§ 2-30. Getting the floor.

(a)

Each member of the governing body shall have a right to speak and address any matter or issue before the governing body, for up to a total initial time limit of three minutes per matter or issue. However, when a member of the governing body wishes to make a motion or speak during a discussion or debate, he or she must first be recognized by the presiding officer in order to speak. The mayor is the presiding officer for city council meetings unless absent in which case, the mayor pro tem shall preside. Council members are not permitted to call out or interrupt another speaker. The order in which members of the governing body are to be recognized for the purpose of addressing or speaking to any particular issue or subject matter shall be determined by the presiding officer in his or her discretion, provided that the presiding officer shall not be entitled to prohibit a member of the governing body from speaking regarding each issue or matter under discussion, for up to a total of three minutes for each issue or matter. The only manner in which any member of the governing body may be recognized by the presiding officer for the purpose of speaking during a meeting is to first raise a hand and be recognized by the presiding officer, in accordance with this subsection.

(b)

When making remarks at a meeting, each member of the governing body shall confine his or her remarks to the topic being discussed or debated, and shall avoid personal attacks upon other members of the governing body or upon the motives or character of other members.

(c)

After all members of the governing body who wish to speak on a single topic have been allowed to speak, then the presiding officer shall have the right, but not the obligation, to allow a member of the governing body to speak a second time on the subject or topic being discussed, for up to a total of two additional minutes for each topic or subject being discussed.

(d)

A second is required for any motion to assure minimum support for the motion.

(e)

When a second is not forthcoming, the motion will "die for lack of a second," and the presiding officer shall so announce. Then the next order of business will be taken up without further debate or discussion.

(f)

The presiding officer has the right to rule remarks or comments out of order and thereby terminate them, if a council member has already made essentially the same point, or if the council member is repeating something he or she has already stated. The purpose of this rule is to avoid redundancies and repeating the same point more than once, and to avoid wasting time during debate and discussion.

(g)

No council member shall be allowed to speak on any one topic for more than a total of five minutes during any single meeting.

(h)

This section shall not affect the time limits set forth in the city's zoning ordinance.

( Ord. No. 06-2015 , § 1, 8-10-15)