Chapter 2.05
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Sections:
2.05.010 Weekly business sessions.
2.05.020 Workshops and special meetings.
2.05.030 Nonroutine sessions, emergency sessions and executive sessions.
2.05.040 Meetings by telephone or electronic communication.
2.05.060 Public attendance and comment.
2.05.070 Conduct of attendees and participants.
2.05.005 General provisions.
A. Applicability. These rules apply to all meetings of the Board of County Commissioners and to meetings of all public bodies of the County including advisory boards and commissions, and to the members thereof, unless official bylaws provide alternate meeting rules. Any person who is part of the Board of County Commissioners, or a public body of the County such as an advisory board or commission, is described by these rules as a “member.” These rules do not apply to joint city-County committees or agencies.
B. Effect. These rules shall be in effect until modified or rescinded as described herein.
C. Procedure for Amending Rules. The adoption, amendment or rescission of any rule may be accomplished only through an ordinance.
D. Procedure for Suspending Rules. Any voting member may move to suspend any or all rules for a portion of a meeting or for an entire meeting. Rules may be suspended following a favorable vote by a majority of members present.
E. Quorum. Unless otherwise defined by state law or the public body’s bylaws, a “quorum” is defined as a majority of voting members. A meeting begins when a quorum is present.
F. Attendance. Except during emergencies or as otherwise provided in official bylaws, members shall attend all meetings in their entirety unless excused by the Chair prior to or during the meeting.
G. Commencement. Unless otherwise ordered by the Chair, meetings shall commence precisely at the time described in the public meeting notice. The Chair shall call the meeting to order on time and immediately acknowledge the presence or absence of the other members. The Chair shall acknowledge the subsequent arrival of members and direct that the time of arrival be noted in the minutes.
H. Agenda. Any Commissioner can place any item onto any meeting agenda of any public body including the Board of County Commissioners, advisory boards and commissions. Department heads and chairs of advisory boards and commissions also have authority to authorize the placement of items onto their meeting agendas. The Chair shall acknowledge all agenda items as they arise and shall allow for an adequate discussion of each item.
I. Adjournment. A majority of the present quorum has authority to adjourn any meeting early pursuant to the decision-making process described by these rules, except that following a motion to adjourn and a second any member may immediately call for a vote to adjourn regardless of whether a discussion has occurred.
J. Violations. The Chair, or the majority of a present quorum, has authority to order any person who violates these meeting rules to depart, or be removed from, the meeting for the remainder of the meeting, and may additionally suspend that person from participating in the next meeting of that public body. The Board of County Commissioners, through a majority vote of its members, has sole authority to override decisions regarding rule violations. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1.]
2.05.010 Weekly business sessions.
A. A regular meeting of the Board for the transaction of County business and consideration of issues of public concern shall be held weekly in the Anne Basker Auditorium, Courthouse Annex, Grants Pass, Oregon, or at an alternate real or online location that has been approved by the Board. Generally, the weekly business session is held every Wednesday at 9:00 a.m., with the exception of the second Wednesday of each month being designated as the evening weekly business session, which is held generally at 5:30 p.m. The weekly business session may be rescheduled to some other time during that week provided at least 24 hours’ notice is given to the general public, or such other notice as may be appropriate under actual emergency circumstances.
Changes to weekly business session general dates and times shall be determined and adjusted by order of the Board of Commissioners. When there will not be a quorum of Commissioners present at an upcoming weekly business session, the Board shall order cancellation of the weekly business session.
B. Only the Commissioners and the administrative staff may sit at the dais. The Vice Chair shall sit to the Chair’s left, and the remaining Commissioner shall sit to the Vice Chair’s left. Persons may only approach the dais after receiving approval from the Chair. Persons presenting materials to the Board shall present the documents to the administrative staff rather than directly to the Commissioners.
C. Weekly business sessions shall proceed in the following order:
1. Chair calls the meeting to order. All who are present – and able – stand while the pledge of allegiance is recited.
2. Standalone public hearings for matters such as ordinances readings, special district annexations, land use matters, budget approval and the like.
3. Employee recognition. A Commissioner typically comes down from the dais to make the presentation.
4. Proclamations. The Chair or a Commissioner designated by the Chair reads a nonbinding proclamation on behalf of the entire Board.
5. Administrative actions. This includes contracts with large dollar amounts, items that may need explanation or public exposure, new contracts or policies, and any other items deemed appropriate by any Commissioner.
6. Requests/comments from citizens. Meeting attendees may comment on any topic of interest to the general community. Comments shall be provided at a location identified by the Chair. Comments are limited to three minutes and shall be timed by the Board’s administrative staff. Comments may be made verbally, shall be consistent with these rules, and shall be presented in a manner that does not detract from the dignity of a formal governmental proceeding that is open to persons of all ages. Comments and other materials that were submitted in writing shall be acknowledged by the Board Chair and entered into the Board’s official records, but written comments will not be read out loud during the meeting except to accommodate a disability. Members of the Board will make no statements during the public comment period, except the Chair will identify the order in which members of the public may provide their comments, and the Chair may make statements to ensure conformity with these rules.
7. Board review of public comments. The Chair shall recognize members of the Board who wish to discuss the public comments. There is no time limit unless a majority of the Board votes to impose one.
8. Consent calendar. This includes routine items for which:
The Board has already achieved consensus; or
Minimal discussion is anticipated or required; or
There is minimal monetary impact; or
Full vetting has already occurred during the budget process; or
The County’s policy and approach are well established; or
The Board has otherwise deemed appropriate for the consent calendar.
a. Items on the consent calendar have typically been discussed with County staff at a prior Board meeting.
b. Prior to or during the weekly business session, any Commissioner may direct topics to be transferred from the consent calendar to the administrative action portion of the agenda.
c. The Board may approve the entire consent calendar pursuant to a single motion made pursuant to these rules.
9. Other matters. Following recognition by the Chair, any Commissioner may introduce other matters for consideration by the entire Board.
10. Matters from Commissioners. Following recognition by the Chair, any Commissioner may discuss any topic of interest to the general community. Board action does not occur at this time.
11. Adjournment. The Chair has authority to adjourn the meeting without a motion, or the meeting may be adjourned pursuant to these rules. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Order 2010-009; Ord. 2005-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 1.]
2.05.020 Workshops and special meetings.
A. Workshops and special meetings may be scheduled at various times and places throughout the week. Notices of these meetings are published on the Board of Commissioners’ agenda. These meetings are held in the Board of Commissioners’ conference room unless some other place is specified in the notice. They may be rescheduled or canceled as necessary.
1. Administrative Workshop. Typically, these are held once per week, but the Board has latitude to move or cancel the meetings. Department heads or their designees present reports and upcoming action items that are destined for weekly business sessions. Decisions are generally not made during the administrative workshop, but the Board can make decisions if it so chooses so long as adequate notice was provided. The Board may advance items to the weekly business session without specifying which portion of the agenda will include them. The item “Other Business” typically appears at the end of the agenda.
2. General Discussion. The agenda for these routine meetings is minimal to allow for detailed discussions of a few topics. These meetings are the most appropriate forum for guest presentations. Decisions are not usually made at these meetings.
3. Legal Counsel Update. These meetings cover matters that directly involve the Legal Office and require the presence of the Legal Office at the meeting.
4. District Meeting. These are separate, non-County meetings where the Board forms as the governing body of a district. The Board may conduct public hearings and vote on items that were properly posted in advance. The County Charter’s notice requirement for action items does not apply to district meetings since districts are separate entities. District meetings may proceed or follow County meetings pursuant to the Board’s discretion, but district meetings may not be held during, or as part of, County meetings. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 2.]
2.05.030 Nonroutine sessions, emergency sessions and executive sessions.
A. Emergency session and executive session meetings may be called, noticed and held as provided under the provisions of the Oregon Revised Statutes Public Meetings Laws and the Josephine County Charter.
B. Executive sessions for all public bodies, including the Board of County Commissioners, advisory boards and commissions, must be attended by an attorney, the Human Resources Director, and/or the property manager. No decisions can be made during the closed portion of the meeting, though the members can move toward consensus. The meeting must start with a public session during which an introduction is read prior to commencing the executive session, and must end with a public session during which the Chair provides a brief summary of each item that was discussed.
C. Nonroutine and Emergency Meetings. When acting in accordance with law, any Commissioner has authority to schedule nonroutine and emergency meetings of the Board of County Commissioners and of any advisory board or commission. Department heads and chairs of advisory boards and commissions have comparable authority to authorize nonroutine and emergency meetings of their public body.
D. News Media. “Accredited representative of the news media” means a preapproved individual who gathers news and who is formally affiliated with an institutional news media entity. In order to obtain access to executive sessions, accredited representatives of the news media may register in the office of the Board of County Commissioners.
1. Accredited representatives of the news media may attend executive sessions, except meetings involving labor negotiations and meetings involving litigation to which the media member is a party. Any representative of the news media who is also a lobbyist shall not be entitled to enter executive sessions that feature discussions which are relevant to the lobbyist’s work.
2. If during an executive session the members discuss matters outside the meeting’s proper scope, it is always proper for media representatives to politely call the public body’s attention to the fact that it has strayed from the specified subject or subjects to be discussed in executive session.
E. Members of the news media and other persons allowed in executive session are prohibited from reporting on or disclosing any matters discussed during executive session. Any person who violates public meetings laws with intentional disregard for the law, or with willful misconduct, may be liable for a personal penalty of up to $1,000 per occurrence. Confidentiality of executive session discussions may be waived only by majority vote of the Board of Commissioners. [Ord. 2024-002 § 1; Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 3.]
2.05.040 Meetings by telephone or electronic communication.
Participation by members in any meeting is allowed through telephonic or other electronic communication means to the extent allowed under state law. Telephonic and electronic access shall be provided to members and attendees in accordance with state law. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 4.]
2.05.050 Presiding officer.
A. Chair. At the first meeting of every calendar year, the Board of County Commissioners and every advisory board and commission shall designate one of its voting members as Chair and another voting member as Vice Chair for the year. If designations cannot be agreed upon, the voting member who has served for the longest continuous period of time shall become the Chair. If members are tied for the longest continuous period of service, then the member whose surname comes first in the alphabet shall become the Chair. The Chair and Vice Chair may be redesignated at any time pursuant to a vote by the majority of members. The Chair shall:
1. Preside over all meetings as the presiding officer;
2. Preserve order during meetings;
3. Enforce all meeting rules;
4. Dispose of procedural requests or similar matters;
5. Impose reasonable limitations on the number of speakers and set reasonable time limits for oral presentations;
6. Question any person appearing and allow other members to question such person;
7. Have authority to declare meetings to be in temporary recess or adjourned;
8. Take such other actions as authorized to appropriately conduct the meeting; and
9. Have whatever additional functions that have been approved by the majority of voting members, and are consistent with these rules and other relevant laws.
B. The Vice Chair shall:
1. Preside over meetings when the Chair is absent or distracted;
2. Exercise the same level of duty and authority as the Chair only during the Chair’s absence or distraction; and
3. Immediately return control of the meeting to the Chair upon the Chair’s return.
C. All procedural decisions of the presiding officer shall be those of the public body unless overruled by a majority vote of the public body or the Board of County Commissioners. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 5.]
2.05.060 Public attendance and comment.
All meetings of public bodies shall be open to the public to attend, except executive sessions. There is no requirement to include public comment in any meeting except the weekly business session or as otherwise required by law. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 6.]
2.05.070 Conduct of attendees and participants.
A. Meetings shall at all times be orderly and respectful. When permitted to speak by the presiding officer, each member or attendee may be given three minutes to speak or such other time as may be allowed by the presiding officer. Attendees must state their name and area of residence. The presiding officer may adjourn the meeting when necessary or refuse to recognize any member or attendee who:
1. Is disorderly, abusive, disruptive, profane, disrespectful, or inappropriately personal;
2. Takes part in or encourages audience demonstrations, such as applause, cheering, display of signs, shouting or other conduct disruptive of the meeting;
3. Speaks without first receiving recognition from the presiding officer and stating his or her full name and area of residence; or
4. Presents irrelevant, immaterial or repetitious comments.
B. In speaking, members and meeting attendees must confine discussion to the matter being considered.
C. Attire. To maintain a professional atmosphere, members and staff should dress according to standards of contemporary business attire.
D. Any use of electronic equipment that distracts meeting participants is prohibited. No recordings may be made during executive sessions.
E. After the Chair approves a member or attendee to speak, the member or attendee may stand up or remain seated while speaking.
F. All questions asked of another member shall be addressed to that member through the Chair, unless the Chair authorizes direct communication between members.
G. Members shall refer to other members and attendees in accordance with how that person wishes to be addressed (ex: “Commissioner Basker,” or “Ms. Basker,” or “Anne”).
H. Members and attendees may read prepared remarks, or provide written remarks for the Chair to read on their behalf subject to the Chair’s discretion.
I. Only the Chair is authorized to interrupt a member or meeting attendee who is speaking. [Ord. 2024-002 § 1; Ord. 2021-003 § 1; Ord. 92-27 § 7.]
2.05.080 Decisions.
A. Decisions can only be made during public meetings by a majority of a quorum, and pursuant to the formal process described by these rules. Decisions must be preceded by a motion which describes the proposed action in clear terms. Any voting member can move for action at any point in the meeting. Nonvoting members may not offer motions. When a motion is made it shall be immediately restated by the Chair.
B. A second to the motion is required before the motion can be discussed. A second cannot be made by the originator of the motion. If no second is made, the motion immediately dies for lack of a second. After the motion is seconded, the Chair shall allow discussion of the motion. Members who wish to participate in the discussion shall make an indication to the Chair and then wait to be called on by the Chair. Only one member may speak at a time.
C. The mover may also withdraw the motion before a vote is called. Withdrawing a motion does not require a second.
D. If a motion dies or is withdrawn, another relevant motion can be made and seconded.
E. Motions that are being discussed can be amended by a motion and a second. Amending a motion has the effect of replacing the original motion without requiring an additional vote.
F. Any time prior to a final vote, any matter may be tabled indefinitely following a motion, a second and a vote on whether to table. Tabled matters remain undecided and can be added to an agenda on a future occasion, pursuant to these rules.
G. Following a motion, a second and a vote, matters can also be continued to a specific date and time that is announced during the meeting.
H. No additional business can commence until the motion has been voted on, is withdrawn by the mover, or dies for lack of a second.
I. When a member is involved in an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest, the member shall announce the nature of the conflict prior to participating in the discussion. Announcing a conflict of interest does not automatically require disengagement from the discussion or a vote abstention.
J. When a member has had ex-parte contact, or has gleaned relevant information that the other members do not have, or has acquired a significant bias regarding the subject being decided, the member shall announce the circumstance prior to participating in the discussion. Ex-parte contact and bias do not automatically require disengagement from the discussion or a vote abstention.
K. Members who wish to abstain from voting must announce their intention to abstain prior to the vote being called. Abstaining members will continue to count toward the presence of a quorum. Abstaining members may not be compelled to provide a vote.
L. Following the discussion, the Chair will call for a vote. The order of voting for the Board of County Commissioners shall be: Commissioner, Vice Chair, Chair. The order of voting for advisory boards and commissions shall be alphabetical by last name. In the alternative, the Chair may ask all who are in favor to simultaneously say “aye,” and then ask all opposed to simultaneously say “nay.” When voting is complete the Chair will announce the results, including the vote count.
M. Unless there are unique requirements, signatures on official documents may be provided in person, or may be affixed electronically after the member has provided written authorization to do so. [Ord. 2021-003 § 1.]