Village of Richfield, WI Article I Village Board

§ 7-1 Membership; terms of office; compensation.

A. Constituted. The Village Board shall consist of the Village President and four Trustees, all of whom shall be elected from the Village at large. Nomination papers shall be used for nomination to elective Village offices, pursuant to the procedures described in § 8.05(4), Wis. Stats.

B. Term of office.

(1) The four Trustees elected at the first election on April 1, 2008, shall serve terms as follows:

(a) The term of office of the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes in the first election shall be two years.

(b) The term of office of the two candidates receiving the third and fourth highest number of votes in the first election shall be one year.

(c) Thereafter, the term of office of all Trustees shall be two years.

(2) The term of the Village President elected at the first election on April 1, 2008, shall be one year. Commencing with the spring election of 2009, the term of office of the Village President shall be two years.

C. Compensation.

(1) The compensation for all Village Trustees and the Village President shall be as determined by the Village Board, provided salaries and compensation rates of elected officials shall not be increased or decreased during their terms of office.

(2) The Village President and Trustees shall budget annually and receive reimbursement for travel, training and attendance at conferences and seminars.

§ 7-2 Meetings.

A. Regular meetings. Regular meetings of the Village Board shall be held at least once during each calendar month, on such day, at such hour and at such place as the Board shall designate.

B. Special meetings.

(1) Special meetings of the Village Board may be called by the President or two members of the Village Board pursuant to § 61.32, Wis. Stats.

(2) Appropriate public notice of any such meeting shall be given according to Wisconsin Statutes.

(3) Any special meeting attended by the President and Trustees shall be considered a regular meeting to transact any business that may come before the Board.

C. Open meetings. All meetings shall comply with the notice and other requirements of the Wisconsin Open Meeting Law.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: See §§ 19.81 to 19.98, Wis. Stats.

§ 7-3 Presiding officer.

A. Designated. The Village President shall preside. In the absence of the President, the Village Clerk or designee shall call the meeting to order and preside until the Trustees present shall elect one of their members as the temporary presiding officer. If the President appears while the meeting is in session, the temporary presiding officer shall vacate the chair.

[Amended 8-15-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-8-2]

B. Duties. The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum, decide all questions of order and conduct the proceedings of the meeting in accordance with the parliamentary rules contained in the latest revision of Robert's Rules of Order and/or "A Guide to Parliamentary Procedure for Local Governments in Wisconsin," unless otherwise provided by statute or by these rules.

C. Appeals from decisions. Any member may appeal from a decision of the presiding officer. Such appeal is not debatable and shall be sustained by a three-fourths majority vote of the members present, excluding the presiding officer.

§ 7-4 Roll call; quorum.

A. Roll call; procedure when quorum not in attendance. As soon as the Village Board is called to order, the presiding officer shall proceed to call the names of the members, noting who is present and who is absent, and the result will be recorded in the proceedings of the Board. If there is not a quorum present, the fact shall be entered in the minutes and the Board may adjourn, or the President, or in his/her absence the Village Clerk or designee, when requested by two or more members, may issue a process to any law enforcement officer commanding him to summon all of the absentees to the meeting. Any member of the Board who is unable to attend a properly noticed meeting of the Board shall give written or oral notice of his/her inability to attend to the Administrator, as soon as practical.

[Amended 8-15-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-8-2]

B. Quorum. A majority of the members of the Village Board shall constitute a quorum. The President shall be counted in computing a quorum. A majority vote of all members of the Board in favor of any proposed ordinance, resolution, or appointment shall be necessary for passage or approval, unless a larger number is required by statute, law or other applicable rule.

§ 7-5 Clerk pro tem.

[Amended 8-15-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-8-2]

The Administrator shall designate a Deputy Clerk or other designee to serve as Clerk pro tem as needed or required. To the extent this power of the Administrator conflicts with the power of the Clerk described in § 61.19, Wis. Stats., the Village of Richfield elects not to be governed by such statute and grants this power to the Administrator.

§ 7-6 Conduct of deliberations.

The deliberations of the Village Board shall be conducted in the following manner:

A. When a member is about to speak, he/she shall address the presiding officer, and the presiding officer shall recognize the member entitled to speak. When two or more members simultaneously seek recognition, the presiding officer shall name the member who is to speak first. A member shall confine his/her remarks to the question under discussion.

B. No person other than a member shall address the Board, except by vote of a majority of the members present, or during a period when the presiding officer has opened the meeting for public discussion.

C. Any member desiring to terminate debate may "call the question," in which event the presiding officer shall announce the question substantially as "Shall the question now be called?" If 2/3 of the members present vote in the affirmative, the main question shall be voted upon without further debate, its effect being to put an end to all debate and bring the Board to a direct vote, first upon any pending amendments and then upon the main question.

D. Any Trustee may demand a roll call vote on any matter, and such vote shall be entered in the proceedings.

E. The President shall vote as a member of the Board.

F. No member of the Board shall vote upon any proposed ordinance, order, resolution or proposition in which he/she may be personally interested other than as a citizen of the Village.

G. A Board member may not change his/her vote on any question after the result has been announced.

H. Any member of the Board shall have the right to protest against any ordinance of the Board which he/she may think injurious to the public or to any individual and have his/her reasons for his/her protest entered upon the records.

§ 7-7 Enforcement authority.

The presiding officer shall maintain order and decorum and may order any person to leave a Village meeting if the person has conducted himself/herself in a disorderly manner and persisted in such conduct after being directed by the presiding officer to cease the conduct. If the person refuses the presiding officer's order to withdraw, the presiding officer may order a law enforcement officer to take the person into custody until the meeting is adjourned.