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ORDINANCE NO. ______ _
An Ordinance amending the City of South Miami Code of Ordinances,
Chapter 2, Section 2-2.1 (J) and (0) to provides additional
administrative procedure for public comments and quasi-judicial
proceedings.
8 WHEREAS, section 2-2.1 of the City's code of ordinances allows for a filibuster;
9 and
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11 WHEREAS, if 30 people attend a meeting and each speaks for 5 minutes with a
12 minute between speakers, public comments could conceivably take 3 hours; and
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14 WHEREAS, typically, public remarks does not begin before 7:30 and ifthere is a
15 large number of people who wish to speak at public comments there can be very little
16 time to conduct public business, even if the meeting is extended until midnight; and
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18 WHEREAS, the City Commission should not be rushed or fatigued when make
19 important decisions and should adopt an environment that fosters greater deliberation of
20 the important issues that are before it; and
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22 WHEREAS, each member of the City Commission has taken an oath to do the
23 best job possible to serve the City and to manage an approximately 20 million budget;
24 and
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26 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
27 COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
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29 Section 1. Chapter 2, Article I, Section 2-2.1 (1) and (0) of the Code of
30 Ordinances, City of South Miami, Florida, are hereby amended and shall read as follows:
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32 * * *
33 (J) MANNER OF ADDRESSING COMMISSION; TIME LIMIT. No person
34 shall address the commission from the audience. Each person, before addressing the
35 commission, shall first legibly print their full name and their residential address and sign
36 in the space provided on the speaker list, step up to the podium, speak into the
37 microphone, state the person's name and city of residence and, if not a resident of the
38 City of South Miami, state whether the person has a business interest in the city and its
39 address. The person shall speak in an audible tone of voice for the public record, and
40 unless further time is granted by the commission, shall limit his or her address to five (5)
41 minutes or until statements appear to be repetitive or obstructive as determined by the
42 presiding officer. All remarks shall be addressed to the commission as a body and not to
43 any member. No person addressing the commission shall be permitted to ask questions of
44 or to enter into any discussion with any member of the commission, or any city officer
45 while they are seated on or beside the dais while a commission meeting is in progress,
46 either directly or through a member of the commission, without the permission of the
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presiding officer. No person who wishes to speak about an item that is subject to a quasi-
2 judicial procedure shall speak during the time set aside for public comments and shall
3 only address the City Commission on such item or subject matter after the applicant has
4 made his/her presentation and after the applicant has presented all of his/her witnesses
5 and evidence. The time set aside for public comments at the beginning of the
6 Commission· meeting shall be limited to City taxpayers and commercial tenants and
7 residents of the City. All others wishing to make public comments shall be allowed to
8 speak but only after all City business has been concluded and provide there is sufficient
9 time before 11 :00 p.m. for them to speak and provided time limit for all public comments
10 is not exceeded. The extension of the time for the meeting after 11 :00 p.m. shall only be
11 for City business. The total time for public comments is limited to 90 minutes and this
12 includes the time allowed at the beginning of the meeting which is limited to 50 minutes
13 and at the end of the meeting which is limited to 40 minutes. The City Clerk or Mayor
14 shall keep a timer and notify the speaker when his or her time has elapsed. No one shall
15 speak more than once a public remarks. Public comments shall end after a maximum of
16 50 minutes, or sooner if there are no more speakers. The time shall commence running
17 upon the speaker being called to the podium and no extra time shall be allowed for the
18 speaker to make his or her way to the podium. No speaker who has not signed the list of
19 speakers by 6:55 p.m. shall be allowed to speak unless otherwise provided this section.
20 Anyone who signs the speaker list thereafter may be allowed to speak at the end of city
21 business, if time is available. The amount of time for each speak shall be prorated among
22 the number of speakers who have signed the speaker list, i.e., if there are 10 speakers, 5
23 minutes will be allotted to each. If speakers speak for less than their allowable time, or if
24 the public remarks is run efficiently, additional time remaining will be allocated to hear
25 residents/taxpayers that signed the speaker list after 6:55p.m. but in no event shall it
26 exceed the 50 minute maximum time allotted for public comments and the same
27 maximum allotted time per speaker for the previous speakers will still apply. The mayor
28 has the discretion to allow for additional time to an individual speaker unless it will
29 exceed the total maximum time allowed for all the speakers. No speaker shall be allowed
30 to transfer any of his or her time to another speaker.
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(0) QUASI -JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.
35 (1) Duration of Presentations:
36 (a) Time for Hearing: Each Quasi-judicial proceeding shall be given
37 30 minutes for presentation of the case and the opposition to the application.
38 (b) Applicant: The applicant shall have five minutes to make his/her
39 presentation and each of the applicant's witnesses shall have two minutes and thirty
, 40 seconds to present their evidence. The applicant shall have five minutes to rebut any
41 evidence in opposition to the application and to present a closing statement.
42 (c) Opposition: Each taxpayer, commercial tenant and each City resident
43 shall have two minutes and thirty seconds to present their evidence. After reserving five
44 minutes for the rebuttal by the applicant, if there is time remaining, non-taxpayers and
45 non-residents of the City shall have the remaining time to testify and present evidence.
46 No speaker shall be allowed to transfer any of his or her time to another speaker.
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Cd) Extension of time: A majority of the City Commission may
2 authorize the granting of extra time to the applicant and hislher witnesses and to
3 taxpayers and commercial tenants and City residents.
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5 (G~) EX PARTE COMMUNICATIONS WITH LOCAL PUBLIC OFFICIAL.
6 Cortununications with local public officials regarding quasi-judicial matters, including
7 the adjudication of the rights of persons and the application of a general rule or policy to
8 a specific individual, property, interest or activity shall be governed by the following
9 procedure:
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13 Section 2. Codification. The provisions of this ordinance shall become and
14 be made a part of the Code of Ordinances of the City of South Miami as amended.
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16 Section 3. Severability. If any section, clause, sentence, or phrase of this
17 ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent
18 jurisdiction, this holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
19 ordinance.
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21 Section 4. Ordinances in Conflict. All ordinances or parts of ordinances and
22 all sections and parts of sections of ordinances in direct conflict herewith are hereby
23 repealed.
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25 Section 5. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective upon
26 enactment.
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PASSED AND ENACTED this __ day of _____ , 20_
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
1 st Reading
2nd Reading
APPROVED:
MAYOR
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM: COMMISSION VOTE:
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY AND Mayor Stoddard:
EXECUTION THEREOF Vice Mayor Welsh:
Commissioner Liebman:
Commissioner Edmond:
Commissioner Harris:
CITY ATTORNEY
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