HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.F.6. Council Meeting Procedures
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CITY OF SHAKOPEE
Memorandum ~t~~'SE~T
TO: Shakopee City Council UUfV, .... '",
FROM: John Schmitt, Mayor
SUBJECT: Council Meeting Procedures
DATE: January 6, 2009
INTRODUCTION:
At the January 6th City Council meeting, I would like the Council to re-endorse the
operating policies for City Council meetings.
BACKGROUND:
Annually, the mayors of Shakopee have defined their expectations and proposed
operating policies to maintain decorum and a smoothly flowing City Council meeting.
The following are the guidelines which were adopted by the City Council in previous
years; I recommend that they be readopted for use in 2009:
1. "Liaison Reports" should be only for reports relating to other meetings or relevant
actities that a Council member has attended, and reported if that information was
obtained at that meeting that is of general interest to members of the public, or
other members of the Council.
2. A "Council Concerns" section of the agenda is listed near the end of the agenda,
and is for issues needing to be brought up by the Council that are unable to be
included on the printed Council agenda due to late notification, and which cannot
be deferred to a future meeting. If action is required, it should be added as an
agenda item at the beginning of the meeting under "Additions or Corrections to
the Agenda" Issues of concerns brought to Council members by residents should
be forwarded to staff before the meeting so that staff can review and respond in
the most timely manner.
3. If an issue presents a potential conflict of interest, the affected Council member
should remove himself from the Council table for the discussion and subsequent
vote on the issue. Council members should not abstain from a vote simply
because they do not wish to take a stand on an issue.
4. Council members need not remove themselves from the Council table to abstain
from a vote on something for which there is no discussion needed; i.e., not voting
on minutes for which that Council member was not in attendance.
5. There is a five-minute limit per person/subject for issues that are brought before
the Council under the "Concerned Citizens" portion of the agenda. An issue that
must be resolved at that meeting and cannot be deferred, should be placed under
"Other Business" later on the agenda, out of fairness to other individuals who are
on the agenda.
6. As long as there are people in the audience for agenda items, reasonable
accommodations will try to be made to deviate from the set agenda to allow those
issues to be heard before Council and get the audience issues resolved. Public
hearings, however, will be heard in the order that they are placed on the agenda.
7. To the greatest extent possible, we will follow parliamentary procedure as
outlined in "Robert's Rules of Order". I shall adhere to the following concepts:
. Only those having the floor as recognized by the Chair shall speak.
. Encourage both audience members and Council members to address
the Chair.
. Encourage that motions be descriptive of action sought, i.e. not simply
"move the requested action".
. Make a strong effort to ensure that motions are made only in the
affirmative.
. Allow any member to make modifications to a motion, if acceptable to
the maker, but only prior to the start of discussion as signaled by the
Chair.
. The Chair will not make a motion.
. Disallow discussion on a motion until seconded.
. Generally follow that the member who makes a motion will be given
the first opportunity to speak in discussion.
. Generally recognize any member who has not spoken on a question
over one who has,
. Rule against explanation of vote by members during voting.
. Declare a unanimous vote if a motion receives any votes on one side
and none on the other.
. Generally report by the Chair results of all votes indicating those
members in the majority.
8. "Other Business" and Mayors Report" items will be included as a regular part of
every agenda.
9. Any audience member or Council member may ask to have an item removed from
the consent agenda.
10. Prior to adoption of the consent agenda, I will ask for any additions or deletions
from the consent agenda. A synopsis of each item proposed to be adopted as the
consent agenda will be read prior to a vote being taken.
11. Presentations from members of the Council, staff, consultants, or members of the
public shall be in their entirety before questions shall be posed from the Council.
12. In order to move the meeting along, cumbersome, lengthy, and numerous
amendments to a motion will be discouraged.
13. I will make every effort to be protective of staff, Council, and citizens from
personal or unnecessary derogatory attacks.
14. Council members should make an effort to keep the discussion relevant to the
topic at hand.
15. Unless waived by a majority vote ofthe City Council, no new item of business
should be undertaken after 11 :00 PM at a City Council meeting.
RECOMMENDATION:
I believe adherence to the above policies and procedures will be of benefit in the
operation of City Council meetings. For that reason I recommend that Council adopt
these guidelines.
ACTION REQUIRED:
If the Council concurs, it should, by motion, endorse the above policies.
John J. Schmitt
Mayor
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