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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 3202-2021KENAI CITY OF KENAI ORDINANCE NO. 3202-2021 Sponsored by: City Clerk AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, AMENDING KENAI MUNICIPAL CODE SECTIONS 1.15.120, RULES OF ORDER, AND 1.90.050, PROCEEDINGS, TO ADOPT THE MOST CURRENT EDITION OF ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER NEWLY REVISED AS THE ADOPTED RULES OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE FOR THE CITY COUNCIL AND FOR CITY BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES. WHEREAS, the City of Kenai has adopted Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised as the rules of parliamentary procedure for the City Council and the various Boards, Commissions, and Committees of the City; and, WHEREAS, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12'" Edition, was published in September 2020 and supersedes all previous editions of Robert's Rules of Order; and, WHEREAS, the City Clerk recommends adoption of the most current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised which is intended to automatically become the parliamentary authority in organizations who prescribe its use; and, WHEREAS, special rules that are currently included in the Kenai Charter and Kenai Municipal Code will still supersede the most current edition and new special rules or exceptions can be added to the code at any time upon the proper enactment of an ordinance; and, WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the City to adopt the most current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised which is intended to automatically become the parliamentary authority upon its publication. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, as follows: Section 1. Amendment of Section 1.15.120 — Rules of Order of the Kenai Municipal Code: That Kenai Municipal Code, Section 1.15.120 — Rules of Order, is hereby amended as follows: (a) A proposed amendment to, or repeal of, any rule in this chapter shall be submitted in writing as a non -emergency ordinance, and may be passed in the same manner as other non -emergency ordinances. (b) The most current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised[, 11TH EDITION] shall govern in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with City Charter or ordinance and any special rules of order the Council may adopt. (c) The Council rules shall be observed in all cases unless suspended temporarily for a special purpose of an emergency nature by a vote of five (5) members present. Any member New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 3202-2021 Page 2 of 3 may move, at any time, for the suspension of any rule, and such motion must be seconded to entitle it to consideration. (d) If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the rules of the Council, the Chair shall, or any member may, call the member to order; in which case the member so called to order shall immediately cease discussion unless permitted by the Chair to explain; and the Council, if appealed to, shall decide the question without debate. If the decision be in favor of the member so called to order, the member shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, the member shall not proceed without leave of the Council to proceed in order. Section 2. Amendment of Section 1.90.050 — Proceedings of the Kenai Municipal Code: That Kenai Municipal Code, Section 1.90.050 — Proceedings, is hereby amended as follows: (a) All boards, commissions and committees will have regularly scheduled meetings which shall be open to the public. Exceptions to the meeting requirements shall be established by Council. Permanent records or minutes shall be kept of all proceedings and such minutes shall record the vote of each member upon every question. Every decision or finding shall immediately be filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall be a public record open to inspection by any person. All acts of boards, commissions and committees are subject to the paramount authority of the City Council. (b) If the commission, committee or board member shall be absent, without the body excusing the absence for good cause, from more than one-half of all the meetings of his or her committee, commission or board, regular and special, held within any period of three (3) consecutive calendar months, he or she shall thereupon cease to hold the seat. A commission, committee or board member may not have more than three (3) excused absences during a twelve (12) month calendar year. (c) In all matters of parliamentary procedure, the most current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised[, 11TH EDITION] shall be applicable and govern all meetings, unless as specified in KMC 1.15.060 motions; KMC 1.15.100, speaking; and KMC 1.15.110, voting. (d) The responsibility of insuring that all members of boards, commissions and committees receive a copy of the Standard Procedures of Boards, Commissions and Committees lies with the City Clerk. Section 3. Severability: That if any part or provision of this ordinance or application thereof to any person or circumstances is adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part, provision, or application directly involved in all controversy in which this judgment shall have been rendered, and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this title or application thereof to other persons or circumstances. The City Council hereby declares that it would have enacted the remainder of this ordinance even without such part, provision, or application. Section 4. Effective Date: That pursuant to KMC 1.15.070(f), this ordinance shall take effect 30 days after enactment. ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, this 21st day of April, 2021. New Text Underlined ; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 3202-2021 Page 3 of 3 ATTEST: MMC, City Clerk KE 4/� '4�DED 1 BRIAN GABRIEL SR., MAYOR New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT Introduced: April 7, 2021 Enacted: April 21, 2021 Effective: May 21, 2021 KENAI City of Kenai 1 210 Ficialgo Ave, Kenai, AK 99611-7794 1907.283.7535 1 www.icenaixity MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Gabriel and Council Members FROM: Jamie Heinz, City Clerk DATE: March 16, 2021 SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 3202-2021 In September 2020, the 121' Edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised was published. It is the only currently authorized edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. It is the intent of the authors and publisher that the Twelfth Edition supersedes all previous editions and automatically becomes the parliamentary authority in organizations who prescribe Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. The authors recommend that the particular edition is not specified but instead indicates, 'the current edition of." The same statement is included in the Eleventh Edition. In 2012, the code was amended to prescribe the 11'" Edition. I recommend amending the code to indicate'the most current edition," given the intent and authorization provided by the authors. Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised has been updated approximately every ten years since 1970. It is reasonable to think that the Twelfth Edition will be the most current edition for approximately ten years and, when a new edition is published, it will not be necessary to make a change to the code if we indicate that "the most current edition" is to be used. A quick search revealed that the codes for the cities of Soldotna and Homer also provide for, 'the most current edition." The City currently has some special rules enacted by its code and those special rules will continue to supersede the new edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. The City may also add or amend special rules to the code at any time upon the proper enactment of an ordinance. The following lists several of the substantial changes made in the Twelfth Edition 1. Postpone to a Certain Time —to have this motion more closely agree with rules relating to Point of Order and Appeal. 2. Limit or Extend Limits of Debate — to clarify the varying effects that adoption of the different forms of this motion have on the making of subsidiary motions. 3. Lay on the Table — to rearrange these rules into a more orderly and logical sequence. 4. Point of Order — to clarify and expand upon the rules setting forth remedies. 5. Take from the Table — to clarify the rules that impose time limits on taking questions from the table and setting forth the status of motions taken from the table. 6. Reconsider — by including a summary of rules relating to reconsideration and rearrangement of the order in which the rules are discussed. 7. To provide greater guidance concerning filling in blanks. 8. Clarifying and incorporating rules for the office of vice-president that had previously been scattered throughout the book. 9. Minutes — to more clearly present the various procedures for their approval. Other updates dozens more clarifications and refinements to improve existing rules, helpful summary expinanations, expanded charts, tables, and lists, and sample rules for electronic meetings. Your consideration is appreciated. Page 2 of 2 The City of Kenai I www.kenai.city KENAI City of Kenai 1 210 Fidalgo Ave, Kenai, AK 99611-7794 1907.283.7535 I www.6nai.city MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Brian Gabriel and Kenai City Council FROM: Jamie Heinz, City Clerk DATE: April 14, 2021 SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 3202-2021 — Robert's Rules The purpose of this memo is to more thoroughly clarify where "substantial revisions" have been made in Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th Edition. In summary, none of the changes are going to affect how we conduct our regular business. They may, however, inform me slightly differently in walking through processes or details to provide on agendas. 1. Postpone to a Certain Time a. The 12th edition made clarifications to have this motion more closely agree with rules relating to Point of Order and Appeal by more clearly stating that a motion to Postpone to a Certain Time takes precedence over a debatable appeal that adheres to the main question, or a point of order that adheres to the main question and has been referred by the chair to the judgement of the assembly and which is debatable when so referred. The 11th edition stated this but stated it in the negative and had conditions. b. The 12h edition re -states rules dealing with procedures to be followed when postponed items are taken up again to avoid unnecessary repetition; no substantive changes were made. c. The 121 edition further clarifies the rules concerning the effect of postponement on motions adhering to the motion postponed (everything stays intact) and on subsequent debate (debate possibly being exhausted in a same meeting vs. debate being renewed in a new meeting) and methods of voting (only applies if the method of voting is ordered by the assembly and in our case it is almost always ordered by the Open Meetings Act or Kenai Municipal Code (KMC)). 2. Limit or Extend Limits of Debate — to clarify the varying effects that adoption of the different forms of this motion have on the making of subsidiary motions. Given that we have our own rule in KMC which supersedes Robert's Rules limits on debate, and we have never used these motions in my tenure, I didn't explore this one. In the event one of these motions was made, I would have to ask for an at ease to confer with the attorney to navigate the intricacies of merging of KMC with Robert's Rules. 3. Lay on the Table — to rearrange these rules into a more orderly and logical sequence. There are no changes here, just a rearrangement. 4. Point of Order — to clarify and expand on the rules setting forth remedies. The 12°i edition clarifies rules that are already in place and adds two remedies; neither of which would affect the City. The new remedies address inclusion of improper votes (such as votes cast by nonmembers or absent members) and situations which an Executive Board of a society takes an action that exceeds the board's authority. 5. Take from the Table — to clarify the rules that impose time limits on taking questions from the table and setting forth the status of motions taken from the table. I did not explore this one; during my tenure we have used postponements instead of lay on/take from the table. If an item were to be laid on the table, I would explore this to inform myself of the rules surrounding it and proper procedure for taking from or leaving on the table. 6. Reconsider — by including a summary of rules relating to reconsideration and rearrangement of the order in which the rules are discussed. The 121 edition adds a three paragraph summary which explains what we already know about a reconsideration; it temporarily suspends any action growing out of the vote to be reconsidered, the body votes on whether or not to reconsider the question and, if the body decides to reconsider the question, to the extent practicable, the question being reconsidered is opened back up at the exact moment before it was voted on originally. All rules with reconsideration are the same, they are rearranged in a more logical sequence. 7. To provide greater guidance concerning filling in blanks. During my tenure, the City has never used the particular option in which greater guidance is being given. By way of explanation, the 121 edition expands on an amendment motion to create a blank in a motion and then allowing members to suggest alternatives to fill the blank and, when debate on the suggestions has ended, the assembly decides by majority vote which suggestion shall fill the blank. As soon as a decision on the blank has been made, the chair restates and calls for the vote on the main motion as amended. 8. Clarifies and incorporates rules for the office of vice-president that had previously been scattered throughout the book; our Charter and KMC supersede these rules. 9. Minutes — to more clearly present the various procedures for their approval; KMC and our adopted policies give us guidance which supersedes Robert's Rules. The 12"' edition clarifies that, in the event minutes are taken in executive session, the minutes can only be read and approved in executive session; this rule would be superseded by AS 44.62.310 (Open Meetings Act) which provides that actions may not be taken in open session. Page 2 of 3 The City of Kenai I www.6nai.city There are many other clarifications and refinements but nothing else that would change the way that anything was done, just making it clearer and easier to follow. Your consideration is appreciated. Page 3 of 3 The City of Kenai I wwwlenaixity