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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD NO 3735ORDINANCE NO. 3 ~ ~ 5 AN ORD'INANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2.04 OF THE BAKE,RSiFI:ELD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATliNG TO COUNCIL MEETINGS. BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter 2.04 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 2.04.010 Time and place. The regular meetings of the city council shall be held at seven p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall; 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, on such days as are set annually by resolution of the city council. Workshop meetings and closed sessions, as authorized by the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code Sections 54950 et seq.), may be held at five fifteen p.m. as part of any regular or special meeting of the council, provided the Same appear on the agenda for such meeting. 2.04.020 Authority and purpose. These rules of procedure are adopted pursuant to authority of the Constitution of the state and Section 19 of the Charter of the city for the purpose of promoting uniformity, clarity and efficiency in the dispatch of public business. 2.04.030 Parliamentary law. Except as provided in this chapter, the city Charter, or council policy, parliamentary law as set forth in Robert's Rules of Order, current edition, shall govern. 2.04.040 Agenda. A. There shall be prepared an agenda for each meeting of the city council which agenda shall be in accordance with the order of business. by the council. The preparation of the agenda and its distribution shall be as directed oRiGINAL 2.04.050 Duties of presiding officer. The duties of the presiding officer shall be: A. To open the session at the time at which the body is to meet by taking the chair and calling the members to order; To announce the business before the body in the order in which it is to be acted upon; C. D. To recognize the members entitled to the floor; To state and put to vote all questions which are regularly moved or which necessarily arise in the course of the proceedings, and to announce the result of the vote; E. To preserve order and decorum; F. To restrain the members and the public when engaged in debate within the rules of order and decorum; G. To decide all points of order, subject to appeal, unless when in doubt the presiding officer prefers to submit the question to the decision of the body; H. To enforce all laws and regulations applicable to the council sessions; I. Generally to guide and direct the proceedings of the body, subject to the control and will of the body; J. To carry out any other duties as specified in the city Charter. 2.04.060 Sergeant at arms. A. There shall be a sergeant at arms, who shall be a uniformed member of the police department. B. The sergeant at arms shall be in attendance at all regular sessions, and shall, under the direction of the presiding officer, maintain order on the floor of the Council Chambers. 2.04.070 Order of business. A. At the time set for regular meeting of the city council, the members of the legislative body and the administrative staff shall take their regular stations in the council chambers, and the business of the council shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the following order: ORIGINAl. 1. Invocation; 2. Pledge of Allegiance; 3. Roll call; 4. Closed session action; Presentations; 6. Public statements; 7. Appointments; 8. Consent calendar; 9. Hearings; 10. Reports; 11. Deferred business; 12. New business; 13. Council statements; 14. Adjournment. B. Changes in the order of business at the noticed meeting can be accomplished by five affirmative votes of the council. 2.04.080 Consent calendar. A. The consent calendar is comprised of one or more items of routine nature which may be approved at one time by affirmative roll call vote. B. Any councilmember may remove any item or items from the consent calendar to be voted upon separately from all other items on said consent calendar. C. Any councilmember may declare a conflict of interest, indicate the cause of the conflict and request the city clerk to record their abstention from the vote on any item or items on the consent calendar. That councilmember's vote on the consent calendar shall be recorded only for those items for which that councilmember did not declare a conflict and the City Clerk shall record the abstention for the remaining issues. D. The minutes of the previous council meeting, which shall be action-style minutes, may be approved as part of the consent calendar. Meetings shall also be recorded on audio tape, which shall be preserved by the city clerk in perpetuity. Section 2.04.090 of the Bakersfield Municipal Code regarding correspondence to the City Council is hereby repealed and deleted. 2.04.100 Public Statements A. Any person may address the council on any item of interest to the public, that is within the subject matter jqrisdiction of the city council during the Public Statement portion of the meeting, provided however, persons wishing to address the council regarding a matter set for public hearing at that meeting shall make their comments ORIGIN,~L during the public hearing on that matter. Persons desiring to speak during the Public Statement portion of the meeting or on any matter on tt~e agenda not set for public hearing shall fill out and return to the city clerk, the speaker's card provided by the city clerk and shall list their name and the topic they wish to address. Commen~s by the public during the Public Statements portion of the agenda are limited to three (3)minutes for each person, with a total of fifteen minutes in favor of any one subject and a total of fifteen minutes in opposition of any one subject. B. No person shall address the council until recognized by the mayor or presiding officer. Councilmembers who wish to allow a member of the audience to speak at times other than the public statements portion of the agenda or after a public hearing has been closed may do so with the permission of the presiding officer. Persons desiring to comment on a matter on the agenda not set for public hearing may speak during the public statements portion of the agenda or with the permission of the presiding officer speak at the time that matter is called on the agenda. C. Any person addressing the council making slanderous or defamatory remarks may forthwith be barred by the presiding officer from speaking further before the council during that meeting. D. Persons given permission to address the council shall advance to the rostrum, state their name, whom they are representing if they represent other persons, the subject matter they wish to discuss. Unless otherwise determined by the council, the presiding officer shall determine whether the subject matter is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council and the time allowed for presentation. E. All remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to any member thereof. No question shall be asked a councilmember of a member of the administration or legal staff, except through the presiding officer. 2.04.110 Hearings. A. Hearings. Scheduled hearings on zoning matters, annexations, public improvement districts, appeals, and other hearings are to be conducted in the following order: 1. Presentation by opponents, limited to fifteen minutes; provided, however, additional time may be granted by the presiding officer; 2. Presentation by proponents, with the time limits specified in subdivision 1 of this subsecti0n, and such equivalent additional time as may have been granted to opponents; 3. Where a hearing is the result of an appeal, the order of presentation shall be reversed and the appellant shall proceed first; the time limits provisions of subdivision 1 of this subsection shall apply; ORIGINAL 4. Summation by both Sides limited to five minutes each; provided, however, both sides may be granted additional time by the presiding officer; 5. The public hearing is closed by the presiding officer; 6. Council discussion and council decision; 7. Whenever a scheduled hearing or hearings have not commenced prior to ten p.m., the council shall decide whether to continue such matter(s) to the next regular meeting of the council or to proceed that evening with such matter(s); provided, however, no hearing shall be commenced after eleven p.m. As to any hearing not commenced prior to eleven p.m., the presiding officer shall open such hearing and continue the matter .to the next regular meeting of the council. Each hearing so continued shall be placed on the agenda for such next regular meeting above any other hearing scheduled for such meeting. B. Spokesperson for Group of Persons. In order to expedite matters and avoid repetitious presentations, whenever any group of persons wishes to address the council on the same subject matter, it shall be proper for the presiding officer to re. quest that a spokesperson be chosen by the group to address the council, and in the event additional matters are to be presented at the time by any other member havinglike views as the group, to limit the number of such persons addressing the council and limit the time for each person. 2.04.120 Rules of debate. A. Presiding Officer May Debate and Vote. In the absence of the mayor, the vice-mayor or such other member of the council as may be presiding may move, second and debate from the chair, subject only to such limitations of debate as are by these rules imposed on all members and shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges as a councilmember by reason of their acting as the presiding officer. B. Getting the Floor -- Improper References To Be Avoided. Every member desiring to speak shall address the chair, and upon recognition by the presiding officer, shall discuss only the question under debate, avoiding all personalities and indecorous language. C. Interruptions. A member, once recognized, shall not be interrupted when speaking unless called to order, or as otherwise provided in this section. If a member, while speaking, is called to order, said member shall cease speaking until the question of order is determined, and, if in order, shall be permitted to proceed. D. Privilege of Closing Debate. The councilmember moving the adoption of an ordinance or resolution shall have the privilege of closing the debate. -5- ORIGINAL E Remarks of Mayor. The mayor may express views on any subject for consideration by the council and may file any written recommendations with the clerk. 2.04.130 Members may file protests against council action. Any member may state the reason for dissent from or protest against any action of the council. 2.04.140 Persons authorized to be within rail. No person, except city officials, their representatives, and representatives of news gathering agencies, shall be permitted within the rail in fron. t of the Council Chamber without the express consent of the presiding officer. 2.04.150 Ordinances. resolutions. motions and contracts. A. Preparation of Ordinances. All ordinances shall be prepared by the city attorney. No ordinance shall be prepared for presentation to the council unless ordered by a majority vote of the council, or requested in writing by any member of the council, the presiding officer or the city manager, or prepared by the city attorney on her or his own initiative. B. Prior Approval By Administrative Staff. All ordinances, resolutions and contract documents shall, before presentation to the council, have been approved as to form and legality by the city attorney or authorized representative, and shall have been examined and approved for the administration by the city manager or authorized representative, where there are substantive matters of administration involved. C. Introduction For Passage or Approval. Ordinances, resolutions, and other matters or subjects requiring action by the council must be introduced and sponsored by a member of the council, except that the mayor, city manager, or city attorney may present ordinances, resolutions, and other matters or subjects to the council, and any councilmember may assume sponsorship thereof by moving that such ordinances, resolutions, matters or subjects be adopted; otherwise they shall not be considered. D. All ordinances, except emergency ordinances as set forth in Sections 23 and 24 of the Charter, shall be placed on a city council agenda for first reading at least one week prior to adoption, and shall not require reading nor other action, and such listing on the agenda alone shall be deemed to constitute first reading. Minor alterations, but not changes in substance, may be made by council action or staff recommendation between said initial publication and adoption. 2.04.160 Reserved. -6- ORiGiNAL 2.04.170 Adjournment. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order and decided without debate. SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall be posted in accordance with the Bakersfield Municipal Code and shall become effective thirty (30) days from and after the date of its passage. .......... 000 .......... I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Ordinance was passed and adopted by the Council of the City of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on ~)V 2 O 19~ by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBER DeMOND, CARSO, N,iSMITH, McDERMOTT, ROWI.E$, SULUVAN, SALVAGGIO NOES: COUNCILMEMBER /~,O~Y'~ ~ cting CITY CLERK and"~.x ~fficio (~,lerk o~f {he Council of the City of B~kersfield ' APPROVED: N§V 2 0 1996 OND: ~'~ ~ ~ ' ~' VICE-~¥O'R 'of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED AS lO FORM: JUDY K. SKOUSEN CITYATTORNEY ASSISTANT CITYATTORNEY LCM/bsb/meg S:~COUNCIL\ORD~COUNCIL5.MTG Draft ~6 November 14, 1996 -7- OI-~IGINAL AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING DOCUMENTS STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) County of Kern ) PAMELA A. McCARTHY, being duly sworn, deposes and says: That she is the duly appointed, acting and qualified Acting City Clerk of the City of Bakersfield; and that on the 21 st day of November, 1996 she posted on the Bulletin Board at City Hall, a full, true and correct copy of the following: Ordinance No. 3735, passed by the Bakersfield City Council at a meeting held on the 20th day of November, 1996, and entitled: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2.04 OF TIq~ BAKERSFIELD MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO COUNCIL MEETINGS /s/ PAMELA A. McCARTHY Acting City Clerk of the City of B'akersfield By: ~/~0~ AZ-?~.: ~~~.~. 'DEPUTY City Cl~rl~.'~'