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RES 15-697 - Amending Council Rules of ProcedureRESOLUTION NO. 15 -697 A RESOLUTION of the City Council of the City of Federal Way, Washington, Amending the City Council Rules of Procedure. WHEREAS, the Federal Way City Council adopted the Council Rules of Procedure in 1992; and WHEREAS, the Federal Way City Council has modified the Rules of Procedure many times since 1992; and WHEREAS, the Federal Way City Council discussed modifications to the Rules of Procedure at a study session held at a Special City Council Meeting on October 20, 2015; and WHEREAS, the Federal Way City Council directed the City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Rules of Procedure consistent with the discussion at the October 20, 2015 study session; NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY, RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Rule 2.1(6) shall be amended as follows: The annual retreat will be scheduled before March 1St of each yearfor the last week or weekend of January. Council may request the Mayor to schedule a mid -year retreat at its discretion. Section 2. Rule 2.2(4) shall be amended as follows: Members of the audience may comment on items relating to any matter. Citizen comment sign -ups will be available at each regular council meeting for the use of those citizens wishing to address the Council. Comments are limited to three (3) minutes, except that for a person whose property is the subject of a condemnation ordinance then pending before the City Council, or a person speaking on behalf of a group of more than five (5) in attendance or written proof that more than five (5) designate as spokesperson may speak for five (5) minutes provided the City Clerk has been notified Resolution No. 15 -697 Page 1 of 6 speaker may convey or donate his or her time for speaking to another speaker. The Mayor may allow citizens to comment on individual agenda items at times during any regularly scheduled City Council meeting other than the regularly scheduled Citizen Comment period. These agenda items include, but are not limited to, ordinances, resolutions and Council Business issues. (See also Section 5, "Citizen Comment" of these Rules.) Section 3. Rule 2.2(5) shall be amended as follows: Consent Agenda items have either been fully considered by a City Council Committee or are considered to be routine and non - controversial and may be approved by one motion. Items on the Any Council Member may remove any item from the Consent Agenda for separate discussion and action. Section 4. Rule 2.2(8)(E) shall be amended as follows: a, The City Clerk shall publish the enacted ordinance title in the official newspaper, which will establish the effective date, after the final action by the Mayor and /or the City Council. Section 5. Section 3, Agenda Preparation, shall be replaced by the following: 3.1 The City Clerk will prepare an agenda for each Council meeting specifying the time and place of the meeting and a list of each item to be considered by the Council. 3.2 The agenda is subject to approval by the Deputy Mayor and one Committee Chair. The assignment of the Committee Chair will be for one year in accordance with the alphabetical order of the committees: o Finance /Economic Development /Regional Affairs Committee o Land Use /Transportation Committee o Parks/Recreation /Human Services & Public Safety Committee 3.3 An item may be placed on a Council meeting agenda by any of the following methods: o A majority vote of the Council; o Council Consensus; o By any two (2) Councilmembers; o By a Council Committee; or o By the Mayor Resolution No. 15 -697 Page 2 of 6 3.4 The proposed agenda will be provided to all City Councilmembers no less than 48 hours prior to publication. 3.5 Publication of the final agenda and complete Council packet will occur no later than the Friday prior to the Council meeting at 5:00 pm. 3.6 A Regular Meeting Agenda may be amended to add an item after it has been published, if the Councilmember or Mayor explains the necessity and receives a majority vote of the Council at the start of the public meeting. 3.7 Legally required and advertised Public Hearings will have a higher priority over other time - scheduled agenda items which have been scheduled for convenience rather than for statutory or other legal reasons. 3.8 All agenda packets will be in the format provided by the City Clerk's Office. Section 6. Rule 5.1 shall be amended as follows: Persons addressing the Council, who are not specifically scheduled on the agenda, will be requested to step up to the podium, give their name for the record, and limit their remarks to three (3) minutes. A person speaking on behalf of a group of more than five (5) in attendance or written proof that more than 5 designate as spokesperson may speak for five (5) minutes provided the City Clerk has been notified in advance (preferably by 3:00 pax., but ne later than before the beginning of the meeting). No speaker may convey or donate his or her time for speaking to another speaker. All remarks will be addressed to the Council as a whole, and not to individual City staff members. Any person making personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks, or who becomes boisterous, threatening, or personally abusive while addressing the Council, may be requested to leave the meeting. Section 7. Rules 5.2 and 5.3 shall be renumbered as Rules 5.3 and 5.4. Section 8. A new Rule 5.2 shall be adopted as follows: Written comments received prior to the start of the meeting will be accepted by the City Clerk. The City Clerk will read the written comment into the record during the Public Comment portion of the meeting. The time limits as set forth in Rule 5.1 will apply to written comments being read into the record. Section 9. Rule 9.6 shall be amended as follows: Mail that is addressed to the-Mayer-and Council Members shall be copied and circulated to all City Council Members by the City Clerk, as soon as practicable after it arrives. Resolution No. 15 -697 Page 3 of 6 Section 10. Rule 9.11 shall be repealed in its entirety. Section 11. A new Rule 11.4 shall be adopted as follows: 11.4 ATTENDANCE FROM A REMOTE LOCATION (1) Purpose. The City Council recognizes the benefits of the fullest practicable attendance and participation by its Members and by the Mayor and hereby allows for attendance at Regular and Special City Council meetings as well as Committee meetings from a remote location through use of electronic means including such two - way communication methods as speakerphone that provide full audio capability. Attendance from a remote location will not be permitted for Executive Sessions. (2) Effect. For purposes of voting by a member (or members) of the Council, such attendance from a remote location shall be considered the equal of being physically present in the Council Chambers. If the Mayor attends by remote means, he /she may participate in discussions, but the Deputy Mayor, if physically present in Chambers, shall be the presiding officer to best facilitate an orderly and efficient process. (3) Intent. Attendance from a remote location is intended to be an alternative and relatively infrequently -used method for participation at meetings by members of the Council. (4) Limit. Only two Councilmembers may attend any one meeting by remote communication. Councilmembers intending to participate in a meeting from a remote location should let the City Clerk know as soon as possible of his/her intention. The City Clerk will confirm that one of the two remote connections is still available for that specific meeting. (4) System Requirement. All communication to and from the remote location must be clearly heard by all others in attendance. (5) Protocol. In any meeting involving remove attendance, the presiding officer shall inform all present of the intent to use remote communication. At the beginning of the meeting, the presiding officer shall announce to all in attendance that a particular member of the Council and/or Mayor is present on the speakerphone from a remove location and confirm that all participants can hear each other clearly. This confirmation will be recorded in the meeting minutes. If the Councilmember or Mayor who is attending from a remote location will not be participating through the entire meeting, the presiding officer will announce through what portion attendance by remove location will occur. Resolution No. 15 -697 Page 4 of 6 If during the court of the meeting, remote communication is irreparably broken or significantly degraded, the presiding officer shall confirm the loss of the connection and close the remote attendance. Section 12. The last sentence of Rule 12.3 shall be amended as follows: If so, no matter how remote, the Council member should disclose the facts to the City lagerMayor who will seek the opinion of the City Attorney, which will be communicated to the Council member and the Mayor. Section 13. The first sentence of Rule 17.1 shall be amended as follows: Public records created or received by the Mayor or any Council Member should be transferred to the City Clerk's office for retention by the City in accordance with the Public Records Act, Chapter 42.56 RCW. Section 14. Severability. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this resolution should be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section, sentence, clause or phrase of this resolution. Section 15. Corrections. The City Clerk and the codifiers of this resolution are authorized to make necessary corrections to this resolution including, but not limited to, the correction of scrivener /clerical errors, references, resolution numbering, section/subsection numbers and any references thereto. Section 16. Ratification. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to the effective date of this resolution is hereby ratified and affirmed. Section 17. Effective Date. This resolution shall be effective immediately upon passage by the Federal Way City Council. Resolution No. 15 -697 Page 5 of 6 RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FEDERAL WAY, WASHINGTON this 3rd day of November 2015. CITY OF FEDERAL WAY ATTEST: LERK, STEPHANIE CO APPROVED AS TO FORM: TNEY, CMC CITY AT RNEY, AMY JO PEARSALL FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: 10/30/2015 PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: 11/03/2015 RESOLUTION NO.: 15 -697 Resolution No. 15 -697 Page 6 of 6