DS-16-158 Protocol and Open Meetings

I SO MOVE
1
Legislative Procedure
for the
Governing Body

OBJECTIVE
2
 To become skilled:
 on legislative procedures for the efficient processing of
government business;
 on working as a team for the betterment of your
community;
 at participating in, and conducting, effective and
productive meetings.

Effective Meetings Need Effective Rules
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 So that the will of a majority of its members may be
determined in an orderly manner.
 To promote the orderly and businesslike
consideration of the questions which come before it.

Roberts Rules of Order is Not the Only Way
4
 Rules of Procedure should be adopted to meet the
needs of the organization AND the community.
 Rules of Procedure that are adopted by the
Governing Body are within the control of the
Governing Body and may be amended by majority
vote.

Roberts Rules of Order is Not the Only Way
5
 The purpose of rules is to aid the governing body in
performing its duties more efficiently and with
fairness to its members and to those appearing
before the body.
 Whenever a rule fails to serve this purpose, the rules
may be suspended.
Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure

W H A T I S A M E E T I N G ?
T Y P E S O F M E E T I N G S
T H E A G E N D A
O R D E R O F B U S I N E S S
6
EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

WHAT IS A MEETING?
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 Any deliberation between a quorum of the members
of the City Council. Four council members shall
constitute a quorum. (2.8)
 City Council = the 3 at-large and 4 district
representatives (2.4)

Types of Meetings
8
 Regular: 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month
 Special:
 Called by Mayor or majority of Council;
 Call filed with City Secretary in written form, unless
announced during regular meeting at which all members are
present;
 Call shall specify day and hour of meeting, and identify
subject(s) to be considered.

Types of Meetings
9
 Workshops:
 Called by Mayor or majority of Council
 Solely for the purpose of briefing & discussing
 Citizens may sign up to address Council
(3.1, 3.2, 3.3)

The Agenda
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 A successful meeting requires thoughtful
preparation.
 The final planning document, the agenda, is an
important factor in the success or failure of the
meeting.

The Agenda
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 City Manager prepares the Agenda (5.1)
 Councilmembers should submit items by 2pm of
the Wed. preceding the meeting, to facilitate timely
& efficient delivery of agenda and supporting
materials (5.1)
 City Manager shall deliver agenda to Council at
least 72 hours before meeting (5.1)

The Agenda
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 Before a Councilmember may place an action item
on an agenda, it must first be placed as a
discussion item. If a majority wishes to further
consider it, it may be placed on a future agenda for
action. (5.1)
 If a Councilmember wants Council to discuss or
consider a previously decided item, he or she may
request it be placed on an agenda. At the workshop
discussion, Council will decide whether to discuss or
reconsider. (5.1)

Order of Business
13
 Meeting begins with:
 Call to Order
 Invocation
 Pledge
 Approval of the Agenda
 Presentations

Order of Business: Citizen Petitions and
Information
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 Must be citizen of Killeen;
 Not in, or threatening, civil or criminal litigation
with City or any of its officers or officials; Litigation
not “reasonably anticipated.”
 May speak on one topic related to city business;
 Must address the entire council, not individual
members;
 Three minute limit unless Mayor or councilmember
allows a 1 minute extension;
 Majority vote required to extend time further;
 Sign up by 2pm on Wed. preceding Council meeting.
(5.2.11)

Order of Business: Minutes
15
 Council approves, amends or disapproves minutes
from previous meetings.

Order of Business: Resolutions
16
 Internal legislative act which is a formal
statement of policy concerning matters of
special or temporary character
 Used where formal expression of policy or
position is desired
 Open to amendment

Ordinances
17
 Highest ranking action of governing body,
and is more formal and authoritative than
a resolution.
 It is a local law that usually regulates
persons or property, and is usually intended
to be more permanent in nature.
 May only be amended by same procedure
used to adopt

Public Hearings
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 Items upon which the public has the right to give
input.
 May include accompanying Ordinance or Resolution

Effective Public Input in Meetings
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 Do not allow public to enter into debate.
 Do not allow public to insult or intimidate elected
officials, employees or other members of the public.
 Public input is to be respected, however, your
constituents elected YOU to make decisions.

M A I N T A I N I N G C O N T R O L
R U L E S O F D E C O R U M
L I M I T S O N D E B A T E
E N F O R C E M E N T O F D E C O R U M
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MAINTAINING DECORUM
IN DEBATE

How to Keep a Meeting Under Control
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 All questions and statements should be
directed through the Mayor.
 The Mayor must recognize the member
prior to speaking.
 One member should not interrogate another
member or speaker except through the chair.

22
 No Councilmember or member of the public
should be permitted to attack a speaker’s motives.
 Refrain from speaking adversely on a prior action
not currently pending before the Council.
 Remember: The measure, not the member, is the
subject of debate!

23
 Preservation of Order: Mayor shall preserve order and
decorum, prevent personalities from becoming involved in
debate or the impugning of members’ motives, and confine
members in debate to question under discussion. (4.3)
 Points of Order: Mayor determines all points of order,
subject to right of any member to appeal to Council. Appeal
must occur before debate or other business occurs. If
appeal is taken, question shall be: “Shall the decision of the
Presiding Officer be sustained?” A majority vote of Council
is necessary to overrule Mayor’s decision. (4.4)
 May only appeal a ruling, not a response to an inquiry or opinion.
 Members have no right to criticize the Mayor’s ruling unless they
appeal from his decision.

24
 Questions to be Stated: Mayor shall state all
questions submitted for vote and announce the result.
A roll call vote shall be taken upon request of any
member. (4.5)
 Substitution of P.O.: Mayor may designate another
Councilmember, in the absence or disqualification of
Mayor Pro-Tem, to take his place in the chair, such
substitution not to continue beyond adjournment.
(4.6)

Rules of Decorum
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 Recognition by P.O.: Individuals may be recognized to
address Council on agenda items, at discretion of Council, if
person completes and submits Speaker Registration Form.
Presentations requiring use of A-V equipment not accepted.
(7.1)
 Order: Members must preserve order and decorum. Shall
not:
 Delay or interrupt proceedings or peace of the Council.
 Disturb any member while speaking or refuse to obey the Mayor’s
orders.
 Leave their seats during meeting without first obtaining Mayor’s
permission.
 (7.2)

Rules of Decorum
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 Getting the Floor, Improper References to be Avoided:
Member desiring to speak shall address Mayor, and upon
recognition, shall confine themselves to the questions
under debate, avoiding all personalities and indecorous
language. (7.4)
 Interruptions: A member, once recognized, shall not be
interrupted when speaking unless it is to call him/her to
order. If a member, while speaking, be called to order, he
shall stop speaking until question is determined. (7.5)
 Point of Order: Member may interrupt debate for
immediate consideration of motions and questions relating
to rights and privileges of the Council. PO will decide, or
may refer to Parliamentarian for a ruling. Appealable (8.8)

Rules of Decorum
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 Members should avoid speaking adversely on
matters previously decided.
 Members should not speak against their own motion.
 NO ONE should be permitted to distract the
assembly.

Limits on Debate
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 Right to Floor: No member may speak more than once
on any one subject until every member wishing to
speak shall have spoken, and shall confine remarks to
the subject under consideration. (2.13)
 A member who has spoken twice on an issue has exhausted his
right to debate that issue.
 No member may speak longer than 10 minutes, absent consent of
the body.
 Mayor may engage in debate. At the insistence of a
majority of the Council, Mayor must relinquish the
chair. (2.13, 7.3)

Enforcement of Decorum
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 Warning: Mayor may order any person to be quiet.
If person persists in disturbing the meeting, Mayor
may order person to leave meeting. If refuses,
Mayor may order Sgt.-at-Arms to remove the
person. (9.1)
 Removal: Sgt.-at-Arms shall carry out all
orders/instructions of Mayor for purpose of
maintaining order. (9.2)
 Resisting Removal: Any person resisting removal
shall be charged with violating Penal Code sec.
42.05—Disrupting Lawful meeting. (9.3)

Enforcement of Decorum
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 Motions to Enforce: Any councilmember may
move to require Mayor to enforce these rules and
the affirmative majority vote shall require the
Mayor to do so. (9.4)
 Adjournment: If meeting is willfully disturbed and
orderly conduct of meeting is unfeasible and order
cannot be restored by removing individuals
creating the disturbance, the meeting may be
recessed or adjourned. If adjourned, the
remaining business shall be considered at the next
regular meeting. (9.5)

T Y P E S O F M O T I O N S
M E C H A N I C S O F M A K I N G A M O T I O N
D E A L I N G W I T H M O T I O N S
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MOTIONS

Main Motions
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 The MOTION is the basis of parliamentary
procedure.
 The MOTION provides a method of bringing
business (a question) before the body for
consideration and action.

Main Motions
33
Made by stating “I move to . . .”
2nd must be made within a reasonable
but brief time period.
Member calling for “point of order”
mandates immediate second. Without
a second, motion dies.
No main motion can be made when
another motion is pending. (8.1)

Subsidiary Motions
34
 Those that assist members in treating, or disposing of, a
main motion.
 Postpone indefinitely (2nd/D/NA/M/R)
 Refer to Committee (2nd/D/A/M/R)
 Postpone to a certain time (2nd/D/A/M/R)
 Limit debate: Limited to merits of immediately pending
motion. Discussion & debate may precede making of motion
(8.5) (2nd/ND/A/T-T/R)
 Table (2nd/D/NA/M/NR)
 Amend (2nd/D/A/M/R)
 R.O.P.: Can amend amendment one time only.
 Call for Motion/Question: Stops Debate (N2nd/ND/NA/M)

Privileged Motions
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 Deal with rights and privileges of members and do
not directly affect a main motion or relate directly
to pending business.
 Adjourn (2nd/ND/NA/no vote/NR)
 Fix a time in which to adjourn (2nd/ND/A/M/R)
 Recess (2nd/ND/A/M/NR)
 Raise a question of Privilege (N2nd/ND/NA/NR)

Incidental Motions
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 A method of transacting business rather than
conducting the business itself.
 Suspend the Rules (2nd/ND/NA/T-T/NR)
 Division of a question (2nd/ND/A/M/NR)
 Point of order (N2nd/ND/NA/Ch/NR)
8.8: Can interrupt debate; Mayor decides or
refers to parliamentarian; subject to appeal

Restorative
37
 Reconsider:
 Councilmember’s motion must make a showing that
reconsideration is in the public’s best interest.
 Majority vote required, and deemed to be a finding that
reconsideration is in public’s best interest.
 Motion must be made by councilmember on prevailing side,
but may be seconded by any.
 Motion must occur during same meeting as original action.
(2nd/D if applied to debatable motion/NA/M/NR) (8.7)
 Take from the Table (2nd/ND/NA/M/NR)

ALL MOTIONS
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Become the officially recorded
statement by the Body. Therefore,
must be worded in a concise,
unambiguous, and complete form.

ALL MOTIONS
39
Only one MOTION [question] can be
considered at a time; once a motion
is before the Body, it must be
adopted, rejected or disposed of in
some other way.

WITHDRAWAL OF MOTION
40
 May be withdrawn or modified by
mover w/o permission until stated by
Mayor. Seconder may withdraw
second.
 After motion stated, mover cannot
withdraw or modify motion w/o
majority consent.
(8.2)

STATING THE MOTION
41
Mayor must state motion after
made, seconded and discussed,
unless obliged to rule motion is out
of order or wording is not clear.
(8.3)

CALLING FOR THE MOTION
42
 Mayor may call for the motion without
a vote if debate appears to have closed
and if no member objects.
 Any member may “call for the motion”
to take the vote on the immediately
pending motion.
 Mayor shall take vote to close debate.
(8.6)

A B S T E N T I O N S
B O A R D S A N D C O M M I S S I O N S
A M E N D I N G P R O T O C O L
43
MISCELLANEOUS

Abstain
44
 Roberts states that “although it is the duty of every
member who has an opinion on a question to
express it by this vote, he can abstain, since he
cannot be compelled to vote.”
 An abstention is counted as neither a “yes” vote
nor a “no” vote.
 Elected officials have a responsibility to take a
stand and vote on all matters on behalf of the
people who elected them. A local rule that requires
elected officials to vote on all matters, unless there
is a conflict of interest, is permissible.

Committees, Boards & Councils
45
 Committees
 Ad Hoc, Regular Council Committees: Mayor appoints,
with Council consent by consensus.
 Ad hoc committees shall cease to exist upon the
accomplishment of the special purpose for which it
was created, or when abolished by majority vote of
Council
(10.1-3)

46
 Citizen Boards, Councils & Committees:
 Council may create to assist in the operation of City
government;
 Membership & selection provided by Council, unless
specified by Charter or Law;
 Shall cease to exist upon accomplishment of purpose, or
when abolished by Council;
 Advisory in nature, except as specified by Charter or Law.
 Types of Committee Membership:
 Regular, Ex Officio, Honorary
(10.2)

47
 City Spokespersons/Endorsements:
 No member of Council, Mayor, City Manager or Board
member shall speak on behalf of, or offer any endorsement or
support of, the City unless authorized to do so by the Council.
(10.4)

PROCEDURE FOR AMENDING
RULES OF PROTOCOL
48
 These rules may be amended, or new rules adopted by a
majority vote of the Council, provided that the proposed
amendments or new rules shall have been introduced into
the record at a prior Council meeting.
(2.1)

How do you see things?
49
 How many full cubes are there?

Which green line is longer?
56
*the human brain interprets the image with perspective

DS-16-158 Protocol and Open Meetings

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DS-16-158 Protocol and Open Meetings