CHAPTER 2 STANDING RULES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE COMMON COUNCIL Section 2.01 Meetings 2.02 Call to Order 2.03 Reading of Minutes 2.04 Order of Business 2.05 Introduction of Business 2.06 Questions of Order 2.07 Presiding Officer to Preserve Order 2.08 Motions 2.09 Precedence of Motions 2.10 Motion to Adjourn Always in Order 2.11 Previous Question 2.12 Division of Question 2.13 Debate 2.14 Form of Question 2.15 Every Member to Vote 2.16 Aye and No Vote 2.17 Roll Call to be in Ward Order 2.18 Majority Vote of all Members Required 2.19 Resolutions Appropriating Funds [repealed 11-16-15] 2.20 Mayor to be Presiding Officer 2.21 Reconsideration of Question 2.22 Members May File Protests Against Council Action 2.23 Claims Against City [repealed 11-16-15] 2.24 Ordinances 2.25 Reports of Committees 2.26 Reports and Resolutions to be Filed with Clerk 2.27 Appointment of Special Committees 2.28 Standing Committees 2.29 No Persons Allowed on Council Floor Except Members of Council. 2.30 Robert's Rules of Order to Govern Council 2.31 Transaction of Business at Special Meetings 2.32 Suspension of Rules 2.33 Citizens Right to Address Council
STANDING RULES Sec. 2.01 2.01 MEETINGS. (1) Regular. The stated regular meetings of the common council shall be held at the council chamber on the third Monday in each month at 7:00 o'clock p.m. except that the first annual or organization meeting of each new council shall be held on the third Tuesday in April of each year. (2) Special. Special meetings of the common council may be called by the mayor (or in his/her absence by the president of the council) at such time as he/she may appoint, by written notice, of the purpose and time thereof to each member, delivered to the member personally or left at his/her usual place of residence, at least twelve (12) hours before the meeting. Upon petition of five (5) or more members of the council, the mayor (or president) shall call a special meeting of the council. 2.02 CALL TO ORDER. The presiding officer shall, at the hour appointed, call the members to order. In the absence of the presiding officer, the president of the council, or in his/her absence any member, may call the council to order and thereupon the council shall appoint a chairman to preside at such meeting. 2.03 READING OF MINUTES. The minutes of the last meeting shall then be read and any mistakes therein corrected. 2.04 ORDER OF BUSINESS. The order of business shall be set by the mayor and posted 48 hours prior to the regular council meeting. 2.05 INTRODUCTION OF BUSINESS. All ordinances, resolutions, memorials, or other communications shall be in writing with a brief statement of their contents endorsed thereon, together with the name of the member presenting the same, and shall be delivered to the clerk and shall be read by him/her. The committee to which any matter shall be referred shall report thereon in writing at the first stated meeting after such reference unless there is no objection by the council to further time being taken. Any member of the Common Council may request that an item of business be placed on an agenda for the appropriate standing committee, or placed on the agenda for the Common Council. Such requests shall be delivered to the City Clerk, who shall coordinate with the relevant committee chair, Mayor, and City staff members to place the item on the appropriate agenda. The person or persons responsible for issuing such agendas shall place the item upon the appropriate agenda in a manner which satisfies the requirements of Chapter 19, Wisconsin Statutes, as determined by the City Attorney. 2.06 QUESTIONS OF ORDER. The presiding officer shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the council. 2.07 PRESIDING OFFICER TO PRESERVE ORDER. It shall be the duty of the presiding officer to preserve decorum; and if any member transgresses the rules of the council the presiding officer shall, or any member may, call such offending member to order in which case the member called to order shall immediately sit down and be silent,
STANDING RULES Sec. 2.07 unless permitted to explain and the council, if appealed to, shall decide the matter on a three-fourths vote. 2.08 MOTIONS. (1) When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be deemed to be in possession of the council and shall be stated by the presiding officer, or being in writing, shall be delivered to the clerk and read by him/her previous to debate. (2) After a motion is stated by the presiding officer or read by the clerk, it shall not be withdrawn, except by consent of the council or mayor. (3) On any motion subject to debate, any alderperson may propose an amendment to the motion as a friendly amendment. Amendments may be considered friendly and accepted into the pending motion without objection from the original motions author and second. If not so accepted, the amendment shall proceed as an amendment subject to debate and vote. 2.09 PRECEDENCE OF MOTIONS. When a question is before the council no motion shall be received except to adjourn, lay on the table the previous question, refer, or amend, which several motions shall have a precedence in the order stated. 2.10 MOTION TO ADJOURN ALWAYS IN ORDER. A motion to adjourn shall always be in order, unless the council is engaged in voting, and shall be decided without debate. 2.11 PREVIOUS QUESTION. The previous question shall be put in these words: "Shall the main question be now put?", and it shall be admitted on demand of three members, and until decided, shall preclude all further amendment or debate of the main question but shall not preclude pending amendments from being put before the main question. 2.12 DIVISION OF QUESTION. (1) Any member may call for a division of the question when the same will admit thereof. (2) When a question has been divided no member shall speak more than once nor for more than five minutes on any motion with reference to any single item as to which separate consideration has been granted, unless the council by a majority vote of the members present shall grant an extension of said time. 2.13 DEBATE. (1) When a member is about to speak to a question or make a motion, he/she shall respectfully address the presiding officer, and the presiding officer shall pronounce the name of the member entitled to the floor; and the member shall confine himself/herself to the question under consideration.
STANDING RULES Sec. 2.13 (2) No member shall speak more than twice on any question nor more than five minutes at any one time without leave of three-fourths of the members present. 2.14 FORM OF QUESTION. All questions shall be put in this form: "In favor, aye; opposed, no," and in doubtful cases the presiding officer may direct, or any member may call for, a division. 2.15 EVERY MEMBER TO VOTE. Every member present, when the question is put, shall vote unless the presiding officer of the council shall, for special reasons, excuse him/her. 2.16 AYE AND NO VOTE. The ayes and noes shall be taken and recorded upon any question before the council upon the call of any one member. While the clerk is calling the ayes and noes, the members shall vote inside the bar, and it shall not be in order for any member to explain his/her vote during the calling of the roll. 2.17 ROLL CALL TO BE IN WARD ORDER. The names of the members shall be called in numerical order of ward designation, either in sequence or in reverse. 2.18 MAJORITY VOTE OF ALL MEMBERS REQUIRED. All laws, ordinances, rules and resolutions shall be passed by an affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the Common Council, except where otherwise required. 2.19 RESOLUTIONS APPROPRIATING FUNDS. [Repealed 11-16-15] 2.20 MAYOR TO BE PRESIDING OFFICER. The mayor shall be the presiding officer. In the absence of the mayor the president of the council shall preside at meetings of the council. 2.21 RECONSIDERATION OF QUESTION. It shall be in order for any member who voted in the affirmative on any question which was adopted, or for any member who voted in the negative when the number of affirmative votes was insufficient for adoption, to move a reconsideration of such vote, at the same or next succeeding regular meeting of the council. A motion to reconsider having been lost shall not be again in order. 2.22 MEMBERS MAY FILE PROTESTS AGAINST COUNCIL ACTION. Any member shall have the right to have the reasons for his/her dissent from, or protest against, any action of the common council entered on the minutes. 2.23 CLAIMS AGAINST CITY. [Repealed 11-16-15] 2.24 ORDINANCES. All ordinances shall be in writing prior to submission to the common council and passage thereof. 2.25. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. Each standing committee shall make its reports in writing and shall return the petition, resolution, account, or other paper submitted for consideration to the common council.
STANDING RULES Sec. 2.26 2.26 REPORTS AND RESOLUTIONS TO BE FILED WITH CLERK. All reports and resolutions shall be filed with the clerk and entered on the minutes. 2.27 APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES. The common council may from time to time create special committees, for which the mayor shall make appointments which need not comply with Section 3.44 of the Revised Municipal Code. 2.28 STANDING COMMITTEES. Following are the standing committees of the common council: Board of Public Works, Finance Committee, Public Protection Committee, and Personnel Committee. The appointments to such committees shall be made by the mayor at the organization meeting in April for a term of one year, subject to confirmation by the common council, except where otherwise expressly provided by law. The Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Standing Committees shall be elected by the members at the respective Committee at the first Committee meeting after the mayor s appointments are confirmed by the Council, and such elections shall be effective upon confirmation by the Common Council. The mayor shall appoint every alderperson of the several wards to at least one standing committee. 2.29 NO PERSONS ALLOWED ON COUNCIL FLOOR EXCEPT MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. No persons except members and officers of the council shall be allowed to come within the bar during the session of the council without the permission of the presiding officer. 2.30 ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER TO GOVERN COUNCIL. In the absence of a standing rule, the council shall be guided by the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order. 2.31 TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS AT SPECIAL MEETINGS. At special meetings of the council, no business shall be transacted but that for which the meeting shall have been called. 2.32 SUSPENSION OF RULES. (1) The assent of two-thirds of all members of the council shall be required to suspend, alter, or modify any of the foregoing rules. (2) When a member moves a suspension of the rules, the member shall be required to state the particular standing rule to which the motion is addressed. The presiding officer shall then put the question, "Is there any objection to the suspension of the rules in accordance with the motion?". An objection voiced to suspension of the rules by one member shall require a roll call on the motion for suspension. If no such objection is made, the clerk shall record a unanimous consent to the suspension of the rules and the presiding officer shall then proceed to state the principal question.
STANDING RULES Sec. 2.33 2.33 CITIZENS RIGHT TO ADDRESS THE COMMON COUNCIL (1) Any citizen shall have the right to speak on any item of business that is on the agenda for Common Council action requiring a vote at a Regular or Special Common Council meeting if he/she registers to speak on that item. This shall not apply to items in which the Common Council is acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, unless a public hearing is required by law for such item. (2) The Council shall also provide a Public Comment period at each Regular Council meeting for members of the public who wish to address the Common Council on a non-agenda topic. Any person that wishes to address the Common Council under this agenda item will be given a maximum of (3) minutes if he/she registers to speak under this agenda item. (3) Speakers shall be limited to a five-minute address on specific agenda items unless additional time is requested by the speaker and granted by the presiding officer with no objection from the Common Council. In special situations, the amount of time granted to speak may be reduced to accommodate the number of speakers and ensure the meeting is run efficiently and orderly. Any reduction of time shall require the consent of the Common Council. (4) A speaker who requires an interpreter, either because of his/her limited English proficiency or because of a disability, will be afforded additional time, but not less than eight (8) minutes. Additional time may be granted by the presiding officer without objection from the Common Council. Any person with special needs should contact the City Clerk as soon as possible to ensure accommodations can be made. (5) An individual who wishes to present written or other material to the Common Council for review shall present the material to the City Clerk s office no later than 3:45 p.m. on the day of the meeting. The City Clerk shall disseminate the materials to the Common Council. If an individual is unable to present the material by 3:45 p.m. they must ask and be granted permission from the Common Council to disseminate material at the meeting. (6) The provisions of this Subchapter, other than section (2), shall apply to all Boards, Committees and Commissions of the City. (7) This Subchapter shall not preclude the chairperson presiding over any meeting from allowing public comment when otherwise not required to do so under this Subchapter, nor shall it preclude such chairperson from relieving the floor from any person whose remarks are off-topic, personally insulting, duplicative, or otherwise improper under Robert s Rules of Order. (8) Under no circumstance shall failure to comply with this Subchapter constitute grounds for the invalidation of any action taken by the Common Council or any Board, Committee, or Commission of the City of Stevens Point.