CC Resolution 2006-115RESOLUTION NO. 2006-115
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA
QUINTA ADOPTING RULES OF PROCEDURE FOR COUNCIL
MEETINGS AND RELATED FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES.
WHEREAS, Section 2.04.040 of the La Quints Charter and Municipal Code
requires that the City Council adopt Rules of Procedure to govern the conduct of its
meetings and any of its other functions and activities, and regulations pertaining
thereto;
WHEREAS, this resolution supersedes City Council Resolutions No. 93-95,
No. 95-30, No. 96-26, No. 97-79, No. 98-68A, 98-109, 2003-025 and 2006-102.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of La
Quints that Rules of Procedure for City Council meetings and related functions and
activities are hereby adopted, to read, as follows:
PURPOSE: The purpose and intent of the City Council in adopting the
within rules shall be to provide directory guidelines relating to
the conduct of the public business by or on behalf of the City
Council, and in the event of any noncompliance with or
violation of any provision herein, such will not be deemed to
affect the validity of any action taken, unless otherwise
specifically provided by law.
1. MEETINGS
1.1 REGULAR MEETINGS:
The City Council of the City of La Quints shall hold regular meetings in the
place specified in the Municipal Code, on the first and third Tuesdays of each
month at 3:00 p.m. with public hearings being scheduled for 7:00 p.m. When the
day for a regular meeting of the Council falls on a legal holiday, no meeting shall be
held on that day; rather, such meeting shall be held at the same hour on the next
succeeding day thereafter that is not a holiday.
1.2 ADJOURNED MEETINGS:
Any meeting may be adjourned to a time, place, and date certain, but not
beyond the next regular meeting. Once adjourned, the meeting may not be
reconvened.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 2
1.3 SPECIAL MEETINGS:
Special Meetings may be called by the Mayor or majority of Council
Members on 24-hour notice, as set forth in Section 54956 of the Government
Code of the State of California. Only matters contained in the notice may be
considered and no ordinances (other than urgency ordinances) may be adopted.
Notice of special meetings shall be posted in accordance with Section 1.4.
1.4 NOTICE OF MEETINGS. POSTING OF AGENDAS:
The City Clerk, or designee, shall post a meeting agenda in the following
locations at least 72 hours before each regular meeting of the City Council, to wit:
(1) the bulletin board in front of the Civic Center; (2) the public bulletin board
located outside the Village Post Office at 51321 Avenida Bermudas. The City
Council finds and determines that all locations are freely accessible to the public
and the Council further finds and determines that the City is legally required to post
an agenda only at the Civic Center location and this direction to post in all locations
is directory only and not mandatory. Other locations may be added as deemed
appropriate. Following posting of said agenda, the City Clerk or designee, shall
sign a declaration of the date and place of the posting of the said agenda and shall
retain said declaration of posting as a public record as part of the Council meeting
record to which the posting relates, The provisions of this section as to place of
posting and declaration of posting shall also apply to the special meeting posting
requirements of Government Code 54956. To the extent not required by State
law, the provisions hereof are directory only.
1.5 QUORUM:
Unless otherwise provided for in the Municipal Code, a majority of the
Council shall be sufficient to do business and motions may be passed 2-1 if only 3
attend. The following matters, however, require three affirmative votes:
la) adoption of ordinances, (b) resolutions granting franchises, and (c) orders .for
payment of money.
If a majority of the Council shall be disqualified to vote on a matter by reason
of actual or apparent conflict of interest, the Council shall select by lot or other
means of random selection, or by such other impartial and equitable means as the
Council shall determine, that number of its disqualified members which, when
added to the members eligible to vote, shall constitute a quorum.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
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1.6 MEETINGS TO BE PUBLIC:
Study Sessions and all regular, adjourned or special meetings of the City
Council shat! be open to the public, provided, however, the Council may hold
closed sessions from which the public may be excluded, which closed sessions
shall only be held in accordance with the provisions, of the Brown Act (Government
Code 54950 etc.).
1.7 CLOSED SESSION MINUTES:
Pursuant to Section 54957.2 of the California Government Code, the City
Clerk of the City of La Quinta may be required to attend closed session of the City
Council and keep and enter in a minute book a record of topics discussed and
decisions made at each meeting. The confidentiality of such minutes shall be
maintained pursuant to the Government Code.
2. ORDER OF BUSINESS
2.1 AGENDA:
The Order of Business of each meeting shall be as contained in the Agenda
prepared by the City Clerk. The Agenda shall be a listing by topic of the subjects
which shall be taken up for consideration in the following order:
CALL TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL
*PUBLIC COMMENT
CLOSED SESSION
*PUBLIC COMMENT
CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA
APPROVAL OF MINUTES ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRESENTATIONS
*WRCTTEN COMMUNICATION CONSENT CALENDAR
BUSINESS SESSION
*STUDY SESSION
*REPORTS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
*DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
*MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS ITEMS
*PUBLIC COMMENT
PRESENTATIONS
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
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PUBLIC HEARINGS
ADJOURNMENT
Except with majority consent of the Council, items may not be taken out of
order.
* These portions of the agenda shall be used for discussion and direction to
staff to bring back an item with or without additional information or
clarification for final consideration as a business, consent calendar or public
hearing item on a future agenda. Alternatively, direction could be given to
bring back an item for further discussion on a future agenda in any of these
highlighted portions of the agenda.
2.2 DELIVERY OF AGENDA:
Barring insurmountable difficulties, the Agenda shall ordinarily be delivered to
Council Members each Friday preceding the Tuesday meeting to which it pertains.
The Agenda shall also be available to the general public at the time it is
delivered to the City Council.
2.3 ROLL CALL:
Before proceeding with the business of the Council, the City Clerk shall call
the roll of the Council Members and the names of those present shall be entered in
the minutes. The order of roll call shall be alphabetical with the Mayor called last.
2.4 APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Unless requested by a majority of the City Council, minutes of the previous
meeting may be approved without public reading if the clerk has previously
furnished each Council Member with a copy thereof.
2.5 PUBLIC HEARINGS:
Generally, public hearings shall be conducted in the following order:
Hearing opened by Presiding Officer
Staff presentation
Questions of Staff by Council
Public testimony opened by Presiding
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Officer Public testimony
Hearing closed
Questions by Council
Discussion by Council
Action by Council
Questions or comments from the public shall be limited to the subject under
consideration. Depend'ong upon the extent of the agenda, and the number of
persons desiring to speak on an issue, the Presiding Officer may, at the beginning
of the hearing, limit testimony, but in no event to less than 3 minutes per
individual. Any person may speak for a longer period of time, upon approval of the
City Council, when this is deemed necessary in such cases as when a person is
speaking as a representative of a group or has graphic or slide presentations
requiring more time. Quasi-judicial hearings shall be conducted in accordance with
the principles of due process, and the City Attorney shall advise the City Council in
this regard.
2.6 PUBLIC COMMENT:
Pursuant to Government Code 54954.3, each agenda for a regular meeting
shall provide an item entitled "Public Comment". The purpose of such item shall be
to provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the City
Council on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter
jurisdiction of the City Council. In order to assure that the intent of Government
Code 54954.3 is carried out, three (3) minutes is the amount of time allocated for
each individual speaker.
Government Code 54954.2 provides that no action shall be taken on any
item not appearing on the agenda unless the action is authorized by Government
Code 54954.2 (b). On items of public comment or discussion, any matter raised
by the public which does not specifically appear on the agenda shalt, upon direction
of any Council Member, be automatically referred to the staff or placed on the next
meeting's agenda. It is hereby determined that such requests or direction by a
Council Member shall not be considered action taken by the Council on said item
raised by the public. Further, Council discussion of the matter shall not be
considered action taken.
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 6
2.7 CONSENT AGENDA:
Items of `routine nature, and non-controversial, shall be placed on the
consent agenda. All items may be approved by one blanket motion upon
unanimous consent. Prior to, or following review of the consent agenda by the
City Manager, any Council Member may request that any item be withdrawn from
the consent agenda for separate consideration. However, any Council Member
may abstain from voting on any consent agenda, and the City Clerk shall be
instructed to record such abstentions in the minutes.
3. PRESIDING OFFICER
3.1 PRESIDING OFFICER:
The Mayor shall be the Presiding Officer at all meetings of the Council. In
the absence of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tempore shall preside. In the absence of
both the Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tempore, the senior Council Member shall
preside. If there are two Council Members with equal seniority, then the one who
received the highest number of votes in the election shall be the Presiding Officer.
In accordance with Government Code Section 36801, the Council shall meet
on the Tuesday after each general municipal election and choose one of its
members as Mayor Pro Tempore. Each selection shall be by three or more
affirmative votes, and a failure to achieve such total of affirmative votes, shall be
deemed a selection of the incumbent(s) to remain in office. Each person so
selected shall serve until a successor is chosen !at any time) by three or more
affirmative votes, provided that at the second regular meeting in November of each
odd numbered year, the office of Mayor Pro Tempore shall automatically be
reconsidered by the Council.
3.2 CALL TO ORDER:
The meeting of the Council shall be called to order by the Mayor, or in
his/her absence, by the Mayor Pro Tempore. In the absence of both the Mayor and
the Mayor Pro Tempore, the meeting shall be called to order by the senior Council
Member as determined in Section 3.1, 'who shall serve as Presiding Officer.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 7
3.3 PARTICIPATION OF PRESIDING OFFICER:
The Presiding Officer may move, second, and debate from the Chair, subject
only to such limitations of debate as are imposed on all Council Members, and he
shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges of a Council Member by
reason of his acting as Presiding Officer. However, the Presiding Officer is
primarily responsible for the conduct of the meeting. If he desires to personally
engage in extended debate on questions before the Council, he should consider
turning the Chair over to another member.
3.4 QUESTION TO BE STATED:
The Presiding Officer shall verbally restate each question immediately prior to
calling for the vote. Following the vote the Presiding Officer shall verbally
announce whether the question carried or was defeated. The Presiding Officer may
also publicly state the effect of the vote for the benefit of the audience before
proceeding to the next item of business.
3.5 SIGNING OF DOCUMENTS:
The Mayor, or Mayor Pro Tempore, or Acting Presiding Officer, in the
absence of the Mayor, sha(I sign ordinances adopted by the City Council. The City
Clerk, or Deputy City Clerk, shall attest to the signature of the Mayor, Mayor Pro
Tempore, or the Acting Presiding Officer.
3.6 MAINTENANCE OF ORDER:
The Mayor or Presiding Officer is responsible for the maintenance of order
and decorum at all times. No person is allowed to speak who has not #irst been
recognized by the Chair. All questions and remarks shall be addressed to the Chair.
4. RULES. DECORUIVI AND ORDER
4.1 POINTS OF ORDER:
The Presiding Of#icer shall determine all Points of Order subject to the right
of any member to appeal to the Council. If any appea! is taken, the question shall
be, "Shall the decision of the Presiding Officer be sustained?" in which event a
majority vote shall govern and conclusively determine such question of order.
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rutes of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 8
4.2 DECORUM AND ORDER -COUNCIL MEMBERS:
(a) Any Council Member desiring to speak shall address the Chair and,
upon recognition by the Presiding Officer, shall confine himself to the question
under debate.
(b) A Council Member, once recognized, shall not be interrupted while
speaking unless called to order by the Presiding Officer; unless a Point of Order is
raised by another Council Member; or unless the speaker chooses to yield to
questions from another Council Member.
(c) Any Council Member called to order while he is speaking shall cease
speaking immediately until the question of order is determined. If ruled to be in
order, he shall be permitted to proceed. If ruled to be not in order, he shall remain
silent or shall alter his remarks so as to comply with rules of the Council.
(d) Council Members shall accord the utmost courtesy to each other, to
city employees, and to the public appearing before the Council and shall refrain at
all times from rude and derogatory remarks, reflections as to integrity, abusive
comments and statements as to motives and personalities.
(e) Any Council Member may move to require the Presiding Officer to
enforce the rules and the affirmative -vote of a majority of the Council shall require
him to so act.
(f) Except where specifically authorized by City Council action or for
purely ceremonial purposes, no Council Member attending a City commission or
committee meeting shall make any statement or give the appearance or indicate in
any way that he or she is representing the City. When making a comment at such
a meeting, the Council Member should make it clear that he or she is speaking
solely as an individual. Unless officially appointed to participate on a committee,
Council Members should make an effort not to insert themselves into or take
positions on matters which will or are likely to be the subject of public hearings or
will be decided upon by the City Council after considering the entire issue.
4.3 DECORUM AND ORDER -EMPLOYEES:
Members of the administrative staff and employees of the City shall observe
the same rules of procedure and decorum applicable to members of the Council.
The City Manager shall ensure that all City employees observe such decorum. Any
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 9
staff members, including the City Manager, desiring to address the Council or
members of the public shall first be recognized by the Chair. All remarks shall be
addressed to the Chair and not to any one individual Council Member or member of
the public.
4.4 DECORUM AND ORDER -PUBLIC:
Members of the public attending Council meetings shall observe the same
rules of order and decorum applicable to the Council. Any person making
impertinent and slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing
the Council or while attending the Council meeting shall be removed from the room
if the sergeant-of-arms is so directed by the Presiding Officer, and such person may
be barred from further audience before the Council. Unauthorized remarks from the
audience, stamping of feet, whistles, yells and similar demonstrations shall not be
permitted by the Presiding Officer, who may direct the sergeant-of-arms to remove
such offenders from the room. Aggravated cases shall be prosecuted on
appropriate complaint signed by the Presiding Officer.
4.5 ENFORCEMENT OF DECORUM:
The head of the City's police agency or designee shall be ex-officio sergeant-
of-arms of the Council. He shall carry out all orders and instructions given him by
the Presiding Officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum in the
Council Chambers. Upon instructions from the Presiding Officer, it shall be the
duty of the sergeant-of-arms or his representative to eject any person from the
Council Chambers or place him under arrest or both.
As set forth in Government Code Section 54957.9, in the event that any
meeting is willfully interrupted by a group or groups of persons so as to render the
orderly conduct of such meeting unfeasible and order cannot be restored by the
removal of individuals who are willfully interrupting the meeting, the members of
the Council may order the meeting room cleared and continue in session. Only
matters appearing on the agenda may be considered in such a session. Duly
accredited representatives of the press or other news media, except those
participating in the disturbance, shall be allowed to attend any session held
pursuant to this section. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the Council from
establishing a procedure for readmitting an individual or individuals not responsible
for willfully disturbing the orderly conduct of the meeting.
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 10
4.6 PERSONAL PRIVILEGE:
The right of a member to address the Council on a question of personal
privilege shall be limited to cases in which his integrity, character, or motives are
assailed, questioned or impugned.
4.7 CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
All Council Members are subject to the provisions of California Law, such as
Chapter 7, Title 9, of the California Government Code, relative to conflicts of
interest, and to conflicts of interest codes adopted by the Council. Any Council
Member prevented from voting because of a conflict of interest shall refrain from
debate and voting and will be considered absent. Such Council Member may
choose to leave the Council Chamber during debate and voting on the issue.
4.8 LIMITATION OF DEBATE:
No Council Member normally should speak more than once upon any one
subject until every other member choosing to speak thereon has spoken. No
member shall speak for a longer time than five minutes each time he has the floor,
without approval of a majority vote of the Council.
4.9 DISSENTS AND PROTESTS:
Any member shall have the right to express dissent from or protest to any
action of the Council and have the reason entered in the minutes. If such dissent
or protest is desired to be entered in the minutes, this should be made clear by
language such as, "I would like the minutes to show that I am opposed to this
action for the following reasons ... "
4.10 PROCEDURES !N ABSENCE OF RULES:
!n the absence of a rule herein to govern a point or procedure, Robert's Rules
of Order, Newly Revised, shall be used as a guide.
4.11 RULINGS OF CHAIR FINAL UNLESS OVERRULED:
In presiding over Council meetings, the Mayor, Mayor Pro Tempore or
temporary Presiding Officer shall decide all questions of interpretation of these
rules, points of order or other questions of procedure requiring rulings. Any such
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rutes of Procedure / flfleeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 11
decision or ruling shall be final unless overridden or suspended by a majority vote of
the Council Members present and voting.
5. ADDRESSING THO= COIDNCIL
5.1 MANNER OF ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL:
Any member of the public desiring to address the Council shall proceed to
the podium and wait to be recognized by the Presiding Officer. After being
recognized, he shall state his name and address for the record.
All remarks and questions shall be addressed to the Chair and not to any
individual Council Member, staff member or other person. During a public hearing,
all remarks shall be limited to the subject under consideration. No person shall
enter into any discussion without being recognized by the Presiding Officer.
5.2 TIME LIMITATION:
For time limitation applicable to public hearings and public comment, see
Sections 2.5 and 2.6.
5.3 ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL AFTER MOTION IS MADE:
After a motion has been made, or after a public hearing has been closed, no
member of the public shall address the Council without first securing permission by
a majority vote of the Council.
5.4 LIMITATIONS REGARDING PUBLIC COMMENTS AND REPORTS:
The making of oral communications to the Council by any member of the
public during the "Public Comments" portion of the agenda shall be subject to the
following limitations:
At any time, before or after the oral communication is commenced, the
Presiding Officer may if he deems it preferable, direct that the communication be
made instead either to the City Manager or other appropriate staff member during
regular business hours, or in writing for subsequent submittal to Council Members.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 12
5.5 PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO BE WITHIN PLATFORM:
No person except City Officials shall be permitted behind the City Council
dais without permission or consent of the Presiding Officer.
6. MOTIONS
6.1 PROCESSING OF MOTIONS:
When a motion is made and seconded, it shall be stated by the Presiding
Officer before debate. A motion so stated shall not be withdrawn by the mover
without the consent of the person seconding it.
6.2 MOTIONS OUT OF ORDER:
The Presiding Officer may at any time, by majority consent of the Council,
permit a member to introduce an ordinance, resolution, or motion out of the regular
agenda order.
6.3 DIVISION OF QUESTION:
If the question contains two or more divisional propositions, the Presiding
Officer may, and upon request of a member shall (unless appealed, divide the
same.
6.4 PROCEDURE OF MOTIONS:
When a motion is before the Council, no motion shall be entertained except
the following, which shall have precedence in the following order:
(a) Adjourn
(b) Fix hour of adjournment
(c) Table
(d) Limit or terminate discussion
(e) Amend
(f) Postpone
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 13
6.5 MOTION TO ADJOURN: (not debatable)
A motion to adjourn shall be in order at any time, except as follows:
1a) When repeated without intervening business or discussion.
Ib) When made as an interruption of a member while speaking.
(c) When discussion has been ended, and vote on motion is pending, and
(d) While a vote is being taken.
6.6 MOTION TO FIX HOUR OF ADJOURNMENT:
Such a motion shall be to set a definite time at which to adjourn and shall be
debatable and shall be amendable by unanimous vote.
6.7 MOTION TO TABLE:
A motion to table shall be used to temporarily by-pass the subject. A motion
to table shall be undebatable and shall preclude all amendments or debate of the
subject under consideration. If the motion shall prevail, the matter may be "taken
from the table" at any time prior to the end of the next regular meeting.
6.8 MOTION TO LIMIT OR TERMINATE DISCUSSION:
Such a motion shall be used to limit or close debate on, or further
amendment to, the main motion and shall be undebatable. If the motion fails,
debate shall be reopened; if the motion passes, a vote shall be taken on the main
motion.
6.9 MOTION TO AMEND:
A motion to amend shall be discussed only as to the amendment. A motion
to amend an amendment is possible but no additional motions to further
amendments may be made. Any amendment shall relate to the original motion and
not introduce a different matter. Amendments shall be voted first, then the main
motion as amended. Alternatively, the original maker of the main motion may
agree to revise the original motion and if the second agrees to second the revised
motion, the Council may vote on the main motion as revised.
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Adopted: November 7, 2006
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7. VOTING. PROCEDURE
7.1 VOTING PROCEDURE:
In acting upon every motion, the vote shall be taken by electronic voting. In
the event the electronic voting machine is not functioning, the vote shall be taken
by roll call. The vote on each motion shall then be entered in full upon the record.
The order of voting shall be alphabetical with the Mayor voting last. The Clerk
shall call the names of all members seated when a roll call vote is ordered or
required. Members shall respond 'aye', 'no' or 'abstain'.
Every ordinance and any resolutions or orders for franchises or payments of
money require three affirmative votes, Any member may change his vote before
the next order of business.
7.2 FAILURE TO VOTE:
A Council Member who abstains due to reasons of conflict shall, for purpose
of the item under consideration, be considered as if absent. A Council Member
abstaining for reasons other than conflict shall, be counted as present for purposes
of a quorum and such abstentions are counted with the majority. A Council
Member who leaves the dais solely to avoid participating in a specific item shall, in
absence of a conflict, be counted as if they were present but abstaining and such
abstentions are also counted with the majority.
7.3 RECONSIDERATION:
Any Council Member who voted with the majority may move a
reconsideration of any action at the same meeting or, within seven (7) calendar
days, request in writing to the City Manager or City Clerk that it be agendized for
consideration at the following meeting. If the seventh calendar day falls on a
holiday, then the deadline shall be the next business day. In the event that the
subject of the reconsideration is a motion that failed as the result of a tie vote, any
Council Member who voted against the earlier motion may move for
reconsideration within the same seven (71 calendar day period. If the motion to
reconsider passes, then the original item may be reconsidered at that time or
agendized for the next meeting which meets any applicable noticing requirements.
After a motion for reconsideration has once been acted upon, no other motion for
reconsideration thereof shall be made without unanimous consent of the Council.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 15
7.4 TIE VOTES:
Tie Votes shall be lost motions unless an additional Motion is made which
obtains a majority vote to break the tie. When all Council Members are present, a
tie vote on whether to grant an appeal from official action shall be considered a
denial of such appeal. If a tie vote results at a time when less than all members of
the Council are present, the matter shall automatically be continued to the agenda
of the next regular meeting of the Council, unless otherwise ordered by the
Council. Notwithstanding the above, if a tie vote results at a time when one or
more Council Member(s) are abstaining for reasons other than conflict of interest
then, in that instance, the abstention vote shall be counted in favor of the motion
thereby breaking the tie vote.
8. RESOLUTIONS
8.1 DEFINITIONS:
As a rule of thumb, it can be said that legislative acts of the City Council
(usually a rule of public conduct for long-term application) are taken by ordinance,
whereas more routine business and administrative matters (usually more temporary
and transitory in nature) are accomplished by "resolutions". The term "resolution"
in its general sense will denote any action taken affirmatively via a vote of the
Council, other than one taken by ordinance. As used in this City, however, three
terms are in general use to denote such (non-ordinance) actions: "resolution",
"minute order", and "motion"(thereafter recorded by minute entry). Technically, all
three are equally as legally effective and binding; they just vary in the formality of
respective memorialization. The most formal is referred to locally as a "resolution".
This, in addition to being referenced in the minutes, will be recorded by a separate
document, numbered in sequence and preserved in a separate set of books. Such
"resolutions" are used in this City for various reasons, such as when specifically
required by law, when needed as a separate evidentiary document to be
transmitted to another governmental agency, or where the frequency of future
reference back to its contents warrants a separate document (with the additional
"whereas" explanatory material it often recites) to facilitate such future reference
and research.
A "minute order" as used locally denotes a Council action which is recorded
simply by an item entry in the minutes of the meeting at which it was
accomplished, and no separate document is made to memorialize it. However,
sequential numbering shall be assigned to each motion to facilitate indexing.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 16
8.2 RESOLUTIONS PREPARED. IN ADVANCE:
Where a resolution has been prepared in advance, the procedure shall be:
motion, second, discussion, vote pursuant to methods prescribed in Section 7.1,
and result declared. It shall not be necessary to read a resolution in full or by title
except to identify it. Any member may require that the resolution be read in full.
8.3 RESOLUTIONS NOT PREPARED tN ADVANCE:
Where a resolution has not been prepared in advance, the procedure shall be
to instruct the City Manager or the City Attorney to prepare a resolution fior
presentation at the next Council meeting.
8.4 URGENCY RESOLUTIONS:
In matters of urgency, a resolution may be presented verbally in motion form
together with instructions for written preparation for later execution. After the
resolution has been verbally stated, the voting procedure in 8.2 above shall be
followed.
Urgency resolutions shall be avoided except when absolutely necessary; and
shall be avoided entirely when resolutions are required by law, in improvement
acts, zoning matters, or force account work on public projects. Where the
resolution has been drafted in written form, either before or during the meeting,
this paragraph shall not be deemed applicable.
9. ORDINANCES
9.1 INTRODUCTION AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCES:
Ordinances shall not be passed within five days' of their introduction, nor at
other than a regular meeting or at an adjourned regular meeting. However, an
urgency ordinance may be passed immediately upon introduction and either at a
regular or special meeting. When ordinances, other than urgency ordinances, are
altered after introduction, they shall be passed only at a regular or at an adjourned
regular meeting held at least five days after alteration.
Corrections of typographical or clerical errors are not alterations within the
meaning of this section.
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Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 17
9.2 EFFECTIVE DATE:
All ordinances, except as provided in Section 36937 of the Government
Code, shall take effect 30 days after adoption, but may be made operative at such
later date as may be designated in the ordinance.
9.3 PUBLISHING:
It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to post or publish all ordinances in
accordance with section 36933 of the Government Code within 15 days after
adoption.
10. POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
(A) Council Members shall not use, or attempt to use, their position, office
or authority to influence, aid or obstruct any City employee from securing
any position, nomination, confirmation or promotion, or change in
compensation or position in the City upon consideration or condition that the
vote or political influence or action of such person or another shall be given
or used in behalf of, or withheld from, any candidate, officer, or party, or
upon any other corrupt condition or consideration. This prohibition shall
apply to urging or discouraging the individual employee's action.
(B) A Council Member or candidate shall not, directly or indirectly, solicit
political funds or contributions, knowingly, from other officers or employees
of the local agency or from persons on an employment list of the City, with
the knowledge that the person from whom the contribution is solicited is an
officer or employee of the City. This section shall not prohibit the Council
Member from requesting political contributions from officers or employees of
the City if the solicitation is part of a solicitation made to a significant
segment of the public which may include officers of employees of the City.
(C) No Council Member or candidate shall engage in political activity during
working hours in City officers or work areas where such activity would
disrupt the workplace. For purposes of this section, City offices or work
areas includes the areas behind the public counters, but excludes the Council
Chambers and Council Member offices.
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 18
11. RULES DIRECTORY
To the extent not required by State laws, these rules of procedure shall be
considered directory only; and compliance herewith shall not be considered
mandatory or jurisdictional.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 7th day of November 2006 by the
following vote:
AYES: Council Members Henderson, Kirk, Osborne, Mayor Adolph
NOES: Council Member Sniff
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
a
j , a
DON ADOLPH, Mayor
City of La Quinta, California
ATTEST:
/ ~ i
C~ - ~ ~
V RONICA J. M~ECI d, CMC, City Clerk
City of La Quin ,California
(SEAL
Resolution No. 2006-115
Rules of Procedure /Meeting Times
Adopted: November 7, 2006
Page 19
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_ ~~
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x . KATF~RINE JENSOIV, C.~it~ Attorney
City of La Quinta, California