(a)
The procedures
for placing items on the agendas of the city commission of the City
of Harlingen shall be as follows:
(1)
The
city manager shall:
a.
Be
responsible for coordinating preparation of the agenda for each city
commission meeting;
b.
Coordinate
all items for placement on the agenda and supporting documentation;
c.
Timely
submit agenda items and supporting documentation to the city secretary;
d.
Group
agenda items by department or by topic;
e.
Utilize
a consent agenda for routine, noncontroversial items that require
city commission action, but need little or no commission deliberation,
except that the mayor, city manager, or any commission member may
remove any item from the consent agenda for separate consideration;
f.
Mark
each action item, identifying an item that is an ordinance or a resolution;
g.
List
items from the commission in a separate section of the agenda and
identify which members of the commission requested the items inclusion;
h.
Receive
items from city staff for consideration and approval for placement
on an agenda and the city manager may establish procedures for submission
of routine items without his approval; and
i.
Work,
in conjunction with the mayor, to exercise the manager's best judgment
to determine the most important items received for placement on the
agenda and adding other items of business to come before the commission.
(2)
Items
presented in a timely manner may be submitted for placement on the
agenda of a meeting of the city commission by:
(3)
The
city manager shall:
a.
Not
place an item on the agenda of the city commission if, in the city
manager's opinion, a particular item should be considered by an advisory
board, commission, committee, or staff prior to city commission consideration,
and it is so referred; and
b.
Place
on the agenda administrative matters or matters that, due to exigent
circumstances, the city manager determines can go on the agenda because
the back-up material accompanying the item is sufficient to provide
the commission with a full explanation of the item.
(4)
The
city secretary shall:
a.
Establish
a deadline to receive all agenda items prior to each regularly scheduled
city commission meeting, with the understanding that items submitted
after that time will be held over until the next commission meeting,
unless the item is of such importance that the mayor or city manager
elects to place it on an earlier agenda or calls a special meeting;
b.
Prepare
the agenda for proper and legal posting to the public and make the
agenda available to the media so that the media will have enough notice
of the agenda and the date, time, and place of the meeting to disseminate
the notice of the commission meeting to the public at least the day
before the scheduled meeting. Posting of the agenda in compliance
with Texas Government Code ch. 551, Open Meetings Act, is presumptive
proof of meeting the requirements of this division;
c.
Prepare
agenda packets for all regular meetings which can be picked-up by
the mayor and commissioners, or delivered by staff, late on the Friday
afternoon preceding a regularly scheduled Wednesday city commission
meeting and shall make agenda packets for special meetings available
to the mayor and commissioners as early as possible in the same manner
as for regular meetings;
d.
See
that the city commission agenda complies with the Open Meetings Act,
Texas Government Code ch. 552;
e.
Except
as otherwise provided in Texas Government Code § 551.045,
not allow an item to be added to or placed upon a city commission
agenda later than 72 hours prior to a city commission meeting unless
the item has been qualified as an "emergency" as defined by the Texas
Open Meetings Act (Texas Government Code ch. 551), which would require
that the nature of the emergency be specified in the agenda and notices
given to any who have filed a written request for such notices of
emergency items; and
f.
Notify
each individual who has placed an item on the agenda of the fact that
they are expected to be at the meeting to discuss their item, but
the city secretary shall only be required to provide each individual
with notice that the item is on the agenda and the number of the item
as shown on the agenda and shall not have to give a time for that
person to be ready to appear before the commission.
(5)
The
city commission shall:
a.
Except
as otherwise provided in Texas Government Code § 551.045,
not consider or take action on any item unless that item has been
posted on the agenda for a specific meeting and the agenda has been
posted in a public place 72 hours prior to the meeting; and
b.
Not
take an item up for discussion as a matter of commission business
during any commission meeting that does not appear on the agenda;
however, the commission may receive information through the citizen's
communications process.
(b)
Except
as otherwise provided by state law, this section shall be directory
only and a violation of any of the provisions of this section does
not affect the validity or legality of any commission action otherwise
properly adopted. Each newly elected commission may adopt new procedural
rules. If procedural rules are adopted under this section, the city
secretary shall make copies of the rules available to the public.
(Code 1997, § 30.08; Ordinance 08-31, adopted 4/16/2008)