Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1263 ORDINANCE NO. l263 C' AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE ARCADIA MUNICIPAL CODE BY AMENDING THE TITLE OF CHAPTER 1 OF ARTICLE II THEREOF TO READ "COUNCIL MEETINGS", BY AMENDING THE TITLE OF PART 1 OF SAID CHAPTER 1 TO READ "DATE AND HOUR", BY AMENDING SECTION 2110 THEREOF, BY ADDING THERETO NEW SECTIONS 2111 AND 2l12, AND BY ADDING A NEW PART 2 TO SAID CHAPTER 1 ENTITLED "RULES OF PROCEDURE" CONTAINING DIVISIONS 1 THROUGH 6jAND SECTIONS 2121.1 THROUGH 2163.5. , I \ THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. That the Arcadia Municipal Code is hereby amended by amending the title of Chapter 1 of Article II thereof to read "Council Meetings", by amending the title of Part 1 of said Chapter 1 to read "Date and Hour", by amending Section 2110 thereof and by adding thereto new Sections 2111 and 2112, and by adding a new Part 2 entitled "Rules of Procedure" containing Divisions 1 through 6 and Sections 2l2l.1 to 2126.5, the same to read as follows: ARTICLE II. CHAPTER l. PART 1. ADMINISTRATION COUNCIL MEETINGS DATE AND HOUR 2110. REGULAR MEETINGS. All regular meetings of the Council shall be held on the first and third Tuesdays of each and every calendar month at the hour of eight o'clock P.M., except as otherwise provided in Section 407 of the City Charter and in Part 2 of Chapter 7 of this Article. 2111. MONTHLY STUDY SESSION. The members of the Arcadia City Council shall convene in the Conference Room, located in the southwest wing of the Arcadia City Hall at 7:30 o'clock P.M. on the last Thursday of each month, and in the event that the last Thursday of any month falls upon a hOliday, then upon the last -1- 1263 " Wednesday of such ,month, for the purpose of receiving, discussing and deliberating and giving directives through the City Manager on any matter affecting the administration of the City's business or the carrying out of Council policies excepting only such mat- ters and actions as are required by law to be handled only at a regular, adjourned regular or special meeting of the City Council held in accordance with the provisions of the Arcadia City Charter and the applicable provisions of the California Government Code. At all such times aforesaid Conference Room shall be open to the public and to the press and no person whatsoever shall be pre- eluded in any way from attendance at or hearing all discussions and deliberations occurring thereat. The extent to which members of the public may actively participate in any discussions and deliberations thereat shall be within the sole discretion of the presiding officer thereat. Only such members of the City Staff shall be required to attend as are so notified in advance by the City Manager. It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to maintain a concise summary of the conclusions arrived at or directives issued in the foregoing matters. 2112. INFORMAL SESSIONS. Subject to compliance with the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Council may gather in informal sessions from time to time at such places and on such days and at such times as may be designated by the Mayor. Such informal sessions shall be de- voted exclusively to the presentation and exchange of info~tion, and no official action shall be taken by the Council and no formal or informal vote or poll of the Council shall be taken. PART 2. RULES OF PROCEDURE DIVISION 1. ORDER OF BUSINESS 2121.1. COMPLIANCE WITH SCHEDULE. Except as,otherwise directed by the Mayor with the approval of a majority of the members -2- 1263 of the Council} the business of the City shall be brought before the Council at all regular or adjourned regular meetings in substantially the order specified by Resolution adopted by the City Council. 2121.2. PROVISIONS DIRECTORY. The provisions of this Division and of any Resolution adopted pursuant to the preceding Section shall be directory only, and any deviation therefrom shall not affect the validity of any action taken by the Council contrary thereto. DIVISION 2. AGENDA. 2122. PREPARATION. The City Manager shall prepare the agenda for all regular and adjourned regular council meetings ac- cording to the order of business specified pursuant to Division 1 of this Part. 2122.1. SUBMISSION OF MATERIAL. All reports, ordinances, resolutions} contract documents, written communications or other matters to be submitted to the Council at any regular or adjourned regular meeting shall be delivered to the office of the City Manager not later than twelve o'clock noon on the sixth day (including the meeting day) prior to any such meeting. All such matters emanating from a member of the City Staff shall be forwarded through such staff member's Department Head to the City Manager. The City Manager shall determine what matters from the administrative staff shall be placed on the agenda, shall specify their order of presence on the agenda, and shall prepare an appropriate description of each such item for placement on the agenda. 2122.2. AGENDA AVAILABILITY. The City Manager shall cause to be delivered to each Councilman or to a local address spe- cified by him, to the City Clerk and to each Department Head a com- plete copy of the agenda for each regular or adjourned regular meet- ing not later than the fifth day (including the meeting day) pre- ceding any such meeting. Copies of the agenda shall be available to the public at the office of the City Clerk by nine o'clock A.M. on the day ~f-the meeting. (b) -3- 1263 2122.3. DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL. Copies of the agenda of meetings of the City Council and of all boards and commissions shall be made available to the public and press as soon as copies thereof can reasonably be prepared. Copies of documents, staff reports, ordinances, resolutions, motions and similar material relating to listed agenda . items shall be made similarly available immediately prior to the meet- ing at which such material is to be presented or considered. Material designed for background information or of a confidential and privileged nature shall not be made available to the publiC or to the press by the staff except at the direction of the Mayor. Copies of material on subjects introduced at a meeting but not listed on the 'agenda shall be made available at the'time said subject arises, on the same basis as heretofore described, by the individual introducing said subject. Ex- cept as otherwise specified, all such promulgation described in this Section shall be made only by the City Manager or by such person as he may designate. 2122.4. NON-AGENDA MATTERS. No matters other than those on the agenda prepared pursuant to this Part shall be finally acted upon by the Council. 2122.4.1. SAME. EXCEPTION. Any matter deemed to be an emer- gency or of urgent nature by any Councilman, City Manager or City Attor- ney, upon his explanation of the emergency or urgency at an open council meeting, may be acted upon by the Council, whether presented in writing or orally. DIVISION 3. CONDUCT OF MEETING. 2123. SEATING ARRANGEMENT. The seating arrangement of all persons at the Council table shall be under the direction of the pre- siding officer. 2123.1. PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO BE WITHIN THE RAIL. No person except city officials, their representatives and representatives of news- gathering agencies, shall be permitted within the rail in front of the Council Chamber without the consent of the Council in each instance. (b) -4- 1263 2123.2. DUTIES OF PRESIDING OFFICER. The Presiding Officer shall call the Council to order precisely at the hour appointed for the meeting. The PreSiding Officer shall preserve order at all meetings of the Council. He may, and upon request of any voting member shall state every question coming before the Council, announce the decision of the Council on all subjects, and decide all questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the Council, in which event a majority vote pf the Council shall govern and conclusively determine such question of order. 2123.3. READING OF THE MINUTES. Unless .the reading of the minutes of a former meeting is requested by a Councilman, such minutes may be approved without reading if the City Clerk has previously caused a copy thereof to be mailed or delivered to each Councilman. 2123.4. OATH OF WITNESSES. Prior to the taking up of any matter on the agenda other than the approval of minutes, or at any time during the meeting, the presiding officer may require all persons, prior to addressing the City Council on any subject or on any specific agenda item} to be sworn to tell the truth. 2123.5. EXHIBITS. Any written, pictorial or material object of any kind presented to the City Council during any noticed public hearing for the purpose of explaining, clarifying or exemplifying to the Council the matter under discussion or for the purpose of influencing the judg- ment or decision of the Council on any such matter, shall be submitted to the City Clerk, marked as an eXhibit and kept on file in such matter, unless and until the City Council directs its return upon such condi- tions as the Council may prescribe in any such directive. Any writ- ten, pictorial or material object of any kind.:presented to the City Council during any other portion of the meeting for the purpose of ex- plaining, clarifying or exemplifying to the Council the matter under dis- cussion or for the purpose of influencing the judgment or decision of the Council on any such matter may be required by the City Council to be (a) -5- 1263 submitted to the City Clerk, marked as an eXhibit and kept on file in such matter, unless and until the City Council directs its return upon such conditions as the Council may prescribe in any such directive. 2123.6. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS. Written communications ad- dressed to the City Councilor City Clerk need not be read in full at a Council meeting even if the writer thereof specifically so requests, if copies thereof have been made available to each member of the City Council prior to the Council meeting. Any Councilman may, however, request the full reading of any such communication, and the author thereof may read the same into the record upon recognition for such purpose by the presiding officer. 2123.7. TIE VOTES. When the vote on any matter before the City Council is equally divided between the voting members present, or when despite the presence of a quorum the number of votes cast is insufficient by law to approve, disapprove or otherwise take action on the matter being voted upon, such matter shall not be deemed to have been finally acted upon, but shall be deemed to have been and shall automatically be continued to the next regular or adjourned regular meeting of the City Council for action thereon at such time. Provided, however, that whenever the vote cast at any Council met- ing at which all members of the City Council are present is, by reason of the abstention from voting of one or more members, equally divided or is insufficient to approve, disapprove or otherwise take action on the matter being voted upon, such matter shall be deem.,.-- ed. to have been finally acted upon. 2123.7.1. SAME. EXCEPTION. Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding Section, in any case where the failure to take action on any matter within a specified time would otherwise by law be deemed to have been an approval of such matter, a tie vote on any such matter or the absence of sufficient votes to take final action on any such matter shall be and is hereby declared to be a disapproval of any such matter; subject, however, to the right of reconsideration of such matter and any such decision t~ereon at the next regular or ad- journed regular meeting of the Council. -6- 1263 DIVISION 4. RULES OF DEBATE. 2124.1. PRESIDING OFFICER PARTICIPATION. The presiding officer may move, second and debate from the chair, SUbJect only to such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed on all Councilmen, and shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges of a Councilman by reason of his acting as the presiding officer. 2124.2. GETTING THE FLOOR. IMPROPER REFERENCES. Every Councilman desiring to speak shall first address the Chair and, upon recognition by the Presiding Officer, shall confine himself to the question under debate, and shall avoid all personalities and indecorous language. 2124.3. INT~UPTIONS. A Councilman once recog- nized shall not be interrupted when speaking unless it shall be to call him to order or as otherwise provided by this Section. If a Councilman, while speaking, shall be called to order, he shall cease speaking until the question of order has been determined and, if in order, he shall be permitted to proceed. 2124.4. MOTION TO RECONSIDER. A motion to recon- sider any action taken by the Council at a formal meeting may be made only on the day such action was taken. It may be made either immediately or at a recessed or adJourned meeting. Such motion may only be made by one of the prevailing side but may be seconded by any Councilman and may be made at any time and have preceden t over all other motions or while a Councilman has the floor. It shall be debatable. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent any Councilman from making or remaking the same or another motion at a subsequent meeting of the Council. 2124.5. DECORUM BY COUNCILMEN. While the Council is in formal meeting, the Councilmen shall preserve order and decorum, and no Councilman shall, by conversation or otherwise, delay or 1n- -7- 1263 'terrupt,the Council proceedings or the orderly conduct thereof, nor dis- turb any Councilman while speaking, nor refuse to obey the orders of the Councilor of the presiding officer, except as provided in this Chapter. DIVISION 5. RECORD OF ACTIONS. 2125. ROLL CALL VOTE. Whenever a recorded or roll call vote of the Council is: in order, the City Clerk shall call the names of the Councilmen in order of alphabet, except that the name of the presiding officer shall be called last. 2125.1. SILENCE IS AFFIRMATIVE VOTE. Unless a Councilman affirmatively states that he is abstaining from voting, his silence shall be recorded as an affirmative vote. 2125.2. MINUTES. The minutes of a council meeting shall succinctly and accurately reflect the councilmen present, the councilmen absent, the actions taken by the Council and the votes of the respective councilmen on action taken. The Council shall be the final judge of the accuracy of the minutes in reflecting the intent of the City Council as to matters recorded, and to this end may amend the minutes as presented so as accurately to reflect such intent. Except as to hearings required by law or ordinance to be recorded in detail, the Council shall be the final Judge of the amount of detail to be contained in the minutes. Any councilman desiring the Clerk to make a verbatim transcript of his com- ments shall make request therefor through the Chair prior to the making of such remarks. Any councilman desiring an abstract of his statements on any subject to be recorded in the Council minutes shall make timely request therefor through the City Clerk prior to the Clerk's preparation of the minutes of such meeting. The minutes of any City Council meet- ing or a summary of the actions taken thereat shall be prepared and made available by the City Clerk no later than the close of the fifth working day, excluding weekends and holidays, after the conclusion of said meeting. 2125.3. REr.l.UEST OF ENTRY OF PROTEST. Any Councilman at his request shall have the right to have the reasons for his dissent from or protest against any action of the Council entered in the minutes. (b) -8- 1263 DIVISION 6, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND CONDUCT. 2126. MANNER OF ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL. TIME. Each person addressing the Council shall step up to the microphone in front of the rail, give his name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. Unless further time is granted by'the presiding officer, each person shall limit his address to five (5) ,minutes. All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a body and not to any member thereof. No person, other than a Councilman and the person having the floor, shall be permitted to enter into any discussion without, the permission of the presiding officer. 2126.1. SPOKESMAN FOR GROUP OF PERSONS. ,Whenever any group of persons wishes to address the Council on the same sub- ject matter, it shall be proper for the presiding officer to request that a spokesman be chosen by the group to address the Council, and related in the event additional/matters are to be presented at the time by any other, member of such group, to limit the number of persons so addressing the Council so a~ to avoid unnecessary repetitions before the Council. 2126.2. DECORUM. Any person making personal, impertinent or slanderous remarks or who shall become boisterous while addressing the Council shall forthwith be barred by the presiding officer from further audience at such meeting before the Council, unless permission to continue shall be granted by a majority vote of the Council. 2126.3. ENFORCEMENT. The Chief of Police shall be ex-officio sergeant-at-arms of the Council. He shall carry out all orders and instructions given him by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum in the Council Chamber. Any person in the audience who uses loud, boisterous or profane language at a Council meeting, or language tending to bring the Councilor any Councilman into contempt, or any person who persistently interrupts the proceedings of the Councilor refuses to keep quiet or take a seat -9- 1263 when ordered to do so by the presiding officer shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon instructions of the presiding officer, it shall be the duty of any police officer present to eJect any such person from the fl Council Chamber or place him under arrest, or both. 26 21%i.4. SEQUENCE OF TESTIMONY. In all matters coming be- fore the City Council by way of appeal from the decision or recommen- dation of a City Board, Commission, Committee or Officer, the appellant shall first be permitted to present or argue his case, then persons in support of the position of the appellant, and then all other persons. In all matters coming before the City Council from any City Board, Commission, Committee or Officer other than by way of appeal, testimony shall be received first from persons favoring or in support of the decision or recommendation of such Board, Commission, Committee or Officer, and then from other persons. In all applications heard initially by the City Council, the reports or recommendations of any City Board, Commission, Committee, Officer or employee relative thereto shall first be received; evidence shall be next received from the applicant; then testimony proffered on behalf of the applicant or in support of the application shall be received; and then testimony from all other persons. Rebuttal shall be permitted only in the discretion of the presiding o~ficer. This Section shall not limit the right of the City Council ~, questions or to seek information from any person at any time. 26 21%$.5. COUNSEL REPRESENTATION: Every person shall be to ask entitled to be represented by counsel in any matter before the City Council. Counsel thus representing a person may direct the presen- tation of evidence, but shall himself testify only as to matters within his own personal knowledge. No one shall argue a case before the Council prior to the submission of all testimony or evidence to be received concerning the subject matter. -10- 1263 SECTION 2. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Arcadia held on the 20TH day of OCTOBER, 1964 by the affirmative vote of at least three Councilmen, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEN BALSER, CONSIDINE,FORMAN, REIBOLD AND TURNER NOES: NONE ABSENT: NONE ~2~ City Clerk of the City of Arcadia SIGNED AND APPROVED this 20TH day of OCTOBER, 1964 ,1}<r.~% .~1lo/~ii;:;t1r,id" ATTEST: I ?z. ~7',_::-.. '~' "",'~ - -, . ::-: , '. , 'tht ," Ci ty Clerk"', '. (SEAL) -' - -. . - ...:. ,-" -11- 1263