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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS-1995-057-R-957/10/95 • 57-R-95 RESOLUTION Adopting Rules and Organization of the City Council of the City of Evanston BE IT AND IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Evanston, Cook County, Illinois, adopts as its Rules and Organization, the following Rules 1 to 25 inclusive. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Rules, Order of Business and Organization of the City Council heretofore adopted, are hereby expressly rescinded and repealed, and the following Rules 1 to 25 inclusive, shall be in effect from and after July 10, 1995. GLOSSARY "Acting Mayor" is a member of the City Council elected by the Council to fill a vacancy in the office of Mayor until filled by a regular or special election. The Acting Mayor shall possess all the rights and powers of the Mayor. "City Council" and "Corporate Authorities" shall mean the nine Aldermen and the Mayor and may be used interchangeably. "Journal" is the official record of the City Council, wherein are recorded the yeas and nays taken on the passage of designated ordinances, resolutions, motions, and other actions of the Council. "Mayor pro tem" is a member of the City Council, who is elected by the Council to perform the duties and possess all the rights and powers of the Mayor if a temporary absence or disability of the Mayor prevents the performance of Mayoral duties, but does not create a vacancy in the office. (Exception: See Rule 14.4) "Quorum" is six members of the Corporate Authorities for a City Council meeting and for a meeting of the Committee of the Whole. "Temporary Chair" is a member of the Council, who in the absence of the Mayor, acting Mayor, or Mayor pro tem for a portion of a meeting is elected by the Council to act as a temporary chair. The temporary chair shall have only the powers of a presiding officer and has a right to vote as Alderman.. (Exception: See Rule 14.-4), • 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. ADJOURNMENT AGENDA AMENDMENT APPEALS APPOINTMENTS CITIZEN PARTICIPATION CITY MANAGER CLOSED SESSIONS COMMITTEES CONDUCT OF MEMBERS CONFLICT OF INTEREST CONSENT AGENDA DEBATE GENERAL PROVISIONS MAYOR MEDIA INDEX AND ABSTENTIONS MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL MINUTES MOTIONS ORDINANCES QUORUM RECONSIDERATION ROBERT'S RULES TOWNSHIP VOTES EXTRAORDINARY VOTES 1. ADJOURNMENT PAGE 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 10 10 10 11 11 11 13 13 14 14 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 1.1 A motion to adjourn the Council shall always be in order except while a vote is being taken. 1.2 A motion to adjourn cannot be amended or debated, but a motion to adjourn to a specific date or time may be amended and debated. (See also Rule 16.3) 2. AGENDA: ORDER AT COUNCIL MEETINGS 2.1 The first order of business at each meeting of the City Council shall be the calling of the roll of Aldermen by the City Clerk, who shall mark the absentees and announce whether a quorum is present; the Council shall then be called to order by the Mayor. Thereupon, the Council shall proceed to the business before it which shall normally be conducted in the following order. The Mayor or the Council may vary the order of business: (1) Mayor and City Manager Public Announcements. (2) Citizen Comment. (3) Approval of the minutes of the preceding meeting. n U • (4) Communications addressed to the Council. The City Clerk shall give notice to the Council members of all written communications directed to the Council. (5) Consent Agenda. (6) Report of the Bills and Purchase Coordinator. (7) Report of Administration and Public Works Coordinator. (8) Report of Planning and Development Coordinator (9) Report of Human Services Coordinator (10) Report of Special Committees (11) Report of the City Manager (12) Miscellaneous business including announcements and appointments by the Mayor. (13) Call of the Wards, at which time each Alderman shall be called upon by the Mayor to announce or provide information about any Ward or City matter which that Alderman desires to bring before the Council. 2.2 All matters relating to priority of business shall be decided by the Mayor without debate. 2.3 The Mayor shall preserve order and decorum and shall decide all questions of order. 2.4 During the meetings of the City Council only city officers and staff, former Aldermen, former Mayors and persons connected with the accredited media shall be admitted to • the Council floor, except upon invitation of the Mayor. 2.5 In the case of disturbance or disorderly conduct the Mayor shall have the power (1) to remove the offenders; (2) to clear the Council Chamber of all spectators; or (3) to suspend or adjourn the meeting. 2.6 Committees or individual Aldermen who intend to ask for official Council action shall ask the City Manager to put such matters on the printed agenda prior to the Council meeting. Matters shall generally be brought to the appropriate committee before Council action is requested. 3. AMENDMENT, REPEAL OR SUSPENSION OF RULES 3.1 Any rule may be amended or repealed at any regular meeting of the City Council, upon a prior submission thereof in writing, by three or more Aldermen. The requested changes must be distributed to members of the City Council at least one week in advance of the vote thereon. The proposed amendment or repeal must be approved by a majority of the Aldermen currently holding office. 3.2 Any rule may be temporarily suspended for the matter under isconsideration at any time by a two-thirds vote of the Aldermen present, except as provided in Rule 20.1. 4 4. APPEALS The rulings of the Mayor may be appealed to the City Council and shall be decided by majority vote without debate. 5. APPOINTMENTS 5.1 The Mayor shall have the sole right and power, with the advice and consent of the City Council, to make all appointments to the commissions, boards, and advisory bodies of the Council unless otherwise provided by ordinance or resolution. All appointments shall be introduced at least one week in advance of their consideration by the City Council. The Mayor shall precede introduction by transmitting to each Alderman in confidence a written biography of the prospective appointee no later than the Friday prior to introduction. 5.2 A board or commission appointee may be reappointed only once. When a vacancy is created by the resignation of a member prior to expiration of that member's term, the member appointed to fill this vacancy shall be appointed to a full term unless otherwise provided by City Ordinance or State Statute. 5.3 The term for board or commission membership shall be three years except where otherwise provided by statute or ordinance. 5.4 No board or commission member shall be appointed to serve on more than one board or commission concurrently, except where required by official position. 5.5 The City Council shall be given notice of the reappointment of any board or commission appointee in the same manner as established for original appointments. 5.6 Committee Chairs 5.6.1 Committees consisting of all aldermen shall have chair appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council. 5.6.2 Committees consisting of Aldermen and citizens which report directly to -the Council shall have an Aldermanic Chair appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council. • r� U 5.6.3 Committees consisting of Aldermen and citizens • which report to the Council or the Committee of the Whole shall have a citizen chair elected by the members of the committee. 0 5 5.6.4 Boards, Committees and Commissions entirely composed of citizens shall elect their chairs, except the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Emergency Telephone System (E-911) Board, which are required by the City Code to have a Mayoral appointed chair (with the advice and consent of the City Council.) 5.6.5 Special Committees (Ad Hoc) shall have a chair appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council. 6. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 6.1 Any citizen may address a committee on invitation of the Mayor or by invitation of the chair of a Council committee. 6.2 As part of its agenda, the Council shall provide a period not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes at the commencement of each regular Council meeting for citizen comment. Interested persons shall sign their names and addresses on a posted list, and indicate the agenda item or other subject they may wish to address. The Mayor will give priority to those persons wishing to address an item appearing on the meeting's agenda for decision and will allocate time equally among those persons signed up to speak. 6.3 Persons who sign up to speak on an agenda item marked for decision at this meeting may be given priority and should indicate an agenda item or subject to be addressed. 6.4 A person invited to address the Council as specified herein, when accorded the floor, shall limit comments to include items within the jurisdiction of the Evanston City Council as determined by the Mayor and be governed by these rules to the extent applicable. 6.5 The Mayor may make additional time available at the end of the meeting for persons signed up to speak who could not be heard during the allotted City Comment period at the beginning of the meeting. 6.6 During periods of citizen participation, comments from Aldermen shall be limited to requests for further information or referral to a committee. • 7. CITY MANAGER 7.1 The City Manager shall be appointed by a majority vote of the Corporate Authorities (City Council and Mayor), and shall be delegated the full executive powers specified in Section 1-8-3 of the City Code. 6 • 7.2 The Manager may be removed from office at any time by a majority vote of all the elected members of the Council. 7.3 The Manager shall attend all meetings of the City Council with the right to take part in discussion but with no right to vote. 7.4 No committee or its individual members shall in any way assume or attempt to assume any executive or administrative function delegated to the City Manager or appointees thereof. 7.5 In the case of absence or disability of the Manager for a period exceeding 30 days, the Council may designate a qualified administrative officer of the municipality to perform the duties of the Manager during such absence or disability. 8. CLOSED SESSIONS * 8.1 At any Council meeting for which proper notice under Sec.42.02 of the Open Meetings Act, (5 ILCS 120) has been given, the Council may decide to hold a closed session for any purpose(s) authorized by Sec. 42 of the Act. Such • closed session must be approved in open meeting by majority vote of a quorum present, and each vote and the purpose of the closed session shall be recorded in the minutes of the open meeting. * 8.2 Only topics specified in the vote to close may be considered during the closed session. No final action may be taken at a closed session. Minutes shall be kept of all closed sessions and shall remain confidential unless the Council determines otherwise. 8.3 All proceedings of a Closed Session shall be kept in strict confidence by all those in attendance. 8.4 Consideration of Confidential Information - The City Council will convene into a Closed Session at the beginning of a City Council meeting when three or more Aldermen wish to discuss whether information labeled as confidential should remain confidential. The call for such a Closed Session should be made at the beginning of the City Council meeting and requires that three or more Aldermen support the call for the Closed Session. A majority vote of a quorum present is necessary to convene a Closed Session of the City Council. An Alderman who has a question about the confidentiality of an item should • exercise a good faith effort in contacting the Mayor first to discuss the confidentiality of the item before requesting that the City Council consider its confidentiality. • 7 9. COMMITTEES' * 9.1 Open Meetings. All regular and special meetings of committees, boards and commissions shall be open to the public and to the press, except closed sessions as authorized by the statutes of the State of Illinois. 9.2 Committee of the Whole: Prior to each regularly scheduled City Council meeting, the Council shall meet as a Committee of the Whole to consider all matters as may be brought before it in the following areas: 9.2.1 Finance, Bills and Purchases. The matters to be considered under this grouping include budget policy, finance, capital improvements, purchases of goods and services (excluding purchased human services contracts) and all bills and expenses. 9.2.2 Administration and Public Works. The matters to be considered under this grouping are fire; legal; licensing; personnel; public works, including streets and alleys, lighting refuse disposal, water and sewers, traffic control and parking; • public buildings; public transportation; public utilities; police services (policy); safety (including civil defense) and liaison with police and fire pension boards. 9.2.3 Human Services. The matters to be considered under this category shall include matters relating to the Department of Health and Human Services, including public health, mental health, youth aging, emergency assistance and community purchased human services; liaison with human service related boards and commissions; private and public organizations funding or providing human services within the City; and matters relating to the arts, recreation, library, environment, unemployment, the Township, unified budgeting, the Farmers' Market and police services (citizen review). 9.2.4 Planning and Development. The matters to be considered under this category include matters related to planning; physical development, zoning, building conservation, preservation, housing, parks and relocation. • 9.2.5 The Committee of the Whole, or its duly authorized sub -committee, will sit as the Township Committee when dealing with all matters relating to the Township. It will sit as the Police Services Committee when dealing with citizen review cases. A 9.3 Committee Coordinators. A schedule of the Committee of the Whole Coordinators for each of the areas referred to in Rules 9.2.1 through 9.2.4 shall be established and approved by the Committee so that each alderman shall serve no more than two terms as a coordinator per year, with no alderman holding simultaneous coordinator positions under any two or more areas. The Coordinator schedule will be based on seniority, and the term of office as Coordinator in each area shall be three months. 9.4 Presidinq Officer. The presiding official at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee of the Whole shall be the Mayor During the course of the meetings of the Committee, the Mayor shall recognize and call upon the Coordinators of the various areas referred to in Rules 9.2.1 through 9.2.4 to introduce and lead the discussion in the indicated areas. 9.5. Committee of the Whole's Priorities and Procedures. 9.5.1 References - Committees, Boards, and Commissions composed entirely of aldermen, including the Committee of the Whole, shall consider matters referred to them by the mayor, aldermen, or city manager without the necessity of a vote of the Council. References to other Committees, Boards or Commissions, which are approved by the City Council, shall be considered by that Committee, Board or Commission. Prior to approval of such reference, the Council (or its Committee of the Whole) shall have the right to debate the motion for such reference. In order to more easily identify and track those references made by members of the City Council, all references should be made at a Committee of the Whole meeting or on the floor of the Council. 9.5.2 The Coordinator of each area shall confer on a regular basis with staff to review the agenda for the pertinent area. Each Coordinator shall report Committee of the Whole deliberations and action in his or her area to the Council and may appoint, as necessary, a •speaker to present majority or minority reports to the Council. • • 9.5.3. The only motions in order at a meeting of a Committee of the Whole are: (1) to hold a • particular agenda item in Committee; or (2) to delegate an agenda item to a subcommittee appointed by the Committee of the Whole or to an existing Special Committee, Board or Commission. • 9.5.4 The Committee of the Whole may appoint subcommittees for better operational efficiency and/or greater community involvement to consider particular issues or problems. The subcommittee shall report to the Committee of the Whole. 9.6 Aside from the regular meetings of the Committee of the Whole referred to above, the Council may resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole for the purpose of informally discussing any matter. The presiding official at such a meeting shall be the Mayor. 9.7 Special Committees (Ad Hoc) 9.7.1 Special committees may be appointed to consider particular problems. At the time of the creation of any special committee, the appointing body shall also designate to whom the special committee will report and the time frame within which its work should be completed. There shall be three types of special committees: 9.7.2 Special Committees of the Aldermen which shall be composed of Aldermen appointed by the City Council or by the Mayor. • 9.7.3 Special Committees which may be composed of Aldermen and citizens of the City which shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council. 9.7.4 Special Committees appointed by the Mayor, with the advice and consent of the City Council, which may be composed entirely of citizens. 9.7.5 The chairs of these special committees shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council. 9.8 Special Meetings. Three or more members of a Committee, Board or Commission may call a meeting of that body when the Chair has cancelled the meeting. Such call for a meeting shall be in writing, duly signed by the callers and shall be presented to the Chair. 10. CONDUCT OF MEMBERS 10.1 No member of the Council shall speak until recognized by the Mayor. • 10.2 An Alderman called to order by the Mayor shall immediately sit down. 10.3 Any Alderman who acts in a disorderly manner at a Council or standing committee meeting or who does not obey the order of the Mayor, may be censured by a majority vote of the members present or expelled for the remainder of the meeting by a two-thirds vote of the Aldermen present. 11. 12 10 10.4 Any Alderman who does not comply with the Evanston City • Code of Ethics may be censured by a majority vote of members present at a Council meeting. CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND ABSTENTIONS 11.1 An Alderman is expected to vote yea or nay on all matters when present except on any matter in which is involved a direct personal pecuniary interest or conflict of interest. The reason for an abstention should be announced. If the Mayor or any Alderman believes there is a conflict of interest in any matter before the Council, consultation with the Board of Ethics is available. 11.2 Aldermen serving on the Board of Directors of an Evanston not -for -profit agency shall disclose their membership and refrain from participating in Council discussion or vote on matters pertaining to the not -for -profit agency. 11.3 No Alderman shall give testimony before the Zoning Board of Appeals or the Plan Commission on any matters that will ultimately come before the City Council for consideration except when presenting the official recommendations of a Council committee or subcommittee on a matter within its jurisdiction and upon which a formal vote by that committee or subcommittee has been taken. An Alderman may give such testimony only when the Alderman is the appellant before the Zoning Board of Appeals or Plan Commission. 11.4 Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit an Alderman from attending Zoning Board of Appeals or Plan Commission meetings or from giving testimony on those items for which the Zoning Board of Appeals is the final authority. CONSENT AGENDA 12.1 Consent agenda items are marked by an asterisk* on the regular Council agenda. 12.2 All items on the consent agenda are decided by one roll call vote without discussion or debate. 12.3 An item may be removed from the consent agenda by the request of either the Mayor or an Alderman. Such a request does not require a second or a vote. 12.4 An item removed from the consent agenda will be considered separately as called by the appropriate committee. 12.5 An Ordinance to be introduced may remain on the Consent • Agenda, if it was approved by the Committee. • • • 13 . 11 DEBATE 13.1 No Alderman shall speak for longer than five minutes on the same subject except by consent of a majority of the Council. Council consent shall be assumed in the absence of objections by any Alderman or the Mayor. 13.2 No Alderman shall speak twice on the same subject until all Aldermen who wish to speak have had an opportunity to be heard at least once. 14. GENERAL PROVISIONS 14.1 The powers of the City Council shall be purely legislative. 14.2 The City Council shall approve for payment all expenses and liabilities of the Municipality. 15. MAYOR 15.1 The Mayor is the presiding officer at all meetings of the City Council and is an ex officio member of all City Council committees. 15.2 The Mayor shall be an ex officio member of all committees, boards and commissions. * 15.3 All ordinances and resolutions passed by the Council shall be deposited with the City Clerk. The Mayor shall indicate approval of these by signing them. Those disapproved shall be returned to the Council accompanied by written objections at the next regular meeting occurring not less than seven (7) days after passage. The Mayor may disapprove of any one or more sums appropriated in any ordinance or resolution making an appropriation, and, if so, the remainder shall be considered approved. However, the Mayor may disapprove entirely of an ordinance or resolution making an appropriation. If the Mayor fails to return any ordinance or resolution with written objections within the designated time, it shall be considered approved even though it lacks the Mayor's signature. * 15.4 When the Mayor votes: 15.4.1 The Mayor shall vote on Ordinances, Resolutions and motions in the following instances: A. When the vote of the Aldermen has resulted in a tie B. On the appointment of a City Manager 12 • C. Where a vote greater than a majority of the corporate authorities (Aldermen and Mayor) is required by statute to adopt an ordinance, resolution or motion; 15.4.2 The Mayor shall not vote in the following instances: A. To break a tie vote on an incidental motion. (Incidental motions consider procedural issues and are used to enforce correct rules of procedure.) A tie vote on an incidental motion sustains the decision of the Mayor. B. On any ordinance, resolution or motion when there is no tie vote 15.4.3 An Acting Mayor or Mayor pro tem shall not be accorded the voting privilege of Mayor; however nothing in this section may deprive an Acting Mayor or Mayor pro tem of the voting privilege of Alderman. 15.5 The Mayor shall have authority to refer any matter to the is of any committee of the City Council, or to any Alderman, board, commission, or advisory body of the City Council. 15.6 The Mayor shall at all times have access to any and all records, documents, and information relative to any and all functions of the municipal government as allowed by law. 15.7 Mayor pro tem 15.7.1 If a temporary absence or temporary disability of the Mayor prevents the performance of Mayoral duties, but does not create a vacancy in the office, the City Council shall elect one of its members to act as Mayor pro tem. The Mayor pro tem during such absence or disability, shall perform the duties and shall possess all the rights and powers of the Mayor. 15.7.2 The City Clerk shall maintain at all times the list of Aldermen by seniority to serve as either Mayor pro tem or Temporary Chair (as defined in glossary) as prepared by the Rules Committee. The chair of the Rules Committee shall nominate • as Mayor pro tem in the order of succession from said list. 13 • 15.8 Acting Mayor * 15.8.1 A vacancy occurs in the office of Mayor by reason of resignation, failure to elect or qualify, death, permanent physical or mental disability, conviction of a disqualifying crime, abandonment of office, removal from office or by removal of residence from the City. * 15.8.2 In accordance with the state election code, if a vacancy occurs in the office of the Mayor and there remains an unexpired portion of the term, the office shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term by special election at the non -mayoral consolidated election provided that the vacancy occurs more than 130 days before that election. If the vacancy occurs less than 130 days before the non -mayoral consolidated election, the vacancy shall be filled at the next consolidated election when the office of Mayor is normally on the ballot. The City Council shall elect one of its members Acting Mayor who shall perform the duties and possess all the rights and powers of the Mayor until a successor to fill the vacancy has been elected and has qualified. • (Exception: See Rule 14.4) 16. MEDIA All official meetings of the City Council and its committees shall be open to the media, freely subject to recording by radio, television, and photographic devices at any time, provided that such arrangements do not interfere with the orderly conduct of the meeting. 17. MEETINGS OF THE COUNCIL 17.1 All meetings of the City Council shall be open to the public and the press, with the exception of closed sessions as specified in the Open Meetings Act. 17.2 Regular meetings of the City Council shall be held semimonthly on such dates and at such times as approved by the City Council at the beginning of the calendar year. Alterations to the approved calendar of meeting dates shall require_Council action and proper public notice in accordance with the Open Meetings Act.* • 17.3 Special meetings may be held at any time upon proper public notice as specified in the Open Meetings Act*, by call of the Mayor, or by the call of three or more Aldermen. Such call for special meetings shall be in writing, duly signed by the callers, and shall be presented to the City Clerk, who shall prepare and issue 14 • notices of the same to the Mayor and all members of the Council at least twenty-four hours before the meeting. Such notices shall describe in brief the nature or object of the special meeting. At every special meeting the call for said meeting shall be read and afterwards filed by the Clerk and no business other than that proposed by the call shall be in order at such meeting. *Public notice under the Open Meetings Act requires that the notice of a special, rescheduled regular, or a reconvened meeting must be given at least twenty-four hours beforehand and must also include the agenda for the meeting. The notice must be posted in the Civic Center or at the building in which the meeting is to be held. Copies of the notice must be supplied to all media who have filed an annual request for such service. 17.4 Emergency meetings. Notice of an emergency meeting shall be given as soon as possible, but in any event, prior to the holding of such meeting, to any news medium which has filed an annual request for notice. 18. MINUTES * 18.1. A journal of the minutes of the City Council shall be kept by the City Clerk and a copy of the minutes of the • immediately preceding meeting shall be delivered to each Alderman prior to the convening of the next regular meeting. 18.2 In all cases where a motion is entered in the minutes of the Council, the name of the Alderman moving the same and the name of the seconder shall be recorded, except for a motion to adjourn. 19. MOTIONS 19.1 A motion is not before the Council until it has been seconded. A motion shall be reduced to writing if requested by an Alderman, the Clerk or the Mayor. 19.2 A motion may be withdrawn by the proposer at any time before a vote is called. * 19.3 All ordinances and authorizations to expend or disburse monies shall be passed only by a roll call vote duly recorded. (Five votes) 19.4 Upon motion of any Alderman, the vote shall be by roll call and shall be recorded. • 19.5 The Mayor shall announce the result of the Council's vote on every roll call. Prior to such announcement, Aldermen may change their vote. • 15 19.6 A motion to table any matter is not debatable, and, if adopted, shall end all further debate of the subject. A motion to take a matter from the table may be proposed at the same meeting or at any subsequent meeting. 19.7 An amendment to modify an original motion shall be in order, but no amendment to a motion shall be made which changes the intent of an original motion or relates to a different subject. 19.8 A substitute for any original motion or proposition may be entertained and if adopted by the Council shall entirely supersede the original motion or proposition. 19.9 When a motion is made and seconded to "call for the question", a vote shall then be taken without debate unless one of the following motions is interposed --namely, a motion to adjourn, a motion to adjourn at a specified time, a motion to recess, or a motion raising a point of personal privilege. If the motion to call for the question is carried, all further motions and debate shall be excluded and the question before the Council shall then be put. If a roll call vote is requested on a motion to call for the question, a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Aldermen present is required for passage. 19.10 A motion to limit further debate to a specified period of time, being duly seconded, shall be carried if it is approved by a majority of the Aldermen present. This motion is not debatable. 19.11 Any matter before the Council may be made a special order of business for any future time by action of the Council. A special order of business refers to Council consideration of a docket item which will be considered at a specified date previously agreed upon by a majority vote of the Council. 19.12 At the request of two Aldermen, any matter except a special order of business may be held over for consideration until the next regular meeting of the Council. Any matter so held over may not be held over a second consecutive time by this procedure. An Alderman may ask either the City Manager or the Alderman requesting the holdover to explain the impact of the holdover at the time a holdover is requested. If a request to hold a matter over is contested by a motion to overrule the request, duly made and seconded, the motion to overrule • will be sustained if at least two-thirds (2/3's) of the 16 0 Aldermen present vote in favor of the motion. A motion to overrule is debatable. Any citizen may inspect the matter under such deferred deliberation at the office of the City Clerk. 20. ORDINANCES 20.1 No ordinance may be adopted by the Council at the same meeting at which it is introduced. During the period between introduction and consideration, any citizen may inspect any such proposed ordinance at the office of the City Clerk. However, an ordinance may be adopted by the Council at the same meeting at which it is introduced after the rules are suspended by a unanimous vote of the Aldermen. * 20.2 An ordinance, to pass, requires a majority vote (five) of the nine aldermen, unless otherwise specified, i.e. unless an extraordinary vote is required. (See Council Rule 26) If the Mayor's vote to break a tie constitutes the fifth vote, the item passes. 21. QUORUM 21.1 A quorum of the City Council shall be six members of the City Council (Corporate Authorities) including the Mayor, acting Mayor or Mayor pro tem, currently holding office. Except as required by the statutes of this State, enacted ordinances of this City, or these rules, action may be taken by a majority vote of a quorum. 21.2 A quorum of the Committee of the Whole shall be six (6) members of the City Council (Corporate Authorities) including the Mayor, acting Mayor or Mayor pro tem, currently holding office. 22. RECONSIDERATION 22.1. Any vote to approve a purchase, contract, bond sale, zoning variation or special use, whether by motion, resolution or ordinance, or to confirm an appointment by the Mayor to a commission, board or advisory body, or to convene into a closed session, may be reconsidered but only at the same meeting at which said vote was taken, upon an affirmative vote of 2/3's of the Aldermen present. The vote taken on any other motion, resolution or ordinance may be reconsidered but only at the next regular meeting held after the meeting at which said vote was taken, upon the vote of the majority of the Aldermen • present. A motion for reconsideration may be made as set forth herein only once. A motion to reconsider must be made by an Alderman who voted on the prevailing side; 17 however, when a motion, resolution, or ordinance fails to pass by reason of not having received a required extraordinary vote, a motion to reconsider may be made by any Alderman who was present and voted in the previous consideration. Any motion to reconsider, properly made, may be seconded by any other Alderman. * 22.2 No vote of the Council shall be reconsidered or rescinded at a special meeting. * 22.3 Every resolution, motion, and ordinance which is returned to the Council by the Mayor after veto may be reconsidered by the Council by a motion to override the veto at the same meeting of such return If two-thirds of all Aldermen elected to the Council vote to pass the ordinance, resolution or motion, notwithstanding the Mayor's refusal to approve it, then it shall be effective. The vote on the question of passage over the Mayor's veto shall be by roll call. 23. ROBERT'S RULES The rules of parliamentary practice comprised in the latest edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the Council in all cases to which • they are applicable and in which they are not in conflict with these Rules of the Council. 24. TOWNSHIP The Aldermen and Mayor of the Evanston City Council are the Trustees of the Town of the City of Evanston, and all matters relating to Township affairs may be considered and acted upon by the City Council acting as the Town Board of Trustees. Prior to consideration of any Township matter, the Mayor shall announce that the item of business is before the Town Board of Trustees. 25. VOTES 25.1 Voice votes may be taken on motions, resolutions, and appointments, except where a roll call vote is specifically called for by statute, rules of the Council, or by a request of any Alderman. 25.2 Roll call votes are required on all ordinances, - expenditures, calling a closed meeting, items requiring an extraordinary majority, or when requested by any Alderman. • 25.3 The order in which Aldermen shall be called for roll call votes shall be alternated. The order of voting for the year shall be published by the City Clerk at the beginning of the year. 18 25.4 A mayoral vote is required in the instances specified in Rule 15.4. 0 25.5 An Alderman may abstain from voting in the instance specified in Rule 11.1. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that said Rules and Organization be published in pamphlet form. Q�/N7 L v Mayor ATTES . / City Clerk Adopted: July 10, 1995 • •