Rules of Conduct of Town Council Meetings
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1 RULES FOR CONDUCT OF TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS Approved January 2, 2018 1. Adoption of Rules. All meetings of the Town Council shall be governed by these procedural rules, as applicable. In addition, such meetings shall be governed by: A. Applicable provisions of the Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”), including, but not limited to, the Arizona Open Meeting Law (A.R.S. §§ 38-431 et seq., as amended) and the Arizona Conflict of Interest Law (A.R.S. §§ 38-501 et seq., as amended); and B. The Town of Wickenburg Town Code and, to the extent not inconsistent with these rules, the current version of Robert’s Rules of Order in accordance with Section 2-5-6 of the Town Code. 2. Presiding Officer. The Mayor is the Presiding Officer of all meetings of the Town Council. In the Mayor’s absence, the Vice-Mayor shall serve as the Presiding Officer. In the absence of both the Mayor and Vice Mayor, the Town Clerk shall call the Council to order and an acting Mayor shall be selected to serve as Presiding Officer. 3. Requests to Speak. Persons wishing to speak shall complete a Request to Speak Form and submit it to the Town Clerk. If the item is an agenda item, the person shall indicate on the Request to Speak Form the item he or she wishes to address. 4. Addressing the Town Council - General. A. All persons shall conduct themselves with dignity and respect toward members of the Council and the public. B. Each person wishing to speak shall give his/her name in a clearly audible manner for the record and state whether they are a Town resident. If there are several speakers on a particular matter, they should select a person to make the presentation on their behalf. C. Each person addressing the Council is limited to three (3) minutes. The Town Clerk shall maintain the clock. The Presiding Officer may extend the time to speak to a maximum of five minutes per speaker. The time limit may be further extended or waived by majority vote of the Town Council. D. All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a body, and not any individual Council member or to a member of the public. No person other than Councilmembers and the person having the floor shall be permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or 2 through the Members of Council. No questions shall be asked of Councilmembers or Town Staff, except through the Presiding Officer. E. If there are several speakers on a particular matter, they should select a person to make the presentation on their behalf. F. Personal attacks on members of the public, whether during Call to the Public or discussion of an agenda item, are not permitted. Only topics within the jurisdiction of the Town Council may be made, in accordance with the Open Meeting Law. G. Behavior that violates these Town Council Meeting Rules or otherwise interrupts, delays, or interferes with the conduct of a meeting is prohibited. If such behavior does not cease at the request of the Presiding Officer, or a majority vote of Council, the individual may be removed from the meeting in order that the Council may conduct its business. 5. Call to the Public. In addition to the rules set forth in Paragraph 4, the following rules shall apply to Call to the Public: A. During the Call to the Public anyone may address the council on any subject within the jurisdiction of the Town, but not on the agenda when recognized by the Presiding Officer. B. Councilmembers may respond to criticism, ask staff to review a matter commented upon or ask that a matter be put on a later agenda. 6. Conduct and Decorum. A. The Presiding Officer shall preserve decorum and decide all questions of order. B. If the Presiding Officer fails to act to preserve order or enforce these rules, any Councilmember may by point of order request the Presiding Officer to enforce the Town Council Meeting Rules. Any Councilmember who disagrees with the Presiding Officer’s ruling may by motion ask that the Council overrule the Presiding Officer. Such a motion shall require a second. An affirmative vote of the majority of Councilmembers present shall require the Presiding Officer to act in conformance with the motion.