Page images
PDF
EPUB

COMMITTEES OF THE CITY COUNCIL,*

1925.

STANDING COMMITTEES.

APPROPRIATIONS.- All the members, Councillor Purcell, Chairman. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.- All the members, Councillor Watson, Chairman. FINANCE. All the members, Councillor Lane, Chairman.

[ocr errors]

ORDINANCES. All the members, Councillor Healey, Chairman.

BRANCH LIBRARIES.- Coun. Donoghue, Healey, Gilbody, Purcell, Walsh.

CLAIMS.- Coun. Walsh, Brickley, Lane, Watson, Gilbody.

COUNTY ACCOUNTS.- Coun. Watson, Brickley, Donoghue, Purcell, Walsh.

FIRE HAZARD. Coun. Gilbody, Brickley, Walsh, Lane, Healey.

INSPECTION OF PRISONS.- Coun. Brickley, Walsh, Watson, Lane, Gilbody. LEGISLATIVE MATTERS.- Coun. Donoghue, Watson, Healey, Purcell, Walsh.

PARKMAN FUND.- Coun. Lane, Watson, Brickley, Walsh, Purcell. PRINTING.- Coun. Donoghue, Brickley, Watson, Healey, Purcell. PUBLIC LANDS.- Coun. Brickley, Watson, Gilbody, Healey, Walsh. SOLDIERS' RELIEF.- Coun. Brickley, Gilbody, Watson, Walsh, Lane.

SPECIAL COMMITTEES.

RULES. Coun. Donoghue, Purcell, Gilbody.

JITNEYS.- Coun. Brickley, Lane, Watson, Walsh, Gilbody.

UNCLAIMED BAGGAGE.- Coun. Moriarty, Donoghue.

* Appointed by President of City Council and announced at meeting on February 16, 1925. Of the 13 committees following the first four, the member first named is Chairman.

RULES OF THE CITY COUNCIL.*

DAY OF MEETING.

RULE 1. Unless otherwise ordered from time to time the regular meeting of the city council shall be held on every Monday at two o'clock p. m. Special meetings may be called by the president at his discretion, and by the city clerk for the purpose only of drawing jurors.

PRESIDENT.

RULE 2. The president of the council shall take the chair at the hour to which the council shall have adjourned and shall call the members to order, and, a quorum being present, shall proceed with the regular order of business. In the absence of the president the senior member by age present shall preside as temporary president or until a presiding officer is chosen.

RULE 3. The president shall preserve decorum and order, may speak to points of order in preference to other members, and shall decide all questions of order, subject to an appeal. Any member may appeal from the decision of the chair, and, when properly seconded, no other business, except a motion to adjourn or to lay on the table, shall be in order until the question on appeal has been decided. The question shall be put as follows:

"Shall the decision of the chair stand as the judgment of the council?" The vote shall be by a roll call, and it shall be decided in the affirmative unless a majority of the votes are to the contrary.

RULE 4. The president shall propound all motions in the order in which they are moved, unless the subsequent motion shall be previous in its nature, except that, in naming sums and fixing times, the largest sum and the longest time shall be put first.

RULE 5. The president shall, at the request of any member, make a division of a question when the sense will admit.

RULE 6. The president shall, without debate, decide all questions relating to priority of business to be acted upon.

RULE 7. The president shall declare all votes; but if any member doubts a vote, the president shall cause a rising vote to be taken, and, when any member so requests, shall cause the vote to be taken or verified by yeas and nays.

RULE 8. The president shall appoint all committees, fill all vacancies therein, and designate the rank of the members thereof.

At the meeting of the City Council on February 2, 1925, the rules of the City Council of 1924 were adopted as the rules of the City Council of 1925 until such time as the Committee on Rules report permanent rules.

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.
2. To a special 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

« PreviousContinue »