Council . (b) Work sessions . Work sessions shall be called by the City Clerk upon the request of the Mayor, the City Manager, or a majority of the members of the Council . Such meetings shall be held in the City Hall Conference Room unless otherwise established by the Council . In the event of a work session, the City Clerk shall notify each member of the Council . (c) Special meetings. Special meetings of the Council shall be called by the City Clerk upon the request of the Mayor, the City Manager, or a majority of the members of the Council . in the event of a special called meeting, the City Cierx shall notify eacn member of the Council . (a) Call to order. The meetings of the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor , or in his absence, by the Mayor Pro Tem; and in the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, the meeting shall be called to oruer by the City Clerk. in the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, and with a quorum being present , the members present may elect one of their number upon nominations for that purpose to serve as temporary presiding officer for the meeting. 1263 (e) Preservation of order. The Chairman shall preserve order and decorum, prevent insulting references to Council members, the impuning of other members ' motives , and confine members ' remarks to the question under discussion. (f) Substitution for Chair. The Chair may call upon the Mayor Pro Tem, or if he or she is unavailable, then any other member to take his or her place, for a portion of the meeting, substitution not to continue beyond adjournment . (g) Rules. Robert ' s Rules of Order (latest revision) shall govern in all cases unless in conflict with the City Charter, City ordinances , or rules of procedure hereby adopted provided that Section 42 , "Rules Governing Debate, Rules Against the Chair ' s Participation in Debates" shall not be applicable and the Mayor or presiding officer of the pro- ceedings of the City Council shall have the right to participate in debate of issues pending before the Council . (h) Council members shall clearly indicate their vote on each matter submitted to a vote, and the result shall be announced by the City Clerk. Section 2 : The following rules of courtesy are adopted for persons in attendance at all meetings of the Council : (a) Recognition by presiding officer. No person shall address the Council without first being recognized by the presiding officer. (b) Procedure . Each person addressing the Council shall step up to the microphone provided for the use of the public and give his name and address in an audible tone of voice for the records, state the subject he wishes to discuss , state whom he is representing if he represents an organization or other persons . All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any member thereof . No person other than members of the Council and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, directly or through a member of the Council , without per- mission of the presiding officer. (c) Spokesman for group of persons. In order to expedite matters and to avoid repetitious pre- sentations, whenever any group of persons wishes to address the Council on the same subject , it shall be proper for the presiding officer to request that a spokesman be chosen by the group to address the Council , and in case additional matters are to be presented by any other member of the group, to limit the number of such persons address- ing the Council . (d) Charges against employees . Should any person in a Council meeting charge an employee with improper conduct , malfeasance , nonfeasance, or misfeasance, then, in such event , such person shall be ruled out of order immediately and instructed to refer his complaint to the City Manager. -2- 1264 (e) Disturbances. No person attending any Council meeting shall delay, interrupt , or disrupt the proceedings or refuse to obey the orders of the Chair. Any person making personal , impertinent , and slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing the Council or while attending the Council meeting shall be removed from the room if the Sergeant at Arms is so directed by the presiding officer. The Chief of Police, or such member or members of the Police Department as the presiding officer may designate , shall be Sergeant at Arms of the Council meetings_. Section 3 : The following rules concerning the agenda of Council are adopted. The agenda order set out is the desired order for conducting the business of the City Council of the City of Baytown. However, at the discretion of the Mayor, when it appears that it is to the best interest of the Council and the citizens of Baytown , any item appearing on the agenda shall be considered out of order as shall be determined by the Mayor in the exercise of his or her discretion. An item shall not be brought up for reconsid- eration by the Council by any person or Council member if the item has been previously considered and voted on by the Council within the previous six months, unless the Council votes to waive this restriction as to the item. The desired order is : (1) Call to order (2) Announcement of quorum - the Mayor shall announce that a quorum of the Council is present . (3) Invocation (4) Approval of minutes - the minutes of the previous meetings of the City Council shall be submitted to Council for approval or correction and then approval . (5) Receive petitions - the City Manager will report to the Council on any petitions that have been presented to him prior to the meeting of the Council. Any citizen or group of citizens having a petition to present to the Council will present such petition at this time . (6) City Manager' s report - The City Manager will present reports of current problems and affairs of interest to the Council . (7) Public hearing - In the event action has been previously taken calling a public hearing, the public hearing shall commence at the time set forth in the action calling such hearing . -3- 1265 (8) Personal appearances - Any citizen of the City of Baytown or any other interested person desiring to appear before the City Council shall request on or before 12 : 00 noon of the third work day preceding the day of the City Council meeting, placement on the agenda. In addition, such citizen shall specify the business to be discussed. (9) Business - Ordinances, resolutions, motions, reports , and discussion items shall be considered at this time. (10) Executive session - In the event it is necessary for Council to retire to executive session for the purpose of discussing matters which are permis- sible as enumerated in Section 2 of Article 6252- 17 , V.A.T.C.S . , Council may retire into closed session. However, before such session, the Mayor shall announce that the executive session is commencing, and the reason therefore. (11) Adjournment . Section 4 : Resolution No. 1 and Resolution No. 482 which previously set forth rules and procedures for the conduct of Council meetings are hereby repealed. Section 5 : This resolution shall take effect from and after its passage . INTRODUCED, READ, and PASSED by the affirmative vote of the City Council on this 9th_day of October 1980. MMETT O. HUTTO, Mayor ATTEST : Y�%,. P, Z� EILEEN P. HALL, City Clerk APPROVED: ANDALL B. STRONG, City At rney -4-