Loading...
241 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 ORDINANCE NO. An Ordinance, amending Chapter 2, Article I, Sec. 2 -2.1 (K) titled "DECORUM" and establishing more detailed Rules of Decorum at City Commission meetings, and providing for the appointment of a Sergeant at Arms for enforcement thereof. Whereas, it takes a substantial commitment of time and hard work to be a good commission member; and Whereas, the board and commission process conducted in an orderly manner is essential to the successful function of a City government; and Whereas, the rights of citizens to be heard are preserved through time - limited and orderly speech in meetings of the City Commission and Boards during public remarks and certain hearings and workshops; and Whereas, the rights of citizens to observe public and monitor meetings of the City Commission is assured via electronic means; and Whereas, disorderly and disruptive conduct at public meetings interferes with the successful function of City government; Now, therefore, be it ordained by the Mayor and City Commission of the City of South Miami, Florida: Section 1. Chapter 2, Article I, Section 2- 2.1(K) of the City code is amended as follows: (K) RULES OF DECORUM AT CITY COMMISSION MEETINGS. The following rules of decorum shall be fully pplicable to all City Commissioners, members of all Commissions Boards and Committees (including but not limited to Advisory Committees) members of any other entity whose membership is appointed by the City Commission (all of which are collectively referred to as "Commissions" or "Boards" for the purpose of this ordinance) and all persons appearing before or who attend any meeting of f any of these Commissions or Boards. 1) Mavor and Commissioners to exercise equal power. The Mayor and Commissioners shall exercise equal power and authority in the transaction of business for the city, except that the Mayor, or in his /her absence the Vice Mayor, shall act as the presiding officer of the Commission. The Mayor shall perform all duties imposed upon him/her by the City Charter and by ordinances of the City, or upon order of the Commission During public meetings the members of the Commission or Board shall preserve order and decorum and shall not, by Page 1 of 5 1 conversation or otherwise delay or interrupt proceedings or refuse to obey the orders of the 2 presiding officer or the rules of the City Commission or Board. During meetings of Boards and 3 Commissions other than the Cif Commission the chair of the Boards and Commissions shall 4 preserve order and decorum at meetings of that particular body in the same manner required of 5 the Mayor at meetings of the City Commission. 6 7 (2) Sergeant at Arms The Chief of Police or any worn police officer designated by the 8 Chief of Police shall enforce the rules established herein acting to maintain order in the ca ap city_ 9 of Sergeant at Arms. 10 11 (3) Persons permitted within the dais. Members of the City Commission and the city 12 staff shall be allowed within the dais area. No other person may pproach or enter the dais area 13 without the consent of the presiding officer. 14 15 (4) Addressing the Commission or Board All remarks shall be addressed to the 16 Commission as a whole and not to any member or employee of the City thereof. Only members 17 of the Commission and the person havirig the floor shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, 18 whether directly or through a member of the Commission unless rag nted permission by the 19 presiding officer. Only with the express permission of the presiding officer may questions be 20 asked or directed to a Commission member or to the city staff unless such permission is granted 21 by a motion duly seconded and approved by a majority vote of the Commission members. 22 23 (5) Reconnition of Weakers by the presidiin officer. Persons shall address the 24 Commission or Board only after being recognized by the presiding officer who is the Mayor or a 25 Board Chairperson. 26 27 (6) Speakinz procedure • limitation on discussion and questioning. Each ep rson 28 addressing the Commission or Board shall step up to the podium provided for the use of the 29 public and give his /her name and address in an audible tone of voice for the records, state the 30 subject he /she wishes to discuss state whom he /she is representing and if he /she represents an 31 organization, business or other persons and unless further time is granted by majority vote of 32 the Commission shall limit his/her remarks as otherwise provided for herein. Speaking time 33 allotted to one person by the presiding officer is not fungible and thus may not be reallocated to 34 others although the chair may request or permit one person to speak on behalf of many wishing 35 to express the same view. 36 37 (7) questioninz the administrative stag. Every Commission member desiring to question 38 the administrative staff shall address the questions to the City Manager who should be entitled to 39 answer the inquiries himself or designate some member of his staff for that purpose. Commission 40 appointees shall not be considered administrative staff. 41 42 (8) Public hearings Persons who wish to speak on matter set for Public Hearing and 43 listed on the agenda will be heard when the Public Hearing is opened. Public speech at public 44 hearings must be evidentiary in nature and pertinent to the item under consideration After the 45 public has commented the item is closed to public comment and brought to the Commission 46 level for discussion and action Further comments from the audience will be received only if 47 requested by a member of the Commission or Board with permission of the chair or, permission 48 may be granted by a motion duly seconded and approved by ajority vote of the Commission 49 members. Page 2 of 5 2 (9) Addresses after public hearing closed After a public hearing has been closed no 3 member of the public shall address the Commission or Board on the matter under consideration 4 unless a member of the Commission or Board makes a motion, to re -open public remarks, and the 5 motion is seconded and approved by a majority vote of the Commission or Board. 6 7 (10) Speakin g out of turn or without recognized audience. No member of the public may 8 seek to address the Commission or Board from the audience on any matter. A member of the 9 public may only address the Commission or Board from the podium during public remarks, or 10 during the public hearing on a particular issue as set forth in this ordinance Repeated requests by 1 I an individual that become disruptive to orderly deliberation are not permitted. 12 13 (11) Campaign speech is prohibited No person will be allowed to address the City 14 Commission by making campaign speeches for or against any issue already ordered to be placed 15 on a ballot or for or against any candidate who has announced or does announce his /her intention 16 to run for election or re- election. 17 18 (2) By persons. Any person making personal impertinent, or- slanderous remarks or ­b 19 shall become boisterous while addressing the e-a—mission shall be fer&Ath barfed from furthe 20 audienee before the eouneil by the pres: pefmission to continue be granted-by 21 a majority vote of the-c��. 22 23 (12) Conduct of persons addressing the Commission or Board No person shall expressly 24 or impliedly make impertinent derogatory, discourteous, snide, profane or slanderous remarks 25 directed at individuals or entities. Neither shall speakers use loud, threatening, or abusive 26 language. The term slander, for the purposes of this section, is defined as the speaking of false 27 words that may be construed as injuring another person's reputation, business, or property rights. 28 29 30 (13) Disorderly conduct. The Commission requests that attendees observe the order and 31 decorum of our Commission Chamber and the meeting places of the Commissions and Boards 32 that represent the City. Any behavior that violates the rights of others or distracts or prevents 33 others from watching or fully participating in a Commission or Board meeting as permitted is a 34 violation of the City's Municipal Code. Accordingly, no person in the audience shall engage in 35 any conduct that disturbs the peace and good order of the meeting or distracts the Commission 36 or the public from the matters before the Commission, Board, any public meeting, or other public 37 proceedings Persons in the audience may produce sounds audible and distracting to others or 38 engage in visually distracting behavior; examples include but are not limited to vocalization, 39 clapping telephone ring tones rustling pgpers hand gestures waving display of signs or open 40 newspapers etc Any person engaging in such conduct shall be called to order by the presiding 41 officer or by the Sergeant at Arms. 42 43 (14) Weapons are prohibited No person except an employed law enforcement officer 44 may bring a weapon into the Commission Chamber. The Sergeant at Arms or any Police Officer 45 on duty may determine whether an object has potential use as a weapon. 46 47 (15) Limitation on use of supplemental lighting• Limitations on use of supplemental 48 lighting for television and motion - picture cameras to create the least amount of interference with 49 or disturbance of Commission proceedings and /or discomfort to the public shall be maintained. Page 3 of 5 2 (16) Eating or drinking All persons other than those required to be at the dais for the 3 purpose of conducting the meeting shall refrain from eating or drinkingSexcept water) while in 4 the Chamber during a City Commission or any other public meeting. 5 6 (17) Persons enga nR� g in any behavior in violation of this ordinance shall be called to 7 order by the presiding officer or by the Sergeant at Arms. In the event that a person persist in 8 violating this ordinance after being ordered to cease and desist such behavior, they shall be 9 ordered to leave the area where the offense was or is taking place and move to a location where 10 they cannot continue to disrupt the roceedings or, if the offense is not disruptive of the 11 proceedings to a location where their conduct is appropriate The presiding officer shall have the 12 authority and duty to determine the location where the disruptive individual must move or be 13 moved to prevent further disruption of the meeting. 14 15 (18) Notice to the disabled and visually or hearing impaired In compliance with the 16 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA ), the City of South Miami will provide special assistance 17 for disabled citizens..- Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make 18 reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this .meeting or provide the requested agenda 19 format. 20 21 (19) APPOINTMENT OF SERGEANT AT ARMS. 22 23 (a) The Chief of Police or any sworn police officer of the City of South Miami 24 designated by said Chief of Police shall be the Sergeant at Arms of the City 25 Commission or other public meetings if deemed necessary. 26 27 (b ) The City Commission Sergeant at Arms shall do all of the following: 28 29 (1) Maintain good order in the corridors committee rooms and Commission 30 Chamber in City Hall and those areas of City Hall under the use and control of 31 the City Commission This section shall not affect or abridge the authority or 32 duties and responsibilities of the Police Department. 33 34 (2) Strictly enforce the rules of decorum and other provisions of this ordinance. 35 36 (3) The Sergeant at Arms has the authority to enforce all state laws, municipal and 37 county ordinances and resolutions and if warranted to make arrests for any 38 violation of any of those ordinances laws, and resolutions. 39 40 Section 2: Codification. The provisions of this ordinance shall become and be made 41 part of the Code of Ordinances of the City of South Miami as amended; that the sections of this 42 ordinance may be re- numbered or re- lettered to accomplish such intention; and that the word 43 'ordinance" may be changed to "section" or other appropriate word. 44 45 Section 3. Severability. If any section, clause, sentence, or phrase of this ordinance is 46 for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, this holding 47 shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. 48 Page 4 of 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Section 4. Ordinances in Conflict. All ordinances or parts of ordinances and all sections and parts of sections of ordinances in direct conflict herewith are hereby repealed. However, it is not the intent of this section to repeal entire ordinances, or parts of ordinances, that give the appearance of being in conflict when the two ordinances can be harmonized or when only a portion of the ordinance in conflict needs to be repealed to harmonize the ordinances. If the ordinance in conflict can be harmonized by amending its terms, it is hereby amended to harmonize the two ordinances. Therefore, only that portion that needs to be repealed to harmonize the two ordinances shall be repealed. More specifically, This ordinance is not intended to replace existing rules of decorum, if any, except in those instances when existing language is inconsistent with the intent reflected herein. Section 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective ten (10) days after adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED this , 201 I. ATTEST: APPROVED: CITY CLERK IIT Reading — 2 "d Reading— READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM AND SUFFICIENCY: CITY ATTORNEY Page 5 of 5 MAYOR COMMISSION VOTE: Mayor Stoddard: Vice Mayor Newman: Commissioner Palmer: Commissioner Beasley: Commissioner Palmer: Commissioner Harris: