Education - Council Meeting 101

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Portion of City Charter

SECTION 1 - RULES, PURPOSE AND EFFECT
1. The Council's meetings must be noticed and conducted in accordance with applicable open meetings statutes and other law.

2. These rules and procedures are adopted by the Council of the City of Glendale, under the Council's authority provided by the Charter and by law to determine its own rules, order of business, and to regulate the conduct of its meetings. Where not inconsistent with these rules and procedures, the current version of Robert's Rules of Order will be used as a supplementary guideline and general parliamentary procedure will be observed in the conduct of the Council's meetings.

3. The Mayor, or a majority of the Council, may suspend strict observance of these rules and procedures and any applicable provision of Robert's Rules for the timely and orderly progression of the meeting.

SECTION 2 - PRESIDING OFFICER
1. As provided by the City Charter, the Mayor, or in the Mayor's absence, the Vice-Mayor, is the presiding officer of the Council and will preside at all Council meetings.

2. The presiding officer will preserve order and decorum at all meetings of the Council to allow the orderly conduct of the business of the meeting and to provide persons in attendance with an interest in all agenda items to have an opportunity to have their item of interest duly considered by the Council, including a fair opportunity for interested persons to speak on public hearing items. Any decision by the Mayor on procedural matters is final, subject only to appeal to the whole Council as provided in Robert's Rules.

SECTION 3 - ORDER OF BUSINESS
1. The order of business at regular meetings of the Council ordinarily will be as follows:

• Call to Order - Pledge of Allegiance
• Approval of Minutes
• Proclamations and Awards
• Consent Agenda
• Land Development Actions
• Bids and Contracts
• Liquor Licenses
• Ordinances
• Resolutions
• New Business
• Boards and Commissions
• Request for Future Workshop and Executive Session
• Citizen Comments
• Council Comments and Suggestions
• Adjournment

2. The Mayor, or a majority of the Council, may decide to consider items out of sequence from the printed agenda for the meeting. The Council cannot act on any items not listed on the agenda unless an emergency exists.

3. The consent agenda matters are of a routine nature or matters which previously have been studied by the Council at a work session and may be adopted by one motion. Other than introduction of the items by the City Manager, there will be no discussion of separate items, unless members of the Council request that a specific item be discussed and considered separately.

SECTION 4 - WORKSHOP MEETINGS
1. The Council may conduct workshop meetings or study sessions on matters which are expected to come before the Council for formal action at a regular meeting or otherwise need study by the Council. Items to be considered will be placed on an agenda as required by the open meetings statutes.

2. At workshop meetings the Council will receive information and presentation of issues from the City Manager and City staff. Council may ask questions and may request that certain information be provided or issues be addressed when items are considered further at another workshop meeting or a regular meeting of Council. Council may direct that matters under consideration be brought forward for formal action at a regular meeting, that further study be conducted if appropriate, that matters under consideration not be pursued further (except for matters requiring a public hearing), or that modifications be made before a matter is considered further.

3. Final action on items is not taken at workshop or study sessions. No formal vote of the Council in favor or against any agenda item may be taken at a workshop or study session.

4. Workshops are not public hearings. On public hearing items, public testimony will be taken before Council action on the item at a regular meeting. No member of the public or interested party has the right to make a presentation or address the Council on an item under consideration in a workshop or a study session. Questions may be directed by the Council to a member of the public or another interested party or, in appropriate circumstances, a brief presentation may be permitted by a member of the public or another interested party on an agenda item or a particular question related to an agenda item. The Mayor may limit or end the time for such response to questions or presentation.

SECTION 5 - ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL, REGULAR MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. Any person wishing to address the Council, on a public hearing item or other agenda item, must fill out a speaker card and turn it in to the City Clerk, indicating the speaker's name, address, and the agenda item on which he or she wishes to speak. Persons wishing to speak under "Citizen Comments" should designate a subject matter on which they will speak. On agenda items that are not scheduled for public hearing, brief public comment may be allowed, time permitting. The time permitted for such public comment by each speaker will be limited as provided for public hearing items. The Mayor may close the public comment on non-public hearing agenda items, even if not all interested parties have spoken, or end the time for comment by a speaker, to allow the meeting to proceed.

2. The time for each speaker's comments during a public hearing will be limited to a maximum of five minutes. Speakers may be limited to less than five minutes apiece in consideration of the number of people wishing to speak, the length of the agenda, the number of public hearing items, and the timely and orderly progression of the meeting. Applicants on public hearing items and their attorneys, representatives, experts and supporting witnesses are not necessarily limited to a total of five minutes, but must be concise and coordinate their presentations to avoid repetition and unnecessary length. At the discretion of the Chair, rebuttal comments by the applicant or applicants' representative may be allowed. If allowed, rebuttal comments will address matters and questions raised in the public hearing, answers to questions by Council, and must be brief. Other than any rebuttal, no person will be allowed to address the Council after the public hearing is closed or after a motion is made on a non-public hearing item, without first securing the permission to do so.

3. Speakers on any item, whether a public hearing, other item on the agenda, or Citizen Comments, should address their comments to matters pertinent to the agenda item or subject matter at hand and should avoid repetition of the comments of previous speakers on the item. Simply stating agreement with the points raised by the prior speaker(s) will help move the meeting along so that all who wish to speak have the opportunity to do so within a reasonable time. Large groups whose members wish to speak on a matter may designate a spokesperson.

4. The purpose of public comment is to provide information and the speaker's views for Council consideration. Any questions raised by the speaker will not be answered by Council during the public hearing, but will be referred for follow-up by the City Manager or City staff after the conclusion of the public hearing. It is not appropriate in the public hearing or public comment period on another agenda item for the speakers to debate the matter under consideration with other speakers, the audience, or members of the Council. All comments should be addressed through the Chair. Questions may be posed to the speakers, any applicant's representatives, and City staff, by the Council, after being recognized by the Chair. Except when answering a direct question from a Council member, all remarks will be addressed to the Council as a whole, and not to individual members.

5. Proper decorum must be observed by members of the Council, by speakers in providing testimony and remarks, and by the audience. The Mayor shall keep control of the meeting and require the speakers and audience to refrain from abusive or profane remarks, disruptive outbursts, applause, protests, or other conduct which disrupts or interferes with the orderly conduct of the business of the meeting. Personal attacks on Councilmembers, City staff, or members of the public are not allowed. It is inappropriate to utilize the public hearing or other agenda item for purposes of making political speeches, including threats of political action. Engaging in such conduct, and failing to cease such conduct upon request of the Mayor, will be grounds for ending a speaker's time at the podium or for removal of any disruptive person from the meeting room, at the direction of the Mayor.

6. Exhibits, letters, petitions and other documentary items presented or shown to the Council on a public hearing item become part of the record of the public hearing. Eleven collated sets of written or graphic materials should be provided by the speaker prior to the commencement of the hearing to allow for distribution to the Mayor and Council, key City staff, and a copy for the City Clerk to include in the public record of the hearing, whenever possible. Reduced copies (8 ½ x 11 or 8 ½ x 14) of large graphic exhibits should be provided as part of the sets of materials for distribution to the Council, staff, and for the record. This requirement may be waived for signed petitions submitted by neighborhoods or other citizen groups, although these groups also are encouraged to provide eleven sets of petitions where possible.