Ordinance 13-05

This ordinance brings forward recommendations of the 2012-2013 Council Rules Committee to amend BMC Chapter 2.04 (Common Council) to conform it to State law as well as with current local or best practices. These changes include amending BMC provisions regarding: o Election of officers and Regular Meeting to take advantage of a change in State law which allows the Council to hold its first meeting of the year later than the first Monday in January; o “Budget meetings” to remove an outdated deadline for action on the City budget and to tie Council budgetary duties to State law; o “Committee of the whole” to conform the requirements regarding the recording of votes and the taking of memoranda with State law; o “Ordinances and resolutions – Filing and copies” to authorize the Council President to extend consideration of certain legislation by referring, at first reading, upcoming legislation to the next two regularly scheduled Committees of the Whole and also to reflect existing practices regarding the manner and timing for submittal of legislation to the Council; o “Ordinances and resolutions – Fiscal impact statement required” to make the provision more workable; o “Ordinances and resolutions – Public inspection and publication” to require the Clerk to provide rather than mail legislation to the Monroe County Public Library and allow for that to be done no later than instead of within 24 hours o o “Motions generally” to allow just one member of the Council or the City Clerk to request that any motion be reduced before it may be considered by the Council. In addition, the ordinance also takes the following measures regarding Council procedures. First, it waives any local requirement that Staff/Council Internal Work Sessions be conducted only upon the presence of a quorum of its members. Second, it declares that, in the absence of any active Standing Committees established to consider pending legislation, the Motion to Introduce legislation made at a regular or special meeting of the Council generally serves as a motion to refer it to the next regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole.