[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Watertown 3-5-1956.
Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
City Council — See Ch. 14.
[Amended 3-28-1983; 3-17-1986; 10-30-1989; 2-21-1995]
Stated meetings shall be held in the City Council Chambers on the first
and third Mondays of the month at 7:00 p.m., unless such Monday is a legal
holiday, and in such event the meetings shall take place on the following
day at the same hour.
A.
A quorum shall consist of a majority of the City Council.
B.
The Mayor shall call the members to order and shall preside
at all meetings of the City Council. In the absence of the Mayor, the member
of the Council who has served the longest as a member of the Council at the
time of such absence shall call the meeting to order and shall take the chair.
[Amended 2-22-1982]
[Amended 4-2-1956; 9-8-1980; 1-16-1990]
The order of business shall be as follows:
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Invocation
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Salute to the flag
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Roll call
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Minutes
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Communications
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Petitions
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Privilege of the floor
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Public hearing
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Resolutions
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Privilege of the floor extended prior to the vote
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Ordinances
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Unfinished business
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New business
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Adjournment
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A.
A special meeting of the City Council may be called by
any member on three (3) days' notice, specifying the object of the meeting.
B.
It shall not be in order at any special meeting called
for any specified business to proceed to any other business than that for
which the meeting was convened.
C.
At the time fixed in the notice of special meeting, the
City Council shall convene, the Mayor shall take the chair, and the following
shall be the order of business:
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Roll call
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Reading of notice of the meeting and proof of service
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Transaction of business specified in notice
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Adjournment
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[Amended 1-10-1966]
In calling the roll at the opening of each session and upon every vote,
the names of the members shall be called in alphabetical order, except the
name of the Mayor which shall be called last, and each member shall vote or
not, as he shall choose, as soon as his name is called.
A.
The presiding officer shall preserve decorum, enforce
the rules of procedure herein prescribed and determine without debate, subject
to the final decision of the Council on appeal, all questions of procedure
and order.
B.
Any member may appeal to the Council from such ruling
of the presiding officer, and if the appeal is duly seconded, the appellant
may speak once solely on the question involved, and the presiding officer
may explain his ruling, but no other member shall participate in the discussion.
The presiding officer shall then put the question: "Shall the decision of
the chair be sustained?" If a majority of the members present vote nay, the
ruling of the chair is overruled; otherwise it is sustained.
[Amended 3-5-1984]
The presiding officer may speak upon any matter under consideration
by the Council after the other members have had an opportunity to speak. He
shall not speak upon the subject under discussion more than twice nor more
than five (5) minutes each time, except by unanimous consent. Nothing herein
shall be construed to prevent the presiding officer, while in the chair, from
explaining his ruling on any question or explaining his vote on the roll call.
No motion or resolution shall be put, recorded or debated until the
same shall be duly seconded.
[Amended 3-5-1984]
When a member is about to speak, he shall address the chair, and when
two (2) or more members address the chair at once, the presiding officer shall
name the member to speak. The speaker shall confine himself to the question
under debate and avoid personalities. No member shall speak upon the subject
under discussion more than twice nor more than five (5) minutes each time,
except by unanimous consent. If any member in speaking, or otherwise, transgresses
the rules, the presiding officer shall, or any member may, call him to order,
in which case he shall cease speaking and shall not speak again unless to
explain or proceed in order. The question shall be decided by the presiding
officer without debate.
When any question is under debate, no motion shall be received except
the following and in the order named:
A motion to adjourn and a motion to lay on the table shall always be
in order, except when a vote is being taken on any question before the Council,
and such motions shall be decided without debate.
No motion or proposition on a subject different from that under consideration
shall be admitted under cover of an amendment.
On the call of any member, a division of any question shall be made
when the question will admit of a division so distinct that one (1) part being
taken away the other will stand as an entire question for decision.
The previous question shall be put as follows: "Shall the main question
now be put?" and until it shall be decided, it shall preclude all amendments
and debates. If the Council shall decide that the main question shall not
now be put, the main question shall be considered as still remaining under
debate. The main question shall be on the passage of the motion, resolution
or other matter under consideration; but when amendments are pending, the
question shall first be taken upon such amendments in the inverse order in
which they are proposed.
While the presiding officer is putting any question, or while the roll
is being called, no debate or discussion shall be in order, except that a
member may have two (2) minutes to explain his vote when his name is called.
When a question has been once put and decided, any member who voted
with the majority may move for a reconsideration thereof at the meeting at
which the question was decided; the Council may, however, recall any resolution
or ordinance and may reconsider its action thereon. A motion for reconsideration,
if lost, shall not be repeated, nor shall any question be reconsidered more
than once.
[Amended 3-21-1983]
In all cases involving points of parliamentary law, not provided for
by these rules, the Corporation Counsel shall act as parliamentarian, and
Roberts Rules of Order shall be accepted as authority.
[Amended 10-17-1983]
The City Clerk shall briefly state the substance of all communications
received by the Council and shall read the same in full if so directed by
the City Council.
A.
An ordinance which has laid over under the rules shall
be brought up automatically at the next regular meeting.
B.
An ordinance which has been tabled shall not be brought
up for action until a motion has been duly passed to take the ordinance from
the table for action.
C.
A resolution which has been tabled by a motion duly passed
to table it shall not be brought up for action, until a motion has been duly
passed to take the resolution from the table for action.
D.
Any matter or business which has been postponed indefinitely
shall not be brought up for action, until a motion has been duly passed by
the Council to consider such matter or business.
E.
Any matter or business which has been postponed to a
day certain shall be brought up automatically at the meeting to which it has
been postponed.
No ordinance shall be considered by the Council until same has been
certified as to form and legality by the office of the Corporation Counsel
and filed in the office of the City Clerk as per resolutions, except such
ordinances which, by unanimous consent of Council, Council decides are emergencies.
The requisite vote for the adoption of laws and ordinances shall be
as follows:
A.
On the day following a session of the Council, the City
Clerk shall present to the several departments and agencies of the city such
matters as may have been referred to them.
B.
The Clerk shall record the names of all members absent
from any meeting of the Council.
C.
The City Clerk shall, on the Friday following the last
regular meeting, present to the Council minutes of the previous meetings and
the agenda and resolutions and ordinances of the pending meeting.
[Amended 3-5-1984]
No resolution will be considered by the City Council unless filed with
the City Clerk on or before Wednesday next preceding a regular meeting, except
such resolutions which the majority of the City Council decide are in emergency
or routine categories.