Chapter 2.05
CITY COUNCIL
Sections:
2.05.010 Meetings – Time and place.
2.05.020 Special meetings – Time and place.
2.05.030 Meetings – On holidays.
2.05.055 Public participation in council meetings.
2.05.057 Notice of public hearings before city council.
2.05.070 Mayor and mayor pro tem.
2.05.010 Meetings – Time and place.
The city council shall hold regular meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month at the hour of 7:00 p.m., and in addition will meet the first Monday of each month at the hour of 5:00 p.m. at City Hall or at such other time and place that the council may establish by resolution (motion). (Ord. 2006-6 § 1, 2006; Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.020 Special meetings – Time and place.
When it is necessary to hold special meetings of the city council, the same shall be scheduled at such time and place as the notice of a special meeting shall designate in accord with the provisions of Chapter 42.30 RCW. (Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.030 Meetings – On holidays.
Should any day fixed for regular meeting of the council fall on a city designated holiday, such meeting shall be held on the day following. (Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.040 Agenda.
Prior to each regular council meeting, the city manager shall prepare an agenda of such meeting, which agenda shall fix the order in which council business for such meeting shall be considered. The council may, with the consent of a majority of the council present, vary or add to the agenda at any such meeting. (Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.050 Procedural rules.
Except as may otherwise be provided by laws of the state or the ordinances of the city, the council shall be governed in the conduct of its meetings by the Rules of Parliamentary Procedure contained in the then latest revised edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, modified as follows:
A. At all meetings of the council a majority of the council members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
B. All meetings of the council shall be presided over by the mayor, or in his absence, by the mayor pro tempore. If the clerk is absent from a council meeting, the deputy clerk shall act as clerk pro tempore.
C. Persons, not members of the council, shall be allowed to address the same while in session only with the permission of the presiding officer. In general, the presiding officer shall give this permission at an appropriate time.
D. Motions shall be reduced to writing when required by the presiding officer of the council or any member of the council. All resolutions and ordinances shall be in writing.
E. Motions to reconsider must be by a member who voted with the majority, and at the same or next succeeding meeting of the council.
F. The clerk shall keep a correct record of all proceedings and the yes and/or no votes shall be taken on any question and entered in the journal.
G. All questions of order shall be decided by the presiding officer of the council with the right of appeal to the council by any members.
H. The presiding officer of the council may, at his discretion, call the mayor pro tem to take the chair and thereafter address the council from the floor, make a motion or discuss any matter at issue. If the mayor gives up the chair, he thereafter cannot vote on the matter at issue before the council.
I. Each member present must vote on all questions put to the council with three exceptions:
1. Matters with respect to which such council member has a personal financial interest;
2. Matters with respect to which such council member has a conflict of interest; and
3. The approval of the minutes of a meeting in which the member did not attend. If a council member refuses or fails to vote on the question, and such refusal or failure to vote is determined by the chair to not fall within one of the three exceptions, the council member’s vote shall be regarded as having been cast with the majority of those council members present and voting, and shall be so recorded in the minutes. In the event of a tie vote by the council members present and voting, the abstaining council member’s vote shall be recorded as a vote in a negative.
J. During all regular meetings of the council, a break may be taken or provided as called by the presiding officer.
K. All regular and special meetings of the council shall be public and no ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order or directive shall be adopted except in a regular or special meeting open to the public, the date of which is fixed by law, rule or notice; but executive sessions, from which the public is excluded, may be held in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 42.30 RCW (Open Public Meetings Act).
L. The rules of the council may be altered, amended or temporarily suspended by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the council.
M. The chair of each respective committee, or the council member acting for him/her in his place, shall submit or make all reports to the council when so requested by the presiding officer or any member of the council.
N. It shall be the duty of the presiding officer of the council meeting to:
1. Call the meeting to order;
2. Keep the meeting to its order of business;
3. State each motion and require a second to that motion before permitting discussion. Questions relative only to background information may be asked and answered before the motion is made;
4. Handle discussion in an orderly way:
a. Give every council member who wishes an opportunity to speak,
b. Permit audience participation at appropriate times,
c. Keep all speakers to the rules and to the questions,
d. Give pro and con speakers equal opportunity to speak;
5. Put motions to a vote and announce the outcome;
6. Adjourn meetings;
7. Appoint committees when authorized to do so. (Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.055 Public participation in council meetings.
The following rules apply during all meetings of the city council. These rules are intended to promote an orderly system of holding a public meeting, to give every person an opportunity to be heard and to ensure that no individuals are embarrassed by exercising their right of free speech.
A. Maintaining Order. The city council is not statutorily required to allow public comments at council meetings. The Open Public Meetings Act only allows the public to attend council meetings. It does not guarantee the right of the public to participate or become unruly at a council meeting. The Toppenish city council is committed to listening to the community and therefore has established a period for public comments to be heard during council meetings. However, it is necessary to maintain order during the meetings to enable the council to hear all views and ensure that every person has the opportunity to be heard without the risk of embarrassment or ridicule.
B. Time Limit. Persons addressing the council, who are not specifically scheduled on the agenda, shall step up to the podium during the public comment period, give their name and address for the record, and must limit their remarks to three minutes. Each person may address the council only one time during the public comment portion of the meeting.
C. Courtesy. All speakers during council meetings shall be courteous in their language and deportment and shall not engage in or discuss or comment on personalities, or indulge in derogatory remarks or insinuations in respect to any member of the council, or any member of the staff or the public, but shall at all times confine their remarks to those facts which are germane and relevant, as determined by the presiding officer, to the question or matter under discussion.
D. Signs. No person shall display a sign in a manner that is disruptive to the conduct of a city council meeting. People with signs shall not block the views of others in attendance or the Mid Valley TV video camera. Signs with obscene language are prohibited. Signs that are primarily personal attacks and not dealing with public issues are prohibited. Signs containing language or symbols that are abusive or insulting about the character of city officials or employees are prohibited.
E. Transgression. No person shall actually disrupt a council meeting by words or conduct that impedes or impairs the council from accomplishing its business in a reasonably efficient manner. “Actual disruption” means actual disruption. An actual disruption need not resemble a breach of the peace or fighting words. A speaker may disrupt a council meeting by speaking too long, by being unduly repetitious, by extended discussion of irrelevancies, or by words or conduct that actually impedes the progress of the meeting. A person who disrupts a council meeting shall lose the privilege to continue speaking and may be ejected from the meeting for continuing to actually disrupt the meeting. The presiding officer (mayor or mayor pro tem) should take whatever action is necessary to see that the council can conduct the meeting in an orderly fashion. The presiding officer shall have authority to determine whether a speaker’s remarks or conduct fails to comply with these rules, and the presiding officer shall have the right to suspend such person’s right to speak or have him ejected from the meeting, subject to the council’s right to overrule such decision. (Ord. 2013-16, 2013; Ord. 2007-8, 2007).
2.05.057 Notice of public hearings before city council.
Except as may otherwise be provided by laws of the state or ordinances of the city, notice of public hearings before the city council shall be given by publishing the date, time, place and general purpose of the public hearing in the official newspaper of the city at least 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing. (Ord. 2016-03, 2016).
2.05.060 Compensation.
The mayor shall receive as compensation a salary of $150.00 per meeting attended with a maximum monthly compensation of $450.00 per month. All other members of the city council shall receive as compensation a salary of $133.33 per meeting attended, with a maximum monthly compensation of $400.00 per month. The three meetings for which compensation is allowed are the study session on the first Monday of each month and the two regular meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month, as identified in TMC 2.05.010. (Ord. 2016-11 § 1, 2016; Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.070 Mayor and mayor pro tem.
A mayor and mayor pro tem shall be elected by the city council at the time and in the manner provided for in Chapter 35A.13 RCW. (Ord. 2004-4 § 1, 2004).
2.05.080 Vacancies.
A. Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide guidance to the city council when a Toppenish councilmember position becomes vacant before the expiration of the official’s elected term of office. Pursuant to state law, a vacancy shall be filled only to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.
B. Appointment Process. A council position shall be officially declared vacant upon the occurrence of any cause of vacancy set forth in RCW 42.12.010, including resignation, recall, forfeiture, failing to attend three consecutive regular meetings of the council without being excused by the council, or death of a councilmember. The councilmember who is vacating his or her position cannot participate in the appointment process.
The city council shall direct staff to begin the councilmember appointment process and establish an interview and appointment schedule so that the position is filled at the earliest opportunity.
The city clerk’s office shall prepare and submit an advertisement for publication in the official newspaper of the city which announces the vacancy, that an applicant must be a registered voter of the city of Toppenish, and have been a resident of the city for a period of at least one year next preceding his/her appointment, and hold no other public office or employment under the city government. This advertisement shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks. This advertisement shall contain other information, including, but not limited to, time to be served in the vacant position, election information, salary information, the deadline date and time for submitting applications, interview and appointment schedules, and such other information that the city council deems appropriate.
The city clerk’s office shall prepare an application form which requests appropriate information for city council consideration of the applicants. Applications will be available at City Hall. Applications received by the deadline date and time will be copied and circulated by the city clerk’s office to the city council. Packets may also contain additional information received such as endorsements, letters of reference and other pertinent materials.
The city clerk’s office shall notify applicants of the location, date and time of city council interviews.
C. Interview Meeting. Each interview of an applicant/candidate shall be conducted as follows:
1. The applicant shall present his or her credentials to the city council.
2. The city council shall ask the predetermined set of questions, which must be responded to by the applicant. Each applicant will be asked and will answer the same set of questions.
The applicant’s order of appearance will be determined by a random lot drawing performed by the city clerk.
Vacancies in the city council shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the city council, but such appointee shall hold office only for the remainder of the unexpired term.
D. Voting. Upon completion of the interviews, councilmembers may convene into executive session to discuss the qualifications of the applicants; however, all interviews, nominations and votes taken by the council shall be in open public session.
The voting process shall be as follows:
1. Councilmembers shall nominate one or more candidates from those applicants who have been interviewed.
2. Nominations shall be closed by a motion, second and majority vote.
3. Councilmembers may deliberate on such matters as criteria for selection and the nominated candidates.
4. When the councilmembers are ready to vote, the city clerk or deputy city clerk shall proceed with a roll-call vote.
5. Balloting shall continue until a nominee receives a majority vote.
Nothing in this policy shall prevent the city council from reconvening into executive session to further discuss the applicant/candidate qualifications.
The mayor shall declare the nominee receiving the majority vote as the new councilmember, who shall be sworn into office by the city clerk at the earliest opportunity, or no later than the next regularly scheduled city council meeting.
E. Failure to Appoint. If the city council fails to appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy within 90 days of the occurrence of the vacancy, the authority of the city council to fill the vacancy shall cease and the Yakima County legislative authority shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy. (Ord. 2007-7 §§ 1 – 5, 2007).