Chapter 39 — DECORUM AT COUNCIL MEETINGS

(A) Only Council members, designated city staff, and those authorized by the presiding officer of the meeting, City Council or Chief Executive Officer are permitted to sit on the dais or to be within the rail in the front of the Council Chamber.

(B) While the Council is in session, the Council members and city staff shall preserve appropriate order and decorum. No person, by conversation or otherwise, shall delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the Council, disturb any speaker, or refuse to obey the directives of the presiding officer of the meeting. All persons must refrain from boisterous, profane or abusive behavior which disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the Council meeting.

(C) Staff members are encouraged to present their reports as concisely as possible. Staff should assume Council Members have studied all agenda packet information and, therefore, require only brief summation by staff speakers. Because the official meeting record will contain the entire staff submittal and copies of reports are available to the public, verbatim reading of staff reports is not required and is strongly discouraged. (Ord. 1347, passed 12-15-10; Am. Ord. 1358, passed 6-19-13)

(A) Members of the public attending Council meetings must observe the same rules of order and decorum applicable to the Council members and city staff. Each person who addresses the Council shall do so in an orderly manner and shall not make personal, impertinent, slanderous or profane remarks to any member of the Council, staff or general public. Any person who makes such remarks, or who utters loud, threatening, personal or abusive language, or engages in any other disorderly conduct which disrupts, disturbs or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of any Council meeting shall, at the discretion of the presiding officer or a majority of the Council, be barred from further audience before the Council during that meeting. Unauthorized remarks from the audience, heckling, stamping of feet, whistles, yells, applause, and similar demonstrations which disrupt, disturb or otherwise impede the orderly conduct of the Council meeting should not be permitted by the presiding officer of the meeting.

(B) The presiding officer of the meeting may order the meeting room cleared and Council may continue in session if the meeting is willfully interrupted by a person or group of persons so as to render the orderly conduct of the meeting infeasible without removal of individuals who are willfully disrupting the meeting. In these cases, only matters appearing on the agenda may be considered. Representatives of the press or other news media, except those participating in the disturbance, and individuals not responsible for disturbance of the orderly conduct of the meeting, will be allowed to remain at the meeting or may be readmitted.

(Ord. 1347, passed 12-15-10; Am. Ord. 1358, passed 6-19-13; Am. Ord. 1384, passed 3-16-16)

(A) Addressing the Council. Subject to compliance with rules of order and decorum, members of the public have an absolute right to address the Council at open meetings during oral communications segments of the agenda, subject to reasonable time constraints imposed by the presiding officer or a majority of Council members present. Consistent with the Brown Act, speakers are limited to speaking on items presented on the agenda and to items within the subject matter jurisdiction and authority of the City Council and/or city.

(B) Manner of addressing Council . At the appropriate time, any person wishing to address the Council should stand, proceed to the lectern and wait to be recognized by the presiding officer of the meeting. After being recognized, the speaker should state his or her name and place of residence for the record. The speaker should address comments only to the Council from the lectern.

(1) All remarks and questions should be addressed to the Council as a whole and not to any specific Council member, staff, the audience, or the media. No question should be asked of a Council member or staff member without first obtaining permission from the presiding officer of the meeting.

(2) Comments should be fundamentally impersonal: the subject of the debate is the issue, not any of its proponents or opponents. A motion and its consequences may be attacked vigorously, but speakers should not attack the motives, character, or personality of a member, speaker, or any other person, either directly or by implication or innuendo, improper language, irrelevancy, dilatory tactics, or disorderly conduct, including, but not limited to, use of signs or other means to disrupt the meeting. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no speaker will be censured or prohibited from speaking based upon the content of his or her remarks, but may be removed from the meeting if the presiding officer of the meeting or a majority of the Council members determines the speaker is out of order pursuant to this chapter, and the speaker’s conduct is disrupting, disturbing or otherwise impeding the orderly conduct of the Council meeting.

(C) Time limitation . Every member of the public addressing the Council shall limit his or her remarks to a maximum of three minutes during all speaking opportunities; provided, that comment shall not exceed two minutes per speaker during oral communications just prior to adjournment. When large numbers of persons wish to speak, the presiding officer of the meeting may announce a reduction of the speaking time allotted to each person so all persons wishing to speak may do so.

it his or her remarks to a maximum of three minutes during all speaking opportunities; provided, that comment shall not exceed two minutes per speaker during oral communications just prior to adjournment. When large numbers of persons wish to speak, the presiding officer of the meeting may announce a reduction of the speaking time allotted to each person so all persons wishing to speak may do so.

(1) Each person normally is allowed only one opportunity to comment on each item of business or during oral communications. When any group wishes to address the Council on the same subject, it is appropriate for the presiding officer of the meeting to request a spokesperson be chosen to represent the group to avoid redundancy. (2) No express time limits are imposed on any appellant or respondent during quasi-judicial proceedings (i.e., appeals, statutorily required public hearings, and other proceedings involving due process rights such as appeals of land use decisions and denials of business license applications); however, the presiding officer of the meeting may limit repetitive presentations and curtail irrelevant remarks.

(Ord. 1347, passed 12-15-10; Am. Ord. 1358, passed 6-19-13; Am. Ord. 1384, passed 3-16-16)

The Police Chief, or other member of the Police Department designated by the Chief, serves as Sergeant-at-Arms of the Council and may attend meetings at the request of the presiding officer of the meeting or the Chief Executive Officer. The Sergeant-at-Arms will be available to serve at all meetings immediately upon call, and will carry out all lawful orders given by the presiding officer of the meeting or Council for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at meetings.

(A) Warning. The presiding officer shall request that a person who is breaching the rules of decorum be orderly and silent. If, after receiving a warning from the presiding officer, a person persists in disturbing the meeting, the presiding officer shall order him or her, to leave the Council meeting. If such person does not remove himself or herself, the presiding officer may order any law enforcement officer who is on duty at the meeting as sergeant-at-arms of the Council to remove that person from the Council chambers.

(B) Removal. Any law enforcement officer who is serving as sergeant-at-arms of the Council shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the presiding officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at the Council

meeting. Upon instruction of the presiding officer, it shall be the duty of the sergeant-at-arms to remove from the Council meeting any person who is disturbing the proceedings of the Council.

(C) Resisting removal. Any person who resists removal by the sergeant at-arm shall be charged with a violation of this section.

(Ord. 1347, passed 12-15-10; Am. Ord. 1384, passed 3-16-16)

(A) The failure to observe such rules strictly does not affect the jurisdiction of the Council or invalidate any action taken at a meeting that otherwise conforms to applicable law. Any member may move to require the presiding officer of the meeting to enforce the rules, and the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present will require him or her to do so.

(B) The failure of any person to observe any requirement of this chapter or lawful order of the presiding officer or Sergeant-at-Arms is punishable pursuant to §§ 10.98 and 10.99 of this code.

(Ord. 1347, passed 12-15-10) Penalty, see §§ 10.98 and 10.99