Sec. 11. Authority of council in general; meetings;
journal of proceedings; general ordinance book; inspection
of documents in possession of clerk.
The council shall have authority to adopt such rules and to
appoint such officers and clerks as it may deem proper for the
regulation of its proceedings, and for the convenient transaction
of business, to compel the attendance of absent members, to punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and by vote of two-thirds
of all the members elected to it, expel a member for malfeasance
or misfeasance in office. The council shall keep a journal
of its proceedings, and its meetings shall be open, except
when, by a recorded vote of two-thirds of those members present,
it shall declare that the public welfare requires secrecy. The
council shall also require to be kept by its clerk a separate book,
termed "the general ordinance book," in which shall be recorded
all ordinances and resolutions of a general and permanent character,
properly indexed and opened to the public inspection.
Other documents or papers in the possession of the clerk of the
council which may affect the interest of the city shall not, without
special order of the body, its president or vice-president, be
exhibited, nor copies thereof furnished to other persons than the
committees or city officials entitled thereto.
