Gilroy Municipal Code Art. II City Council

The city council is the governing body of the city and its powers and duties shall be as set forth in the Charter.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

(a) Time. Regular meetings of the city council shall be held on the first and third Mondays of each month at 6:00 p.m. Whenever the day fixed for any regular meeting of the council falls upon a day designated by law as a legal or national holiday, such meeting shall be held at the same hour on the next Monday. If said Monday is also a legal or national holiday, the council meeting shall be held on the next weekday not a holiday following said Monday.

In July, there shall be at least one (1) regular meeting of the council, held on the last Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. If the last Monday of July is a legal or national holiday, the meeting shall be held on the immediately preceding weekday that is not a holiday or a Friday.

In December, there shall be at least one (1) regular meeting of the council, held on the second Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. If the second Monday of December is a legal or national holiday, the meeting shall be held on the next weekday not a holiday.

(b) Place. All regular meetings of the council shall be convened in the council chambers in the City Hall. If it shall be unsafe to meet in the place designated, the meetings may be held for the duration of the emergency at such place as is designated by the presiding officer of the council.

(c) Public. All meetings of the council shall be open to the public; however, the city council may hold closed sessions under the provisions of the “Ralph M. Brown Act,” Section 54950 et seq. of the Government Code.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005; Ord. No. 2011-01, § 1, 1-10-2011; Ord. No. 2013-13, § 1, 12-2-2013; Ord. No. 2023-09, § 2, 9-11-2023)

Special meetings of the city council shall be held under the conditions and in the manner set forth in section 408 of the Charter and pursuant to the provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

The room designated as the city council chambers, in the City Hall at 7351 Rosanna Street in the city, is hereby fixed as the place of regular meetings of the city council, and such council chambers and the adjacent offices and rooms used and occupied by the city clerk and administrative officers of the city shall henceforth be known and designated as the City Hall of the city.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

In order to facilitate the orderly conduct of the business of the council, the city clerk shall be notified not later than 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday preceding a regular council meeting of all reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract documents, or other matters to be submitted to the council at such meeting. Immediately thereafter, the city clerk shall arrange a list of such matters according to the order of business and furnish each member of the council, the city administrator, the city attorney and each department head with a copy of the same prior to the council meeting, and as far in advance of the meeting as time for preparation will permit.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the council and shall have a vote but shall have no veto power. The mayor shall have authority to preserve order at all council meetings and to remove or cause the removal of any person from any meeting of the council for disorderly conduct, to enforce the rules of the council, and to determine the order of business under the rules of the council.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

In case of the temporary absence or inability of the mayor to act as presiding officer the mayor pro tempore shall preside. In case of the absence or inability of both the mayor and mayor pro tempore, the council shall elect one of its members to act as mayor pro tempore. Upon the arrival of the mayor, the mayor pro tempore shall relinquish the chair upon the conclusion of the business immediately before the council.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

The mayor, or in the mayor’s absence, the mayor pro tempore, shall take the chair at precisely the hour appointed for the meeting and shall immediately call the council to order. The mayor or mayor pro tempore shall preserve strict decorum at all regular and special meetings of the council and shall state every question coming before the council, call for the vote, announce the decision of the council on all subjects and decide all questions of order, subject, however, to an appeal to the council, in which event a majority vote of the council shall govern and determine such question of order.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

A majority of the entire membership of the council shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time. In the absence of all members of the council from any meeting, the city clerk may declare the same adjourned to a stated day and hour. If the city clerk does declare the meeting so adjourned, then the city clerk shall cause written notice of the adjournment to be given in the same manner as provided for special meetings in section 408 of the Charter and pursuant to the provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

Promptly at the hour set by this article on the day of each regular meeting, the members of the council, the city administrator, the city clerk, and the city attorney shall take their regular stations in the council chambers, and the business of the council shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the order appearing on the council agenda, unless the mayor with the consent of the council directs an item of business to be taken out of order.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the most recent edition of “Robert’s Rules of Order” shall govern the conduct of the meetings of the city council. The mayor or mayor pro tempore may debate from the chair, subject only to such limitations of debate as are imposed upon all councilmembers.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

After a motion is duly made and seconded by the council, no person other than a member of the council shall address the council without first securing the permission of a majority of the council to do so. This address, upon the subject to be voted upon, may not exceed three minutes duration and no person may speak more than once at this time.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

Each person addressing the council is requested to approach the podium and give his or her name in an audible tone of voice for the records. All remarks shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to any member thereof. No person, other than the council and person having the floor, shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or through a member of the council, without permission of the presiding officer. No question shall be asked a councilmember except through the presiding officer.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

No member of the council shall be allowed to explain his or her vote or discuss the question while the roll is being called, and no member shall be allowed to change his or her vote after the vote is announced by the presiding officer, except in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order for reconsideration of a matter.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

The council may adjourn any regular, adjourned or special meeting to a time and place specified in the order for adjournment. All matters may be considered and passed upon at such adjourned meetings as could have been considered and passed upon at the meetings from which such adjournments were taken and shall be deemed to be a continuation of the meeting from which the adjournment was taken.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)

(a) Selection of Map. From this time forward and commencing with the November 2026 election, city elections for city council will be by-district, with the city divided into the six (6) electoral districts with identification numbers for the districts, as shown on the final map selected by the city council – Map F, and there is no change to the method or schedule of electing the city’s mayor, who will continue to be elected at-large.

(b) Order of Elections. District Nos. 4, 5, and 6 will be on the ballot in November of 2026, and District Nos. 1, 2, and 3 will be on the ballot in November of 2028, in order to serve the purposes and objectives of the California Voting Rights Act to increase participation in the electoral process and to enable minority voters to elect candidates of their choice.

(c) Thirty (30) Day Residency Requirement. Candidates for city council must be residents of the district in which they seek election for at least thirty (30) days prior to filing their nomination papers.

(Ord. No. 2025-04, § 2, 6-2-2025)

(a) The administrative procedures of the city shall be established through formal documents or written memorandums of the city administrator after consultation with the appropriate department heads.

(b) In the absence of an established administrative procedure, the appropriate department head may establish an interim procedure pending the formal action of the city administrator on the subject.

(Ord. No. 2005-24, § 1, 11-21-2005)