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Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance No. 2614-2012the ctCy of KENALALASKA Suggested by: City Clerk and City Attorney CITY OF KENAI ORDINANCE NO. 2614 -2012 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 ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER NEWLY REVISED, 11TH EDITION, AS THE 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 "as revised at the time of passage" as the rules of parliamentary procedure for the City Council unless otherwise specified by ordinance; and, WHEREAS, Robert's Rules of Order has been amended from time to time since the City first adopted Robert's Rules as the parliamentary authority for the conduct of its meetings and, as a result, this older version of Robert's Rules is dated and difficult to find in publication (either in print or in electronic form); and, WHEREAS, the Eleventh Edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised is the version of the rules of parliamentary procedure that is intended by the drafters of Robert's Rules to replace all previous editions as the parliamentary authority for entities and organizations that prescribe the use of Robert's Rules of Order; and, WHEREAS, by adopting the most recent edition of Robert's Rules, the public and the members of the City Council and of the City's boards, commissions and committees will have a clear guidance as to the correct edition of Robert's Rules that applies to public meetings and will be able to easily access that information in print and electronic foiiu. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, as follows: Section 1. Foini. This is a Code ordinance. Section 2. Amendment of Section 1.15.120 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai Municipal Code, Section 1.15.120, Rules of Order, is hereby amended as follows: 1.15.120 Rules of Order. (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. New Text Underlined [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] Ordinance No. 2614 -2012 Page 2 of 3 (b) [IN ALL MATTERS OF PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE NOT COVERED BY THESE RULES,] Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 1 lth Edition, [AS REVISED AT THE TIME OF THE PASSAGE OF THIS CHAPTER] 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 may move, at any time, for the suspension of any rule, and such motion must be seconded to entitle[D] it to consideration. (d) If any member, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the rules of the Council, the presiding officer shall, or any member may, call [HIM] the member to order; in which case the member so called to order shall immediately cease discussion unless permitted by the presiding officer 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, [HE] the member shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, [HE] the member shall not proceed without leave of the Council to proceed in order. Section 3. Amendment of Section 1.90.050 of the Kenai Municipal Code: The Kenai Municipal Code, Section 1.90.050, Proceedings, is hereby amended as follows: 1.90.050 Proceedings. (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, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 1 lth Edition, [AS REVISED] 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. New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED Ordinance No. 2614 -2012 Page 3 of 3 (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 4. Severability: 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 5. Effective Date: Pursuant to KMC 1.15.070(f), this ordinance shall take effect one month after adoption. ,�- PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI ALASKA, thi - -�' � day of ,2012. �. Y ATTEST: igh, deity Clerk i PAT PORTER, MAYOR Introduced: March 7, 2012 Adopted: March 21, 2012 Effective: April 21, 2012 New Text Underlined• [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] \tire K 1AI% ALASKA "Villaye with a Past, Gi with a Future" 210 Fidalgo Avenue, Kenai, Alaska 99611 -7794 Telephone: 907 - 283 -7535 / FAX: 907 - 283 -3014 MEMO ' NDUM TO: Mayor Porter and City Councilors FROM: Krista S. Stearns, City Attorney's. Sandra Modigh, City ClerkC ' DATE: March 15, 2012 SUBJECT: Ordinance No. 2614 -2012 Updating Edition of Robert's Rules of Order Ordinance No. 2614 -2012 updates the edition of the rules of parliamentary procedure used for official City business. The drafters of Robert's Rules of Order periodically update the official version of Robert's Rules; however, the City cannot apply those changes without a Code change. To do so would constitute an unlawful delegation of the Council's legislative authority to the drafters of Robert's Rules of Order. It is this same legal principle that requires the City to (re)adopt uniform codes such as the Uniform Fire Code, as the drafters of those codes update editions. This principle also explains the language in KMC 1.15.120 stating that the City will use Roberts Rules of Order `as revised at the time of passage." Due to the many generations of editions to the official Robert's Rules of Order generated between when the City first adopted this ordinance and 2012, it is not practical to conduct a section -by- section comparison of the older version of the rules and those as set forth in the Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 11`1' Edition (issued in 2011). And, while it may be a slight understatement to refer to the ordinance as a mere housekeeping ordinance, this update is not expected to change the way the City conducts meetings. As an aside, it is not necessary that the City adopt each new edition of Robert's Rules of Order. In Tight of the long time since the City has updated its procedures and the difficulty in obtaining the correct edition of Robert's Rules of Order in effect at the time the City Council adopted current ordinance, an update is recommended. L: Council A Memo ARobertsRules03l 512