COUNCIL RULES
City Of Celina
Amended From Rules Adopted
In 1994
PLACE OF MEETINGS
The regular and special meetings of
Council shall be held at the Council Chambers in City Hall except where
circumstances may require such meetings to be held at some other place, in
which case due notice shall be given of the place of the meeting.
i) Regular Meetings: Regular meetings of Council shall be held in the Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Regular meetings shall be held in the Council Chambers on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. whenever the date of the regular meeting falls on a legal holiday. Council may, by majority vote, change the same to a day and hour determined by a like vote of the members present if constituting a quorum.
Special
Meetings: Council shall hold such
special meetings as may be found necessary, which may be called by the Clerk
upon the request of the Mayor or upon the written request of three members of
Council. Any such vote or request for
the calling of a special meeting shall state the subject or subjects to be
considered thereat, and no other subject or subjects shall be considered except
upon the approval of five or more of the members of Council in attendance at
such special meeting. Twenty four hour
notice in writing of such special meetings, if called by the Mayor or by three
members of Council, shall be given to each member of Council and to the Mayor
by personal service or by delivery thereof at their usual places of residence,
but members of council may waive such notice by their attendance at such
special meeting.
a) Executive
Session: An Executive Session
occurs when members of Council exclude the public from a portion of a public
meeting and they may be held only to discuss limited matters. Only persons
invited by the Council to join the Executive Session may attend and the Council
may permit anyone it chooses to attend. An Exedcutive Session may be called for the
following purposes: Personnel, Property, Court Action, Collective
Bargaining, Confidential Matters, Security Arrangements, County Hospitals’
Trade Secrets. Procedures for adjourning into an Executive
Session are as follows:
a. An Executive Session
must always begin and end in an open session.
b. There must be a
motion that states the purpose for the Executive Sesion and the motion must be specific as to
the matters to be discussed.
c. There must be a
second on the Motion.
d. A vote to enter an
Executive Session must be made by roll call vote by a majority of a quorum of the
Council. The vote may not be by acclamation or show of hands. The vote must be
recorded in the minutes.
e. To exit an Executive Session requires a motion to adjourn, a second to the motion, and a roll call vote of members present.
A. Meeting Notices: Regular and special meeting notices shall conform to Ohio Revised Code 121.22 (f) known as the “Sunshine Law”.
f. Posting of Minutes: The proposed minutes of the prior meetings will be posted with the Meeting Notices at City Hall and at the Public Library. Once approved, the minutes will be posted on the City’s web site and City Hall, and will be on file at the Public Library.
B. The Chair (Powers and Duties)
1. Roll Call: The President of Council, or the President Pro Tem, shall take the Chair at the hour appointed for Council to meet, and immediately shall call the Council to order. The Clerk, who shall enter in the minutes of each meeting the names of the members present thereat, shall then call the roll. In the absence of a quorum at the time appointed for a meeting, the members present by a majority vote may take a recess or recesses and cause the Clerk to procure the attendance of absent members.
2. President Pro Tem: In case of the absence of the President of Council, the President Pro Tem shall call the Council to order. The Clerk shall call the roll, and if a quorum is found to be present, the Council shall proceed.
3. Substitute Chairman: In the case of the absence of the President of Council and the President Pro Tem, a majority of the members present shall elect a President, such substitution not to continue beyond adjournment.
4. Appeals From Decisions of the Chair: The Chair shall preserve decorum and decide all questions of order, subject to appeal to Council. If any member transgresses the Rules of Council, the Chair shall, or any member may, call him to order and in the latter instance the Chair shall render a decision as to the point of order. In case of an appeal from a ruling of the Chair, the question shall be “Shall the decision of the Chair stand as the decision of the Council?” The Chair shall be sustained unless overruled by a majority vote of the members of Council present.
5. Votes: All questions shall be stated and put by the Chair as follows:
i. Roll Call Vote: The Chair shall declare the vote after the Clerk has announced the number of votes on each side.
ii. Voice Vote: The Chair shall count and declare a vote. It shall not be in order for members to explain their votes while the vote is being taken.
6. Chair’s Power to Vote: The President of Council shall have no vote except in the event of a tie vote of members of Council present, in which case the President of Council shall have the power to vote and his vote shall have the same legal effect as a vote of a member of Council. Any member of Council who is serving as Chairman shall have the same power to vote as other members.
1. Addressing the Chair: Members, when about to speak to a question or make a motion, shall address the Chair as “Mr. President”, “Madam President”, “Mr. Chairman” or “Madam Chairman”, who shall pronounce the name of the member entitled to the floor. Members addressing Council shall confine themselves to the question under debate and avoid personalities.
2. Limitation of Debate: No member shall be allowed to speak more than once upon any one subject until every member choosing to speak shall have spoken, nor for a time longer than five minutes, without leave of Council as expressed by a majority vote of the members present.
3. Voting: Every member present when a question is put shall vote on the same, unless Council shall, for special reasons, excuse him from voting. An excuse shall be granted only if the member states reasons for the request before voting begins and Council, by majority vote of the members present, accepts them. There shall be no debate upon this question.
4. Division of a Question: On demand of any members, a question under consideration that covers two or more points shall be divided where the question admits of such division.
5. Demand for Roll Call: Any members may demand a roll call vote upon any question before Council at any time before the decision on the question is announced by the Chair.
1. Order of Business: The order of business of meetings of Council shall be as follows:
i. Call to Order and Roll Call
ii.
Approval and acceptance of the
Agenda
iii. Review of Minutes - Changes, additions or deletions to minutes
iv. Committee Reports
v. Communications
vi. Audience Communications
vii. New Business
viii. Old Business
ix. Administrative Reports
x. For the Good of the Order
xi. Adjournment
1. Appointment of Committees: The following Standing Committees consisting of three members of each are hereby authorized. Appointment of members to such committees shall be made by the President of Council with the approval of a majority of Council. Council will review the authorization of Standing Committees annually.
i. Safety Services Committee
ii. Personnel and Finance Committee
iii. Streets and Alleys Committee
iv. Utilities Committee
v. Parks and Recreation Committee
vi. Community Betterment Committee
vii. Buildings and Grounds Committee
The President of Council may appoint such Special Committees as he deems necessary with the approval of a majority of Council provided that matters referred to or pending before a Standing Committee may not, without consent of its members, be referred to or considered by a Special Committee.
2. Committee of the Whole: The President of Council shall preside when Council resolves itself into the Committee of the Whole except that no limit shall be placed on time or frequency of speaking and that the previous question cannot be moved. All questions shall be decided by the majority vote of those members present. When this Committee arises, any measure together with any amendments thereto, reported out, shall receive the immediate consideration of Council unless otherwise ordered placed upon the calendar.
3. Meetings: Committees shall meet on call of the Chairman, or on request of two members.
4. Quorum: A majority of members of a committee shall constitute a quorum.
5. Temporary Chairman: In the absence of the Chairman, a member named next shall act as temporary chairman.
6. Reports:
A majority thereof shall agree to Reports of committees. All documents referred shall be returned to
Council with the report of the committee.
7. Executive Sessions: See procedures outlined in (A) Meetings, Section (3).
1. Motions: When a motion is made and seconded it shall be stated by the Chair before debate. Any member may demand that it be reduced to writing. A motion shall not be withdrawn by the mover without the consent of Council. Unless otherwise required by law, a motion shall be deemed passed if it receives the affirmative vote of the majority of the members present including the Chair if entitled to vote thereon.
2. Order of Precedence: When a question is before Council, no motion shall be entertained except the following:
i. To adjourn.
ii. To lay on the table.
iii. To previous question.
iv. To postpone to a time certain.
v. To refer.
vi. To amend.
vii. To postpone indefinitely.
Motions shall have precedence in the foregoing order.
3. Motion to Adjourn: Motion to adjourn shall be in order at any time, except as follows:
i. When repeated without intervening business or discussion.
ii. When made while another member is speaking.
iii. When the previous question has been ordered.
iv. While a vote is being taken.
A motion to adjourn is not debatable, except as to time in which the meeting is adjourned.
4. Motion to Lay on the Table: A motion to lay on the table shall preclude all amendments or debate of the subject under consideration. If the motion prevails, the consideration of the subject may be resumed only upon motion of a member voting with the majority and with the consent of the majority of the members present.
5. Previous Question: The previous question shall be stated in these words: “Shall debate now close?” The motion shall pass if two-thirds (2/3) of the members present favor it. If the motion is ordered, there shall be no further amendment or debate, but the question shall be put immediately.
6. Motion to Postpone: Motions to postpone may be amended as to time, excepting a motion to postpone indefinitely. If a motion to postpone indefinitely is carried as a majority, the principal question shall be declared lost.
7. Motion to Amend: A motion to amend shall be susceptible of but one amendment. An amendment once rejected may not be moved again in the same form.
8. Motion to Suspend Rules: A motion to suspend the rules which requires three readings in entirety or by title only on three separate days must receive the affirmative vote of three-fourths (3/4) of the members elected to Council and shall be debatable. Upon the passage of such motion, the main question shall be to open debate. All other rules may be suspended by a majority of members of Council present without debate.
9. Motion to Reconsider: A motion to reconsider a proposal that has been acted upon favorably must be made before adjournment of the session of Council at which the vote was taken. A motion to reconsider any other action taken by Council may be made not later than the next regular meeting after the vote of Council thereon. In either case, only a member who voted with the prevailing side may make such motion. The concurrence of a majority of the members present shall be sufficient for reconsideration of a vote. If a motion to reconsider is lost, it shall be entertained again.
1. Decorum in Council Chambers: The Chair shall maintain decorum in Council Chambers during sessions. Persons, other than members of Council, City Officials and members of the press, shall not be permitted upon the floor of Council, or to address Council, except upon the introduction by the Chair or a member of Council. If anyone other than a City Official desires to speak to a member of Council while it is in session, that member, if agreeable to the request, shall leave his seat and retire from the Council Chambers until the conversation is finished.
2. Rule on Readings and Suspension of Rules: No bylaw, ordinance or resolution, of a general or permanent nature, or granting a franchise, or creating a right, or involving the expenditure of money, or the levying of a tax, or for the purchase, lease, sale or transfer of property, shall be passed, unless it has been fully and distinctly read on three different days. First reading to be in its entirety and the second and third time by title only. There shall be no authority to dispense with this rule, except by a three-fourths (3/4) vote of all members elected to Council, taken by yeas and nays, on each bylaw, resolution or ordinance, and entered into the minutes.
3. Emergency Measures: All emergency measures shall require three readings, unless the rule requiring such readings, two by title only, is suspended as provided in subsection F. 8. hereof. A roll call shall first be taken on the emergency clause and then a roll call on the legislation as a whole. In order to pass as an emergency measure, the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of all elected members of Council on the emergency clause is required.
4. Majority: Whenever the “majority” is used herein, unless otherwise expressly indicated, it means a majority of those members elected to Council.
5. Amending Rules: A majority vote is required to alter, amend, rescind, or supplement these rules. Any proposed alterations or amendments or supplements shall be submitted in writing at the regular meeting and placed on the calendar for the next regular meeting under the order of new business. By unanimous recorded vote of all members elected to Council, such proposed alterations, amendments or supplements may be adopted at the meeting at which the same are submitted.
6. Quorum: A majority of all members elected to Council shall constitute a quorum.
7. Law Director: The Law Director shall, when requested by a member of Council, give a verbal opinion on any question of law concerning City affairs in open Council, but he may, if he deems the matter of importance, take a reasonable time to submit his opinion in writing.
In such an event, the Chair shall rule on the matter in the interest of the orderly and prompt conduct of Council affairs subject to appeal and vote by Council members.
The purpose of Council Rules is to expedite the functioning of Municipal Legislative Body and to provide for the orderly conduct of business of Council.
Well drafted Council rules and knowledge of those rules by members of Council and other officials will expedite the Council’s affairs and improve the image of the City in the eyes of the public.
Council rules once adopted by Council shall remain in full force and effect until amended or repealed by Council.
Composition – See Ohio R.C. 731.01, 731.06
Qualifications – See Ohio R.C. 731.02, 731.44
Election and Term – See Ohio R.C. 731.03, 733.09
Clerk – See Ohio R.C. 731.04
President Pro Tempore – See Ohio R.C. 731.04, 733.08
Legislative Powers – See Ohio R.C. 731.05
Powers as to Salaries and Bonds – See Ohio R.C. 733.07 et. seq., 731.49 et. seq.
President – See Ohio R.C. 733.07 et. seq.