Drafter
Clerk 1/18/2006
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AN ORDINANCE relating to council rules and order of business; and amending Ordinance 11683, Section 2, as amended, and K.C.C. 1.24.015 and declaring an emergency.
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BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. Findings.
A. King County Charter Section 220.40 requires the council to adopt by ordinance rules of procedure governing the time, place and conduct of its meetings. King County Charter Section 240 permits the council to organize and administer the legislative branch by motion.
B. Consistent with the county charter, the council adopted by ordinance rules of procedure (the "rules ordinance"), which are codified in K.C.C. 1.24, and passed a motion related to the organization and administration of the council (the "organizational motion").
C. The rules ordinance and the organizational motion have been amended from time to time to reflect desired changes in the council's rules of procedure, organization and administration.
D. K.C.C. 1.24.015 states that one of the duties of the chair of the council is to preside over the committee of the whole. In considering how to organize for 2006, the council has approved changes to the organizational motion that, among other things, confer the duty of presiding over the committee of the whole to a new vice-chair of administration.
E. In order to conform K.C.C. 1.24.015 to the organization and administration of the council as reflected in the organizational motion, it is necessary to amend K.C.C. 1.24.015.
SECTION 2. Ordinance 11683, Section 2, as amended, and K.C.C. 1.24.015 are each hereby amended to read as follows:
Rule 2: Powers and duties of the chair. The chair of the council has the following powers and duties:
A. The chair shall:
1. Call the council to order at the hour appointed for meeting and, if a quorum is present, shall cause the minutes of the previous meeting to be approved;
2. Proceed with the order of business; and
3. Adjourn the council upon a motion to adjourn approved by a majority of members present;
B. The chair shall preserve order and decorum and in the interest of efficiency may impose time and subject matter limits for testimony and comment given by the public and members of the council;
C. The chair shall promote efficient operation of the council, which shall include setting the agenda and expediting parliamentary debate or, if there is no objection from any other member, expediting the passage of routine motions. The chair's act of adding to, removing from or taking out of order an item on a distributed and posted agenda may be appealed to the full body by any two members under Rule 5.C, K.C.C. 1.24.045.C. The chair shall discourage activities that are dilatory or disruptive. The chair shall endeavor to facilitate the will of the majority of members present at all times;
D. The chair may speak to points of order, inquiry or information in preference to other members. Upon a ruling of the chair on a point of order, the chair shall allow any two members to immediately request that the decision be placed before the body. If a majority of members present agree to the ruling of the chair, the business of the council must proceed without further debate. If a majority of the members present do not support the ruling of the chair, the chair shall immediately allow a procedural motion to dispense with the issue in question, proceeding until a decision of the council is secured and the business of the council is allowed to proceed;
E. The chair shall refer legislation to committees unless there is an objection to a referral. If there is an objection by a member, the chair's referral will stand unless a majority of the members present vote to support the objection. If the objection is sustained, the chair shall refer the legislation to another committee, unless there is an objection to the referral.
F. Any motion that proposes to censure a councilmember for violating the council's antiharassment policy shall be referred to the employment committee.
G. The chair shall introduce all legislation relating to land use appeals, road vacations, plat applications, current use assessments and other similar land use decisions. If recommended by action of the employment committee, the chair shall introduce any motion that proposes to censure a councilmember for violating the council's antiharassment policy, unless the chair is the subject of the motion; and
H. The chair shall provide copies to all councilmembers of all official communications and requests for council action addressed to the chair from the executive, the sheriff, the assessor, the presiding judge of the district or superior court or the prosecuting attorney((; and
I. The chair shall preside over the committee-of-the-whole)).
SECTION 3. The King County council finds as a fact and declares that an emergency exists and that this ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of
public peace, health or safety or for the support of county government and its existing public institutions.