CHAPTER IV: COUNCIL

SECTION 15 RULES

The council shall, by ordinance, prescribe rules to govern its meetings and proceedings.

SECTION 16 MEETINGS

The council shall meet regularly in the city at least once a month at a time and place designated by council’s rules, and may meet at other times in accordance with the rules.

SECTION 17 QUORUM

The mayor and a majority of the members of the council constitutes a quorum for its business, but a smaller number of the council may meet and compel the attendance of absent councilors as prescribed by council rules.

SECTION 18 RECORD OF MEETINGS

The council shall cause a record of its meetings to be kept and authenticated in a manner prescribed by the council.

SECTION 19 MEETINGS TO BE PUBLIC

No action by the council shall have legal effect unless the motion for the action and the vote by which it is disposed of take place at meetings open to the public. All meetings of the council shall comply with public meeting laws established by general ordinance and state statute.

SECTION 20 MAYOR’S FUNCTIONS AT COUNCIL MEETINGS

(1) When present at council meetings the mayor shall:

(a) Preside over deliberations of the council,

(b) Preserve order,

(c) Enforce council rules, and

(d) Determine the order of business under the rules.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection 1 of this section, the mayor may temporarily cease to chair a council meeting and delegate the functions described in subsection 1 to another council member.

(3) The mayor shall not vote except in case of a tie vote of the members of the council present at a meeting.

SECTION 21 PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

(1) At its first meeting after this charter takes effect and at its first meeting of each odd-numbered year, the council shall appoint a president from its councilors.

(2) Except in voting on questions before the council, the president shall function as mayor when the mayor is:

(a) Absent from a council meeting, or

(b) Unable to function as mayor.

SECTION 22 VOTE REQUIRED

Except as this charter otherwise provides, the express concurrence of a majority of the members of the council present, and constituting a quorum of the council, is necessary to decide any question before the council.

SECTION 23 VACANCIES – WHAT CREATES VACANCY

(1) The office of a member of the council becomes vacant upon the incumbent’s:

(a) Death,

(b) Adjudicated incompetence, or

(c) Recall from the office,

(d) Ceasing to reside in the city;

(e) Ceasing to be a qualified elector under state law;

(f) Conviction of a felony or capital crime, or

(2) Upon declaration by the council of the vacancy in case of the incumbent’s:

(a) Failure, following election or appointment to the office, to qualify for the office within ten days after the time for his or her term of office to begin,

(b) Absence from three consecutive meetings of the council without the council’s consent, or

(c) Resignation from the office.

SECTION 24 VACANCIES – FILLING

A vacancy in the council shall be filled by appointment by a majority of the council. If a tie vote of the council should occur, the mayor shall cast the deciding vote. The appointee’s term of office runs from the time he or she qualifies for the office after the appointment and until the next general election, at which time that position will be voted upon for a two-year term unless it would have otherwise been up for election for a four-year term. During a council member’s inability to serve on the council or during a mayor’s absence from the city, a majority of the other council members may by appointment fill the vacancy pro tem.