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HomeMy WebLinkAboutParks and Recreation Commission By-Laws 09-2013 PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION RULES OF PROCEDURE / BY-LAWS September 2013 A. OFFICERS A-1 CHAIR, VICE-CHAIR, AND SECRETARY The Parks and Recreation Commission shall, by majority vote, select a new Chair and Vice-Chair every year at its meeting beginning the calendar year. The Secretary shall be the Community Services Director or designee, and shall not be a voting member of the Commission. A-2 CHAIR TO PRESIDE The Chair shall be the Presiding Officer at all meetings of the Parks and Recreation Commission. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall preside. In the absence of both the Chair and Vice-Chair, the Secretary of the Parks and Recreation Commission shall call the Commission to order, whereupon a temporary Presiding Officer shall be elected by the Commissioners present to serve until adjournment. A-3 DURATION OF TERM The term of the Chair and Vice-Chair shall be one (1) year. Two (2) consecutive terms may be served at the pleasure of the Commission. However, every effort should be made to allow all Commissioners to serve their term as Officers, provided they so desire and have served on the Parks and Recreation Commission at least one (1) year. The Commission may elect a member desirous of being an officer and not having at least one (1) year experience on a six-sevenths (6/7) vote. A-4 POWERS AND DUTIES OF PRESIDING OFFICER 1. Participation The Presiding Officer may move, second, debate, and vote from the Chair. He/She shall not be deprived of any of the rights and privileges of a Commissioner by reason of his/her acting as Presiding Officer. 2. Questions to be Stated The Presiding Officer, or such member of the City staff as he/she may designate, may verbally restate each question immediately prior to calling for the vote. Following the vote the Secretary to the Commission shall announced whether the question carried or was defeated. The Presiding Officer in his/her discretion may publicly explain the effect of a vote for the audience or he/she may direct the Secretary to do so before proceeding to the next item of business. B. MEETINGS B-1 REGULAR MEETINGS The Parks and Recreation Commission shall hold not less than one meeting per quarter or up to six regular meetings per year, based on a schedule approved by the Commission. The meetings generally will be held in community centers or other public facility in the city of Pomona. A special meeting (see Section B-3) may be called at any time to transact urgent business. B-2 ADJOURNED MEETINGS Any regular or adjourned meeting may be adjourned to a time, place, and date specified in the order of adjournment but not beyond the next regular meeting. If no time is stated in the order of adjournment, it shall be the same time as for regular meeting. Once adjourned, the meeting may not be reconvened. An adjourned regular meeting is a regular meeting for all purposes. B-3 SPECIAL MEETINGS Special meetings may be called at any time by the Chair or by four (4) members of the Parks and Recreation Commission, by the Secretary delivering personally or by mail, written notice to each Commissioner. Such notice must be delivered personally or by mail at least twenty-four (24) hours before the time of such meeting as specified in the notice. The call and notice shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. No other business shall be considered at such meetings. B-4 MEETINGS TO BE PUBLIC All regular, adjourned, and special meetings of the Parks and Recreation Commission shall be open to the public, except that the Parks and Recreation Commission may hold closed sessions from which the public may be excluded for the consideration of matters permitted by the California Open Meetings Law (the Ralph M. Brown Act). Public participation at regular, adjourned and special meetings shall be limited to the “Public Comment” section of the agenda and at the time specific action items listed on the agenda are discussed by the Commission. B-5 ATTENDANCE Commissioners are expected to diligently attend and participate in all meetings of the Commission. Requests for excused absences shall be received by the Secretary to the Commission. Four (4) consecutive absences may be considered as grounds for removal from office by the City Council. B-6 QUORUM The Parks and Recreation Commission consists of seven (7) members -- one (1) of whom is the Chair. Four (4) members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum and shall be sufficient to transact regular business. If less than four (4) Commissioners appear at a regular meeting, or the lack of a quorum is recognized in advance due to member excused absence and/or vacant position(s) on the Commission, the Secretary of the Parks and Recreation Commission or his/her designee may adjourn the meeting to a stated day and hour. The Secretary shall cause a written notice of the adjournment to be delivered personally to each Commissioner at least twenty-four (24) hours before the adjourned meeting is to commence. B-7 FORMATION OF COMMITTEES AND SUBCOMMITTEES The Presiding Officer or any member of the Parks and Recreation Commission may make a motion to create a committee or subcommittee comprised of three (3) or fewer Commission members to study an issue. Committees or subcommittees shall not have any decision-making authority, but shall report its findings to the main body of the Parks and Recreation Commission for further discussion and disposition. A Chair may be elected by and from among the committee or subcommittee members. The Presiding Officer of the Parks and Recreation Commission may serve on Parks and Recreation Commission committees or subcommittees as would any other Commissioner. C. AGENDA C-1 PREPARATION OF AGENDA An agenda shall be prepared for each regular meeting containing the specific items of business to be transacted and the order thereof. Items of business may be placed on the agenda by any Commissioner, the City Manager or designee, Community Services Department Director or designee, or the City Attorney or designee. City staff shall prepare the agenda. Whenever feasible, items on the agenda shall contain a staff report and recommendation and the specific action requested to be taken by the Commission. No matters other than those listed on the agenda shall be acted upon by the Commission. C-2 ORDER AND CONDUCT OF BUSINESS At the time set for each regular meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commissioners, Community Services Department Director or his/her designee, and department representatives who have been requested to be present shall take their places in the designated meeting room. The Chair shall call the meeting to order and the business of the Commission shall be taken up for consideration and disposition in the order set forth in Section C-4, except that with the consent of a majority of the Commissioners present, items may be taken out of order. Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the conduct of the meetings. C-3 POSTING OF AGENDA The agenda of the Parks and Recreation Commission shall be posted at least three (3) days prior to the meeting in the following public places: The bulletin board in the front of City Hall, 505 South Garey Avenue · The lobby of City Hall · C-4 CONTENTS OF AGENDA The agenda shall contain the title headings and shall be conducted in substantially the order and the manner as set forth below: CALL TO ORDER FLAG SALUTE ROLL CALL The Secretary shall call the roll of the Commissioners, and the names of those present shall be entered in the minutes. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES The Commission shall review and approve the minutes of the previous meeting. Any changes and amendments to the draft minutes may be made by a majority vote of the Commission. COMMISSIONER COMMUNICATION The Commission may discuss any such other matters as may be brought to it by a Commissioner. If action needs to be taken, the item(s) must be properly scheduled on the agenda prior to such action under the rules stipulated by the Ralph M. Brown Act. PUBLIC COMMENT The Commission shall hear anyone in the audience desiring to address the Parks and Recreation Commission on any matter not on the meeting agenda within its purview. Anyone desiring to address the Commission is limited to three (3) minutes, unless extended by a majority vote of the Commission. The maximum total time to be devoted to this section of the agenda is thirty (30) minutes, unless extended by a majority vote of the Commission. OLD AND/OR NEW BUSINESS The Commission may continue discussion of any items carried over from previous meetings, or discuss new items on the agenda. These items include all matters properly brought before the Commission which require action or discussion. Anyone in the audience desiring to address the Commission on a specific agenda item is limited to three (3) minutes, unless extended by a majority vote of the Commission. The Commission may recognize staff members or members of the audience for comments pertinent to the item. STAFF COMMUNICATION The Commission shall consider all verbal or written communication from staff. If action needs to be taken, the items must be properly scheduled on the agenda prior to such action under the rules stipulated by the Ralph M. Brown Act. ADJOURNMENT The meeting shall be adjourned to a time and date certain after a motion to adjourn has been made and carried. D. ADDRESSING THE COMMISSION D-1 WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE The City Manager and Community Services Department Director or designee is authorized to receive and open all mail addressed to the Parks and Recreation Commission, and he/she shall give it immediate attention. Any communication requiring Commission action shall be placed upon the agenda, together with a report and recommendation by the City staff. All correspondence requiring same shall be answered or acknowledged as soon as practical. D-2 RIGHT TO ADDRESS PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION Subject to the provisions of Section D-3, D-4, and E-8, interested persons shall have the absolute right to address the Commission during consideration of items under the following headings of business: 1. Public Comment Interested persons or their authorized representatives may address the Commission by oral communication on any matter concerning municipal business over which the Commission has influence or control during the “Public Comment” portion of the agenda. 2. Old and/or New Business Interested persons or their authorized representatives may address the Commission while a matter is open to the public, in regard to remarks or questions relevant to the matter under consideration. D-3 MANNER OF ADDRESSING COMMISSION Any person desiring to address the Commission shall stand and wait to be recognized by the Presiding Officer. After being recognized, he/she shall provide the Secretary with his/her name and address on forms provided. He/she shall then approach the podium or other conveniently visible location, state his/her name and address for the record, and proceed to address the Commission. All remarks and questions shall be addressed to the Commission as a whole and not to any individual member or the City staff without first obtaining permission from the Presiding Officer. D-4 TIME LIMITATION Every person addressing the Commission shall limit his/her address to three (3) minutes or such reasonable time as is granted by the majority of the Commission. When any group of persons wishes to address the Commission on the same subject matter, it shall be proper for the Presiding Officer to request that a spokesperson be chosen to represent the group to avoid unnecessary repetition. E. DEBATE AND DECORUM E-l GETTING THE FLOOR Every Commissioner desiring to speak shall first address the Chair, gain recognition by the Presiding Officer, and shall confine himself/herself to the question under debate. E-2 QUESTIONS TO STAFF Every Commissioner desiring to question the City staff shall, after recognition by the Presiding Officer, address his/her questions to the Community Services Department Director or designee. In the case of the Director, he/she shall be entitled either to answer the inquiry himself/herself or to designate another member of the staff for that purpose. E-3 INTERRUPTIONS A Commissioner, once recognized, shall not be interrupted when speaking unless called to order by the Presiding Officer, unless a point of order or personal privilege is raised by another Commissioner, or unless the speaker chooses to yield to a question by another Commissioner. If a Commissioner is called to order while speaking, he/she shall cease speaking until the question or order is determined. If it is determined to be in order, he/she may proceed. After recognition by the Presiding Officer, members of the City staff shall hold the floor until completion of their remarks or until recognition is withdrawn by the Presiding Officer. E-4 POINTS OF ORDER The Presiding Officer shall determine all points of order subject to the right of any Commissioner to appeal to the Commission. He/she may request an opinion of the City Attorney or designee in making such determination. If an appeal is taken, the question shall be, “Shall the decision of the Presiding Officer be sustained?” Commission decision shall conclusively determine such question of order. E-5 POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE The right of a Commissioner to address the Commission on a question of personal privilege shall be limited to cases in which his/her integrity, character or motives are questioned or in an instance in which the welfare of the Commission is concerned. A Commissioner raising a point of personal privilege may interrupt another Commissioner who has the floor subject only to the power of the Presiding Officer to call him/her out of order. E-6 REMARKS OF COMMISSIONERS AND SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE Any Commissioner shall have the right of having an abstract of his/her statement and/or a synopsis of the debate on any subject under consideration by the Commission entered in the minutes. This right shall be exercised by specific direction to the Secretary at the Commission meeting. E-7 DECORUM AND ORDER; COMMISSION AND CITY STAFF While the Commission is in session, the Commissioners and City staff shall preserve order and decorum. A member shall neither by conversation or other action delay or interrupt the proceedings or the peace of the Commission nor disturb any member while speaking or refuse to obey the directives of the Presiding Officer. E-8 DECORUM AND ORDER; AUDIENCE Public members attending Commission meetings shall observe the same rules of order and decorum applicable to the Commission and staff. Any person making irrelevant, impertinent, or profane remarks or who becomes boisterous while addressing the Commission or while attending the Commission meeting shall be removed from the room if the City Staff is so directed by the Presiding Officer, and such person may be barred from further audience before the Commission at that meeting. Unauthorized remarks from the audience, stamping of feet, whistling, shouting and similar demonstrations shall not be permitted by the Presiding Officer, who shall direct the Staff to remove such offenders from the room. F. MOTIONS F-1 PRESENTATION OF MOTIONS A motion is the formal statement of a proposal or question to the Commission for consideration and action. The Presiding Officer and each Commissioner has the right to present a motion. F-2 SECOND REQUIRED A motion by any Commissioner shall not be considered by the Commission and voted on unless it receives a second. Once the motion has been properly made and seconded, the Presiding Officer shall open the matter for debate offering the first opportunity to debate to the moving party and, thereafter, to any Parks and Recreation Commission member properly recognized by the Presiding Officer. Once the motion has been fully debated and the Presiding Officer calls for a vote, no further debate will be allowed. Parks and Recreation Commission members, however, may be allowed to explain their vote. F-3 PROCEDURAL RULES OF ORDER (Per Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised) Once the main motion is properly placed on the floor, several related motions may be employed in addressing the main motion, and if properly made and seconded, must be disposed of before the main motion can be Acted upon. The following motions are appropriate and may be made by the Presiding Officer or any Parks and Recreation Commission member at any appropriate time during the discussion of the main motion. They are listed in order of precedence. 1.Subsidiary Motions. The first three (3) subsidiary motions are non-debatable; the last four (4) are debatable. a. Lay on the Table Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to lay the matter under discussion on the table. This motion temporarily suspends any further discussion of the pending motion without setting a time certain to resume debate. In order to bring the matter back before the Parks and Recreation Commission, a motion must be adopted that the matter be taken from the table. A motion to take from the table must be made at the same meeting at which it was placed on the table or at the next regular meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission. Otherwise the motion that was tabled dies, although it can be raised later as a new motion. b. Move Previous Question Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to immediately bring the question being debated by the Parks and Recreation Commission to a vote, suspending any further debate. The motion must be made and seconded without interrupting one who already has the floor. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the quorum present is required for passage. c. Limit or Extend Limits of Debate Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to put limits on the length of the debate. The motion must be made and seconded and requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the quorum present to pass. d. Postpone to a Time Certain Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to postpone debate and action on the motion to a date and time certain. e. Commit or Refer Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move that the matter being discussed should be referred to staff, a committee or a subcommittee for further study. The motion may contain directions for the staff, committee or subcommittee, as well as a date upon which the matter will be returned to the Parks and Recreation Commission's agenda. If no date is set for returning the item to the Parks and Recreation Commission agenda, any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move, at any time, to require the item to be returned to the agenda. f. Amend Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may amend the main motion or any amendment made to the main motion, after the main motion is seconded. Before the main motion may be acted upon, all amendments and amendments to amendments must first be acted upon. An amendment must be related to the main motion or amendment to which it is directed. Any amendment which substitutes a new motion rather than amending the existing motion is out of order and may be so declared by the Presiding Officer. g. Postpone Indefinitely Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to postpone indefinitely the motion on the floor, thus avoiding a direct vote on the pending motion and suspending any further action on the matter. 2. Motions of Privilege, Order and Convenience The following actions by the Parks and Recreation Commission are to ensure orderly conduct of meetings and are for the convenience of the Presiding Officer and Parks and Recreation Commission members. These motions take precedence over any pending main or subsidiary motion and may be debated except as noted. a. Call for Orders of the Day Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may demand that the agenda be followed in the order stated herein. No second is required and the Presiding Officer must comply unless the Parks and Recreation Commission sets aside the agenda order of the day. This motion is not debatable. b. Question of Privilege Any Parks and Recreation Commission member, at any time during the meeting, may make a request of the Chair to accommodate the needs of the Parks and Recreation Commission or his/her personal needs for such things as reducing noise, adjusting air conditioning, ventilation, lighting, etc. The validity of the question is ruled on by the Presiding Officer. c. Recess Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move for a recess. d. Adjourn Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to adjourn at any time, even if there is business pending. The motion is not debatable. e. Point of Order Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may require the Presiding Officer to enforce the rules of the Parks and Recreation Commission by raising a point of order. The point of order shall be ruled upon by the Presiding Officer. f. Appeal Should any Parks and Recreation Commission member be dissatisfied with a ruling from the Presiding Officer, he/she may move to appeal the ruling to the full Parks and Recreation Commission. g. Suspend the Rules Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to suspend the rules if necessary to accomplish a matter that would otherwise violate the rules. h. Division of Question Any Parks and Recreation Commission member may move to divide the subject matter of a motion which is made up of several parts in order to vote separately on each part. i. Reconsider Except for votes regarding matters which are quasi-judicial in nature or matters which require a noticed public hearing, the Parks and Recreation Commission may reconsider any vote taken at the same meeting, but no later than the same or next meeting, to correct inadvertent or precipitant errors, or consider new information not available at the time of the vote. The motion to reconsider must be made by a Parks and Recreation Commission member who voted on the prevailing side, must be seconded and requires a majority vote of the quorum for passage, regardless of the vote reconsidered. If the motion to reconsider is successful, the matter to be reconsidered takes no special preference over other pending matters and any special voting requirements related thereto shall still apply. Except pursuant to a motion to reconsider, once a matter has been determined and voted upon, the same matter cannot be brought up again at the same meeting. j. Rescind, Repeal or Annul The Parks and Recreation Commission may rescind, repeal or annul any prior action taken with reference to any legislative matter so long as the action to rescind, repeal or annul complies with all the rules applicable to the initial adoption, including any special voting or notice requirements or unless otherwise specified by law. G. VOTING G-l VOTING PROCEDURE All Parks and Recreation Commission members present at a meeting when a motion question comes up for a vote shall vote for or against the motion or shall abstain. The Secretary shall declare the result and note for the record all “yes” votes and all “no” votes. The Parks and Recreation Commission may also vote by roll call vote, ballot or voting machine. Regardless of the manner of voting, the results reflecting all “yes” and “no” votes must be clearly set forth for the record. In order to be adopted, a motion requires the “yes” vote of a majority of the quorum present. An abstention shall not be counted as a “yes” or a “no” vote but the Parks and Recreation Commission member abstaining shall be counted for the purpose of determining the quorum. G-2 ORDER OF VOTING The Secretary shall take roll call votes in the following order: First, the Commissioner making the motion. · Second, the Commissioner seconding the motion. · Followed by the balance of the Commissioners in any order. · G-3 CHANGE OF VOTE A member may change his/her vote only if he/she makes a timely request to do so immediately following the announcement of the vote by the Chair and prior to the time that the next item in the order of business is taken up. G-4 FAILURE TO VOTE Every member should vote unless disqualified for cause except by vote of the Commission or by opinion of the City Attorney or designee. Self-disqualification, without approval, which results in a tie vote shall be avoided, but no Commissioner shall be forced to vote. A Commissioner who abstains shall in effect consent that a majority of the quorum may act for him. G-5 CONFLICT OF INTEREST Commissions shall not vote if private or personal interests are likely to conflict with the general public interest. The State Fair Political Practices Act shall apply to every Commissioner. G-6 LOST MOTIONS A lost motion is one that fails to receive the necessary number of votes to carry. Tie votes result in a lost motion. Lost motions may be renewed at any subsequent Commission meeting. To revive a lost motion at the same meeting, the proper action is a motion to reconsider, as discussed above. G-7 RECORDATION OF VOTES Voting results of the Parks and Recreation Commission shall be recorded in the minutes and shall include by commissioner’s name, “aye” votes, “no” votes, abstentions, and absences. H. MINUTES H-1 PREPARATION OF MINUTES The Secretary of the Parks and Recreation Commission shall have exclusive responsibility for preparation of the minutes, and any directions for changes in the minutes shall be made only by action of the Commission. I. AMENDMENTS These By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the Parks and Recreation Commission, provided the proposed amendment has been presented at one (1) prior regular meeting before the action is taken. Failure of the Commission to follow the By-Laws established herein shall not invalidate or otherwise affect any action of the Commission.