RULE 9. When the president of the council or the president pro tempore shall desire to vacate the chair he may call any member to it; but such substitution shall not continue beyond an adjournment. MOTIONS. RULE 10. Every motion shall be reduced to writing if the president shall so direct. RULE 11. A motion to strike out and insert shall be deemed indivisible; but a motion to strike out being lost shall not preclude amendment, or a motion to strike out and insert. RULE 12. No motion or proposition of a subject different from that under consideration shall be admitted under color of amendment. RULE 13. When an order or resolution relates to a subject which may properly be examined and reported upon by an existing committee of the city council, such order or resolution shall, upon presentation, be referred to such committee. When a motion is made to refer any subject, and different committees are proposed, the motion shall be put in the following order: 1. To a standing committee of the council. Any member offering a motion, order or resolution, which is referred to a committee, shall be given a hearing on the same by the committee before a report is made thereon, provided he so requests at the time of offering the order or before final action by the committee. RULE 14. After a motion has been put by the president it shall not be withdrawn except by unanimous consent. RULE 15. When a question is under debate the following motions only shall be entertained, and shall have precedence in the order in which they stand arranged: 1. To adjourn. 2. To lay on the table. 3. The previous question. 4. To close debate at a specified time. 5. To postpone to a day certain. 6. To commit. 7. To amend. 8. To postpone indefinitely. RULE 16. A motion to adjourn shall be in order at any time, except on an immediate repetition, or pending a verification of a vote; and that motion, the motion to lay on the table, the motion to take from the table, and the motion for the previous question, shall be decided without debate. READINGS. RULE 17. Every ordinance, order and resolution shall, unless rejected, have two several readings, both of which may take place at the same session, unless objection is made; provided, however, that all orders for the expenditure of money presented to, or reported upon by a committee of, the council, shall lie over for one week before final action thereon. Whenever the second reading immediately follows the first reading, the document may be read by its title only; provided, that all orders releasing rights or easements in or restrictions on land, all orders for the sale of land other than school lands, all appropriations for the purchase of land other than for school purposes, and all loans voted by the city council shall require a vote of two-thirds of all the members of the city council, and shall be passed only after two separate readings and by two separate votes, the second of said readings and votes to be had not less than fourteen days after the first. RECONSIDERATION. RULE 18. When a vote has been passed, any member may move a reconsideration thereof at the same meeting, or he may give notice to the clerk, within twenty-four hours of the adjournment of any meeting except the final meeting, of his intention to move a reconsideration at the next regular meeting; in which case the clerk shall retain possession of the papers until the next regular meeting. No member shall speak for more than ten minutes on a motion to reconsider. RULE 19. When a motion to reconsider has been decided, that decision shall not be reconsidered, and no question shall be twice reconsidered unless it has been amended after the reconsideration; nor shall any reconsideration be had upon the following motions: To adjourn. The previous question. To lay on the table. To take from the table. To close debate at a specified time. A motion to reconsider may be laid on the table or postponed indefinitely, and the effect of such action in either case shall be to defeat the motion to reconsider. CONDUCT OF MEMBERS. RULE 20. Every member when about to speak shall rise, address the chair, and wait until he is recognized, and in speaking shall refrain from mentioning any other member by name, shall confine himself to the question and avoid personalities. Any member who, in debate or otherwise, indulges in personalities or makes charges reflecting upon the character of another member shall make an apology in open session at the meeting when the offence is committed or at the next succeeding regular meeting, and, failing to do so, shall be named by the president, or held in contempt and suspended from further participation in debate until said apology is made. RULE 21. No member shall speak more than once on a question when another member who has not spoken claims the floor, and no member speaking shall, without his consent, be interrupted by another, except upon a point of order. RULE 22. No member shall be permitted to vote on any question, or serve on any committee, where his private right is immediately concerned, distinct from the public interest. RULE 23. Every member who shall be present when a question is put, where he is not excluded by interest, shall give his vote, unless the council for special reason shall excuse him. Application to be so excused on any question must be made before the council is divided, or before the calling of the yeas and nays; and such application shall be accompanied by a brief statement of the reasons, and shall be decided without debate. STANDING COMMITTEES. RULE 24. The following standing committees of the council, and all other committees, unless specially directed by the council, shall be appointed by the president: 1. A committee, to be known as the Executive Committee, to consist of all the members of the council. 2. A committee on Appropriations, to consist of all the members of the council, to whom shall be referred such appropriation orders as may be submitted to the council from time to time. 3. A committee on Branch Libraries, to consist of five members of the council. 4. A committee on Claims, to consist of five members of the council, to whom shall be referred all claims against the city arising from the act or neglect of any of its departments. They shall report annually a list of the claims awarded or approved by them, and the amount of money awarded or paid in settlement thereof. 5. A committee on County Accounts, to consist of five members of the council. 6. A committee on Finance, to consist of all the members of the council, to whom shall be referred all applications for expenditure which involve a loan. 7. A committee on Fire Hazard, to consist of five members of the council. 8. A committee on Inspection of Prisons to consist of five members of the council. 9. A committee on Legislative Matters, to consist of five members of the council, who shall, unless otherwise ordered, appear before the committees of the General Court and represent the interests of the city; provided, said committee shall not appear unless authorized by vote of the city council, and shall not, unless directed so to do by the city council oppose any legislation petitioned for by the preceding city council. 10. A committee on Ordinances, to consist of all the members of the council, to whom shall be referred all ordinances or orders concerning ordinances. 11. A committee on Parkman Fund, to consist of five members of the council, to whom shall be referred all matters concerning the Parkman property or the expenditure of the income from the Parkman Fund. 12. A committee on Printing, to consist of five members of the council, who shall have the charge of all printing, advertising or publishing ordered by the city council, as one of its contingent or incidental expenses, and the supply of all stationery or binding for the same purpose. The committee shall fix the number of copies to be printed of any document printed as above, the minimum, however, to be four hundred; and they shall have the right to make rules and regulations for the care, custody, and distribution of all documents, books, pamphlets and maps by the city messenger. 13. A committee on Public Lands, to consist of five members of the council, to whom shall be referred all matters relating to public lands. 14. A committee on Soldiers' Relief, to consist of five members of the council, who shall determine the amount of aid to be allowed to soldiers and sailors and their families and submit a schedule of the same to the city council monthly. ORDER OF BUSINESS. RULE 25. At every regular meeting of the council the order of business shall be as follows: 1. Communications from his Honor the Mayor. 2. Presentation of petitions, memorials and remonstrances. 3. Reports of city officers, etc. 4. Unfinished business of preceding meetings. 5. Reports of committees. 6. Motions, orders and resolutions. SPECTATORS. RULE 26. No person, except a member of the council, shall be permitted to occupy the seat of any member while the council is in session. RULE 27. No person, excepting heads of departments, officials connected with the city council and reporters, shall be allowed in the anteroom or upon the floor of the council chamber while the council is in session. Spectators will be allowed in the gallery of the council chamber when the council is in session, and no one will be admitted to said gallery after the seats are occupied. The city messenger shall enforce this rule. BURIAL GROUNDS. RULE 28. No permission for the use of land for the purpose of burial shall be granted until a public hearing shall have been given by the city council, after due notice has been served upon abutters, on the application for such permission. SMOKING IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER. RULE 29. No smoking shall be allowed in the council chamber when the council is in session. MEETINGS. RULE 30. No meeting of any committee shall, without the consent of all the members thereof, be called upon less notice than twenty-four hours from the time the clerk shall have mailed the notices or despatched them by special messenger. No committee, unless authorized by an order of the city council, shall incur any expense. No committee meeting shall be called later than one hour immediately preceding the time set for any regular meeting of the city council, nor shall any committee remain in session later than the hour named for any such regular meeting. FORM OF VOTES. RULE 31. In all votes the form of expression shall be "Ordered" for everything by way of command, and the form shall be "Resolved" for everything expressing opinions, principles, facts, or purposes. TRANSFERS. RULE 32. Every application for an appropriation to be provided for by transfer shall be referred to the executive committee unless otherwise ordered, and no such appropriation shall be made until the said committee have reported thereon. CONSIDERATION OF PETITIONS. RULE 33. No petition, remonstrance, resolution or other communication submitted by any improvement association, civic society, club or other unincorporated organization, or its officers, shall be considered by the city council or printed in its proceedings unless such organization shall have filed with the city clerk a statement, sworn to by one of its officers, specifying the number of members in good standing, the time and place of meeting and a list of the officers for the current year. AMENDMENT AND SUSPENSION. RULE 34. The foregoing rules shall not be altered, amended, suspended or repealed at any time, except by the votes of two-thirds of the members of the city council present and voting thereon. |