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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2472 City Council Rules of ProceedingsOrdinance No. 2472 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND REPEALING CHAPTER 2.04 TO THE PORT TOWNSEND MUNICIPAL CODE AND ADOPTING A NEW CHAPTER 2.04, PORT TOWNSEND CITY COUNCIL RULES WHEREAS, RCW 35.23.270 requires each city council to "determine its rules of proceedings,' and empowers councils to enforce its rules of proceedings; and WHEREAS, the Port Townsend City Council deems it appropriate and necessary to adopt operating procedures and rules to ensure that Council meetings operate as smoothly as possible, to ensure that all council members observe the separate roles of the Mayor and Council, to provide a process to clarify policy directions and to adopt an orderly process to guide governmental operation; and WHEREAS, these roles are adopted, codified, and implemented to provide maximum accountability of the Council and its members to the public to guarantee an open, public deliberative process, to ensure that Council members and the public fully understand the mission and legal mandate of the Council, and to ensure appropriate Council direction and oversight of Council priorities, expenditure of public funds through the budget process, and interaction with administrative staff and professional consultants, NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Port Townsend, in regular session assembled, does ordain as follows: Section 1. Chapter 2.04, Council, of the Port Townsend Municipal Code is hereby repealed. Section 2. A new Chapter 2.04, Port Townsend City Council Rules, of the Port Townsend Municipal Code, is hereby enacted and shall be codified by the City's Code Reviser: Chapter 2.04 PORT TOWNSEND CITY COUNCIL RULES Sections: 2.04.010 2.04.020 2.04.030 2.04.040 2.04.050 Business meetings - Attendance. Parliamentary procedure. Council committees. Assignment to council committees. Outside committees. 2.04.060 2.04.070 2.04.080 2.04.090 Council retreats and priority setting. Council use of resources. Council relationship to consultants and staff. Council expenditures. 2.04.010 Business meetings - Attendance. A. Regular city council business meetings are held twice monthly and are scheduled on the first and third Mondays of the month at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. When council meeting dates fall on a legal holiday, the meeting shall be held on the next day that is not a legal holiday, at 7:00 p.m. B. Special city council meetings may be called to conduct city business as needed in accordance with proper notification requirements of state law. C. City council members are expected to attend all regular and special meetings of the city council unless excused by the mayor due to illness or other compelling reasons. 2.04.020 Parliamentary procedure. City council business meetings are conducted under Robert's Rules of Order. 2.04.030 Council committees. A. The city council conducts its work through seven standing committees as follows: 1. Utilities 2. Transportation 3. Public Safety 4. Community Services 5. Parks, Recreation, and Property 6. Land Use 7. Finance B. Each city council member serves as the chair of one committee and serves as a member of two additional committees. C. Each committee chair is responsible for setting committee meetings to address relevant business as often as is needed. In order to ensure that committee meetings are properly noticed, the committee chair will, in a timely fashion, fill out and furnish the appropriate forms which describe the time, location, and topic(s) of discussion. 2 D. Policy matters referred to the city council are generally discussed in committee before going to the full council at a regular or special meeting. The purpose of committee meetings is to allow for a greater depth of input and discussion than is possible in a regular city council meeting. Committee meetings are generally less formal than full city council meetings and allow for greater interaction between the three council committee members, city staff, and interested citizens. E. The committee chair conducts the committee meetings and may utilize whatever degree of formality or informality he/she deems appropriate to the topic and circumstances. F. The committee makes recommendations to the full city council on policy items referred to the committee based on a vote taken by the committee. If recommendations are not unanimous, that fact should be duly reported in the committee report to council. G. The committee chair makes the committee report to the city council at the regular council meeting which follows the committee meeting, the reports include date, place, time of meeting and time of adjournment, names of council members and city staff in attendance, a brief report on topics discussed at the meeting, public comments received, as well as recommendations which are being made to the city council. A copy of the report is to be submitted to the city clerk. H. All committee meetings shall comply with the Open Public Meetings Act, RCW 42.30, et seq., and related notification requirements. 2.04.040 Assignment to Council Committees. A. Most council members have four-year terms, but the overall composition of the council is subject to change every two years with city council elections. Committee assignments will shift at those times. B. Following city council elections, the mayor, subject to confirmation by the city council, will appoint two council members as the "Committee on Committees." These members will make recommendations to the full council for approval of committee assignments for the following two years. C. Committee assignments for the subsequent two years will be completed in December following council elections. D. Committee assignments will be ratified by the city council at its first business meeting in January of the new year. 2.04.050 Outside committees. Council members are requested to serve on many outside committees. These committee assignments will be made by the mayor with concurrence from the majority of the council. 2.04.060 Council retreats and priority setting. A. Council retreats will be scheduled by the mayor with concurrence of a majority of council members. One of the major purposes of council retreats is to set work priorities and integrate them with budget policies. B. It is recommended that retreats be held twice yearly; one each January and another one, preferably, in advance of the budget process. C. All council members are expected to attend council retreats. D. Training sessions may be included in council retreats. 2.04.070 Council use of resources. The work priorities identified through the council retreat process or through adopted council resolutions will determine the use of city resources, both financial resources and staff time. Staff time may include, but is not limited to, research, participation in meetings, word processing, preparation of written materials, and other project or discussion activities. 2.04.080 Council relationship to consultants and staff. A. In recognition of the checks and balances between the mayor's administration and the city council, and in recognition of limited staff resources for the council work plan, each council member shall make every effort to use staff time carefully and sparingly outside of scheduled meetings. In the case of identified council priorities, it is appropriate, efficient, and court,us for individual council members to involve the mayor and department head before using significant staff time outside of scheduled meetings; this will help ensure that staff members are not asked to do work for individual council members when they have already been assigned a full schedule of work by the department head. 1. In the case of a project or issue which is not an identified council priority, council members should bring that project or issue to the council for discussion and consideration before staff members are asked to work on something other than the council work plan. B. In the spirit of using city resources to further council priorities, council members should make every effort to use consultant time carefully, sparingly, and in keeping with identified council priorities. In recognition that consultants work for the city under specific scope of services contracts, it is appropriate that individual council members involve the mayor and department head before expending consultant time. C. Due to concerns related to quasi-judicial proceedings, the city attorney's office is exempt from subsection A of this section. However, council members should use discretion in seeking consultation with the city attorney's office. General research and policy consultation performed by the city attorney's office must be initiated through a council committee. 2.04.090 Council expenditures. The mayor must approve all council member's expense vouchers, expenses. (Ord. § , 1995.) including travel Section 3. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this Ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such order or judgment shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of the remainder of any part of this Ordinance. To this end, the provisions of each clause, sentence, paragraph, section or part of this law are declared severable. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect five days after the date of its passage, approval, and publication in the manner provided by law. Read for the first, second, and third times and Port Townsend, Washington, at a regular by the City Council of the City of ,f, held this 7th day of August, 1995. Attest: _ Clerk 08/02/95 [95-091] CA§ORD\{CCrules.doc} Mayor icl~lahan, City Attorney