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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS-1959-004-R-59rt 0 4-R-59 RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF, THE CITY OF EVANSTON Published in Pamphlet Form by Order of the City Council ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL MAY 18, 1959 N1 D E X Page No. Adjournment When in Order ..• 6 Administration Committee 9 Call of Wards 4 • Committee on Committees .. .... 8 Committee of the Whole ..... 10 Conduct of Membe\ 3 Debate 6 Limitations 7 General Provisions .... 10 Jurisdiction of Committees ....... 9 Land Use Committee .. ........... 9 Meetings of the .Council . ........... I ........ 2 Regular Official Meetings ....... .. ...... 2 Special Meetings 2 Motions .. . . .. ... 5 To Adjourn ... I .. /.... I ... . .. 6 To put Main Question 6 To Hold Over to Next Meeting .. .. .... 10 To Table ... ........ 7 . ........ To Take From Table .. ..... 7 To Reconsider 7 To Amend 7 Substitute Motions .. ... ................ . .. ....... . . 7 Special Matters . . ...... ... ........ ........ 5 Municipal Services Committee .. . .... 9 Order of Business ...... .. . ...................... 3 Previous Question 6 Quorum 3 • Special Committees ... 8 Standing Committees 9 Suspension of Rules 10 Voting on Motions 6 Recording Ayes and Nays 6 Announcing Result ........ 6 Not voting, How Construed 5 Pot 4-R-59 RESOLUTION Adopting Rules and Order of Business 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, adopt as its Rules and Order of Business, the following Rules 1 to 55 inclusive. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Rules and Order of Business of the City Council heretofore adopted, are hereby ex- pressly rescinded and repealed, and the following Rules 1 to 55 inclusive, shall be in effect from and after the adoption of this resolution: RULES AND ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVANSTON Meetings of the Council RULE 1: Regular official meetings of the City Council shall be held every Monday evening at 8 :30 o'clock P.M., unless a different date or time for meeting shall have been specified by Council action. The Council shall remain in session until the same shall have been adjourned by a majority vote of the mem- bers present. Special meetings may be held at any time 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 pro- ceed immediately to prepare notices of the same and shall cause said notices to be served personally or by mail on the Mayor •and all members of the Council, at least twenty-four hours be- fore 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 except by unanimous consent of the members present. K Order of Business RULE 2: The first order of business at each meeting of the Council shall be the calling of 'the roll of Aldermen by the Clerk, who shall mark the absentees and announce whether a quorum (i.e. a majority of all members elected) be present. If a quorum is present, the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, otherwise by the Mayor pro tempore or acting Mayor. Thereupon the Council shall proceed to the business before it, • which shall be conducted in the following order : 1. Readingof the minutes of the proceedings of the last meeting and approval of the same. 2. Communications addressed to the Council, or other of- ficer of the City and referred to the City Clerk. 3. Report of standing committees as called upon by the Mayor. 4. Report of special committees as called upon by the Mayor. 5. Report of the City Manager. 6. Call of Wards Whereby each Alderman shall be called upon by the Mayor to present any matters, petitions, communications, resolutions, or ordinances which he may desire to bring before the Council. 7. Miscellaneous business including announcements and appointments by the Mayor. RULE 3: All questions relating to priority of business shall be decided by the Chair without debate but rulings of the Chair shall be subject to appeal. RULE 4: The presiding officer shall preserve order and decorum and shall decide all questions of order subject to an appeal to the City Council. On any disposition following an ap- peal from a decision of the Chair, no member of the Council shall • speak more than once without unanimous consent of the Council. Conduct of Members RULE 5: While the presiding officer is putting the question on any matter before the Council, or while business of the 3 043. Council is being transacted, no member shall walk across or out of the Council Room except by the consent of the presiding officer. RULE 6: Each member of the Council, previous to his speaking or making a motion, shall rise from his seat and ad- dress himself to the presiding officer and say, "Mr. Mayor" and •shall not proceed with his remarks until recognized and named by the Chair. RULE 7: When two or more members rise at the same time, the presiding officer shall name the member who is first to speak. RULE 8: During the session of the Council only City Officers, ex -aldermen and persons connected with the press shall be admitted within the bars of the City Council Chamber, except upon invitation of the Chairman. Lobbying shall not be permitted at any time. RULE 9: In case of disturbance or disorderly conduct the pre- siding officer shall have the power to require the Council Chamber to be cleared if necessary. RULE 10: Smoking shall be strictly prohibited in the Council Chamber during the session of the Council. RULE 11: When a member of the Council wishes to present a communication, petition, order, resolution, or other original matter, he shall rise in his place and state its nature before presenting same. RULE 12: The order in which Aldermen shall be called- for re- port of Wards shall be alternated, beginning with •the First Ward at one meeting and with the Ninth Ward at the next meeting and so on, alternately, during the term of the Council. RULE 13. No member shall speak more than once upon the same subject, nor for longer than ten minutes at any time, except by consent of a. majority of the Council. 041 RULE 14• A member called to order by the Chair shall immedi- ately sit down unless permitted to explain his con- duct. If there is no appeal, the decision of the Chair shall be conclusive; but if a member appeals from the decision of the Chair, the decision of the Council by a majority vote on the matter, shall be conclusive. RULE 15: While a member is speaking no other members of • the Council shall hold any private discourse or dis- turb the proceedings, or pass between the speaker and the. Chair. RULE 16. Every member of the City Council present at a properly convened meeting shall vote unless he has an interest in the matter that is before the Council, in which event he shall disqualify himself. If a member, who has not disqualified himself does not vote, his failure to vote shall be construed as concurring with the majority. RULE 17: No member shall leave the Council while it is in session unless excused by the presiding officer. Motions and Resolutions RULE 18: Any matter before the Council may be set down as a special order of business at any time upon motion by the Council. RULE 19• No motion or resolution shall be put or debated un- less it shall have been seconded. Every motion shall be reduced to writing if required by a member and the proposer of the motion shall be entitled to the floor for the purpose of stating or restating the text of the motion. RULE 20: After a motion has been made and seconded, it shall be deemed to be before the Council for consideration but may be withdrawn by the proposer with the consent of the • member seconding the same at any time before the question is put. RULE 21 • In all cases where a resolution or motion is entered on the minutes of the Council, the name of the mem- ber moving the same shall be recorded. t� 045 Voting on Motions RULE 22: All ordinances, bills, and authorizations to expend monies shall be passed only by roll_ call with the ayes and nays vote recorded on the Minutes of the meeting. isRULE 23: Upon motion of any member of the Council, ayes and nays upon any question, motion, or resolution, shall be entered on the Minutes, provided request for such roll call vote is made by one or more Aldermen. RULE 24: The result of Council vote shall not be announced by the Clerk but shall be handed by him to the presid- ing officer for announcement and no vote on the tally list shall be changed after the tally list has been passed from the hands of the Clerk to the presiding officer, except for correction of an error thereon. RULE 25• Motions to adjourn or to lay on the table shall be decided without debate. Adjournment RULE 26: A motion to adjourn the Council shall always be in order except, (1) when a. member is in possession of the floor; (2) while the vote is being called; (3) when adjourn- ment was the last preceding motion. RULE 27: A motion to adjourn cannot be amended but a motion to adjourn to a specific date may be amended and is open to debate. • Previous Question RULE 28: When a motion is made and seconded to "put the previous question" said motion shall be put in this form: "Shall the main question now be put?" If this motion is carried, all further amendments, all further debate and further motions shall be excluded and the question shall be put without !.7 n4 delay first upon any pending amendments and then upon the main question. RULE 29: A motion to lay a question on the table is not de- batable, and, if adopted, shall end all further debate or discussion of the subject. A motion to take a subject matter from the table may be • proposed at the same meeting provided a majority of the Al- dermen present vote in favor of such motion. Motions to Amend RULE 30: A motion to amend an amendment shall be in order but one to amend an amendment to an amendment shall not be entertained. RULE 31: An amendment to modify or change the intent of an original motion shall be in order but no amendment to a motion shall be made which relates to a different subject. RULE 32• On an amendment to "strike out and insert" the paragraph or sentence to be amended shall be read as it stands and then the words proposed to be stricken out and those to be inserted shall be read. Substitute Motions RULE 33• 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. Motions to Reconsider • RULE 34: The vote taken on any motion, proposition or ordi- nance may be reconsidered at any time during the same meeting or at the first regular meeting held thereafter. A motion for reconsideration being once made and decided in the negative shall not be renewed, nor shall a vote to reconsider be reconsidered. 7 0,4 7 RULE 35: A motion to reconsider must be made by a member who voted in the majority, provided however, when a motion is lost by reason of not having received a required two- thirds vote, a motion to reconsider may be made by a member who voted against the motion. 0 Special Committees RULE 36: Special Committees of the Aldermen may be ap- pointed at any time by the Council or the Mayor to consider any special problem not already assigned to a Standing Committee. The acceptance or rejection of the report of a Special Com- mittee shall be considered a discharge of said Committee unless otherwise ordered. Committee on Committees RULE 37: A Committee on Committees consisting of five Al- dermen not standing for reelection, no two of which shall be from the same ward, shall be selected by the Council at a regular meeting which shall be not later than the first meet- ing preceding inauguration and installation of Council members. The Committee on Committees shall select its own chairman. Such committee shall not hold office for more than two years. RULE 38: It shall be the duty of the Committee on Committees to select the members of the Standing Committees for the ensuing two years. The Chairmanship of the Standing Committees shall be rotated automatically every two months. • RULE 39: In no case shall two Aldermen of the same ward be appointed to the same Standing Committee, except to fill a vacancy on such committee in case of the death or res- ignation of a member thereof. RULE 40• All Standing Committees shall consist of six (6) Aldermen. N Standing Committees RULE 41 • The following shall be the Standing Committees of the City Council: 1. Administration Committee 2. Land Use Committee • 3. Municipal Services Committee RULE 42. The Mayor shall be an ex-officio member of all Com- mittees. RULE 43: Committee meetings shall be open to all members of the Council whether thsy are members of that Com- mittee or not. The public may be invited to attend Committee meetings when, in the opinion of the Committee such attendance is for the best interest of the City. Jurisdiction of Committees RULE 44: Each Committee, or in case of joint reference the joint committee so named, shall have jurisdiction of all matters which may be specifically referred to said Com- mittees by action of the City Council. RULE 45• Matters not specifically assigned or referred by ac- tion of the City Council shall be considered by re- spective Standing Committees, according to jurisdiction herein defined as follows: (a) Administration Committee All matters relating to finance, legal, personnel, health, safety, judiciary, relief and purchases. (b) Land Use Committee • All matters relating to zoning, land use, building, and parks. (c) Municipal Services Committee All matters relating to fire, police, lighting, water, streets and alleys, transportation, public utilities, parking and parking lots, traffic control, local im- provements, public buildings and civil defense. 0 I- b"49 RULE 46: Standing Committees, to which references are made, shall make a. report to the Council not later than the second meeting of the Council after such reference, unless fur- ther time shall be required and is granted for that purpose by the Council. In the event a Committee is unable to make its re- port at the second meeting, the Chairman of the said Committee •shall advise the members of the Council of such fact, and give to them a. progress report. The Committee report when made, shall make a finding of fact and recommendation to the Council. Committee of the Whole RULE 47• On motion of any member, and a majority vote, the Council may resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole for the purpose of informally discussing any matter. The Chairman of the Committee, to which the matter has been re- ferred, or to which the matter is properly referrable, shall pre- side. RULE 48: Whenever the Mayor or any member of the Council shall inform the Council that he has any matter which he believes should be discussed in a closed session of the Council, the Mayor shall thereupon either cause the Council Chamber to be cleared of all persons except members of the Council, or shall conduct the Council to some convenient room for a meeting of the Aldermen. General Provisions RULE 49• No ordinance shall be finally passed by the City Council at the same meeting at which it is introduced except after a suspension of the rules by a unanimous vote of the Council. RULE 50: No action shall be taken by the Council upon the re- port of any committee or upon any motion or resolu- tion on the floor of the Council at the same meeting when a re- quest is made by any two Aldermen to hold over consideration of such matter until the next meeting of the Council. RULE 51: A list of all bills and expenditures shall be furnished to each Alderman, prior to the approval and pay- ment of such bills. This rule shall not be applicable to salaries and wages of City employees specifically provided for and which shall be paid monthly or semi-monthly. B 050 RULE 52: Any person, not a member of the City Council may address the City Council after receiving unanimous consent of all members present. RULE 53: The rules of parliamentary practice comprised in "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 the Standing Rules of the Council. RULE 54. These rules and any amendments thereto may be temporarily suspended at any time by the unanimous vote of the Aldermen present. RULE 55: Any member of the Council acting or appearing in a disgraceful manner, or who does not obey the order of the Chair, shall be, on motion, censored by a majority vote of the members present or expelled for the remainder of the meet- ing by a two-thirds vote of the members present. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that said Rules and Order of Business be published in pamphlet form. Adopted by the City Council of the City of Evanston this 18th day of May A.D. 1959. Approved: J. R. Kimbark Mayor Attest: Maurice F. Brown, by George J. Washnis City Clerk Approved as to form: • Rex A. Bullinger Corporation Counsel