131 ORDINANCE NO. _____ _
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3 An Ordinance amending Section 2-2.1 concerning procedure for commission
4 and public remarks and setting time limits to assist in the completion of City
5 business and to improve decorum.
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7 WHEREAS, the City Commission needs adequate time for thoughtful deliberation and
8 discussion during its regularly scheduled meetings, particularly when the night is young and
9 minds are still functioning efficiently; and
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11 WHEREAS, the City's residents desire Commission meetings that are efficient and
12 timely such that they may attend the business portion of the meeting without being present until
13 late hours; and
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15 WHEREAS, Robert's Rules of Order permit members of the assembly (i.e., the City
16 Commission) to speak no more than ten minutes at one time; and
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18 WHEREAS, by way of review, and based on recent history, most members of the public
19 who address the Commission, speak to items on the agenda for two minutes or less, but a smaller
20 number of individuals regularly spend five minutes airing grievances irrelevant to the published
21 agenda and often attempt to exceed the time limit; and
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23 WHEREAS, Chapter 286.0114 Florida Statutes provides in part that: "Members of the
24 public shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on a proposition before a Board or
25 Commission. The opportunity to be heard need not occur at the same meeting at which the
26 Board or Commission takes official action on the proposition if the opportunity occurs at a
27 meeting that is during the decision making process and is within reasonable proximity in time
28 before the meeting at which the Board or Commission takes the official action. This section does
29 not prohibit a Board or Commission from maintaining orderly conductor proper decorum in a
30 public meeting. The opportunity to be heard is subject to rules or policies adopted by the Board
31 or Commission. ,.
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33 WHEREAS, Chapter 286.0114 Florida Statues guarantees the rights of the public to be
34 heard on matters which are subject to vote by elected officials of local government, but not on
35 other matters; and
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37 WHEREAS, Chapter 286.0114 Florida Statutes affords the City Commission the right to
38 set time limits and procedures for addressing the Commission; and
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40 WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County and various municipalities have found it imperative to
41 conduct more efficient and more orderly meetings by limiting speakers to two minutes and
42 restricting their scope of comments to items on the published agenda.
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44 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
45 COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
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47 Section 1. Section 2-2.l(G)(8) of the City of South Miami's Code of Ordinances
48 shall be created to read as follows:
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1 (8) Time limit for Commission Remarks. No Member shall speak longer than ten minutes at one
2 time, nor more than twice during the same meeting to the same question or issue (only once on
3 an appeal of a decision by the chair), without a majority vote of the Commission.
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5 Section 2. Section 2-2.I(J) of the City of South Miami's Code of Ordinances shall be
6 amended to read as follows:
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8 (J) MANNER OF ADDRESSING COMMISSION; TIME LIMIT. No person shall address the
9 commission from the audience. Such repeated action shall be cause for the offending person to
10 be removed from City Hall. £aeh person, Before aae.ressmg the eomrnission, shall first legiBly
11 prffit their fun name ana their residential address and sign in the spaee provided on the SJleaker
12 list, Prior to the beginning of a Commission meeting, a person who wishes to address the
13 Commission concerning an agenda item, shall first legibly fill out a speaker sign in form,
14 identifYing the speaker's full name and City of residence or business address, the number(s) of
15 the agenda item(s) to be addressed, and whether the speaker favors or opposes the item(s). No
16 additional speaker sign in forms shall be accepted after the meeting begins. The City Charter
17 Article II establishes the business to be conducted in a Commission meeting. Insofar as a
18 Commission Meeting is not a general open forum, but is devoted to efficient carriage of City
19 business, topics or items not on the official agenda are not appropriate for public remarks, but
20 may be discussed with Commission members or City Staff at a time when the Commission is not
21 in session. Each Commissioner has a public email address and a public telephone number for
22 such communication or to coordinate an in-person meeting. A fillable form for listing and
23 explaining "other concerns" (issues not addressed in an item on the current Agenda) will be
24 available along with the speaker sign-in form for members of the public to list or describe any
25 .concerns the individual wishes to address. These forms will be collected by the City Clerk for
26 direct staff attention or conveyance to the Commission outside of the Commission meeting.
27 Each speaker shall be allotted three (3) minutes at the podium. The Chair may call upon one
28 individual to represent the views of a group or faction and may allot additional time to that
29 person, at his or her discretion, not to exceed five (5) minutes in duration. The Chair may
30 require speakers to limit themselves to new information and points of view not already covered
31 by previous speakers. When called by the sChair to speak, the speaker shall step up to the
32 podium, speak audibly into the microphone, state his or her the person's name and sl:ity of
33 residence and, if not a resident of the sCity of South Miami, state whether the person has a
34 business interest in the sCity and its address. The person shall speak audibly in an aHdible tone
35 of yoiee for the public record, and unless further time is granted by the sCommission, shall limit
36 his or her address to the permitted time five (5) minates or until statements appear to be
37 repetitive or obstructive as determined by the Chaiwresiding offieer. All remarks shall be
38 addressed to the sCommission as a body and not to any member. No person addressing the
39 sCommission shall be permitted to ask questions of or to enter into any discussion with any
40 member of the sCommission during their remarks or any time during the Commission meeting,
41 or any City eOfficer while they are seated on or eeside the dais while a sCommission meeting is
42 in progress, either direetly or throHgn a memlJer of the eCommission, withom the permission of
43 the presiding offieer except outside of the Commission Chamber.
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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.
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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.
Section 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective upon enactment.
Passed and adopted this __ th_day of _______ , 2016.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
1st Reading
2nd Reading
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY
AND EXECUTION THEREOF:
CITY ATTORNEY
APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Welsh:
Commissioner Edmond:
Commissioner Liebman:
Commissioner Harris:
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