WS - D - City Council Procedural Rules, Conduct and Resources

Rule 10. Consent Agenda. In preparing an Agenda the City Clerk shall separately designate items as "Consent Agenda" which may be acted upon by the Council under these Rules. All items on the "Consent Agenda" shall consist of routine, non-controversial items which in the City Manager’s determination can be appropriately considered in bulk at the Council meeting. If the Mayor or any Council Member specifically requests that any of the items be considered separately, these items will be removed and considered later on the Agenda. Rule 11. Agenda Items. The Mayor, at least two Council Members, the City Manager, the City Attorney, or the City Clerk may have an item included upon the Agenda by requesting the City Clerk to include the item. Or: Any member of the Council may request the Mayor or City Administrator to place on the agenda of the next scheduled Council meeting an ordinance, resolution, or motion on a matter within the Council's policy-making or oversight duties, unless the action is subject to the rules regarding reconsideration. Items requested to be included on the agenda must be filed with the City Administrator by noon on the Wednesday preceding the Council meeting. The Mayor, after considering any requests for agenda items and after consulting with the City Administrator, shall approve the tentative agenda. If two or more Council members request that an item be included on the agenda, the item should be on the agenda for at least discussion at one of the next two regularly scheduled meetings. Section IV. Conduct of Meetings Rule 12. Call to Order. The Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem shall call the meeting to order at the appointed hour. In the absence of the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem the City Clerk shall call the meeting to order and a temporary Presiding Officer shall then be selected under Rule 14. Rule 13. Roll Call. Before proceeding with the business of the Council, the City Clerk shall call the roll of Council Members present and enter those named in the minutes. Rule 14. Presiding Officer. The Mayor, or in the Mayor's absence or incapacity, the Mayor Pro Tem, shall be the Presiding Officer at all Council meetings. If both the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem are absent the most senior Council Member present shall preside. In the event two or more Council Members equally possess the greatest seniority then the eldest person among them shall preside. Rule 15. Control of Discussion. The Presiding Officer shall lead the discussion of the Council on each Agenda item to assure full participation by the Council in accordance with these rules. A Council member shall speak only after being recognized by the presiding officer. A Council member recognized for a specific purpose shall limit remarks to that purpose. A Council member, after being recognized shall not be interrupted except by the presiding officer to enforce these rules. Rule 16. Limit on Remarks. Each Council member shall limit his or her remarks to a reasonable length. Rule 17. Order of Consideration of Agenda. Except as otherwise provided in these rules, each Agenda item shall be considered in the alphabetic order assigned by the City Clerk. Each Agenda item shall be separately announced by the Presiding Officer, for purposes of discussion and consideration. The entire Consent Agenda shall be considered a single item. Except as 2