University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER I.

Rules of Order for the Government of the Council.

Rule 1. The regular meetings of the council shall be held
at the council-chamber at such times as may be fixed by general
order, or special orders or adjournment.

2. The mayor, presiding officer of the council, or any
three members may call special meetings, by reasonable notice
to each member within the town.

3. The mayor and three aldermen, or, in the absence of
the mayor, four aldermen, shall constitute a quorum, but the
mayor shall have no vote in the council, except in the case of
a tie, when he shall give the casting vote.

4. The mayor, or presiding officer, shall take the chair at
the hour appointed for the council to meet, and having called
the members to order, shall preside over the meeting, preserve
decorum and enforce a strict observance of these rules.

5. The mayor, or other presiding officer, shall appoint all
committees, unless otherwise ordered by the council, and shall
decide all questions of order. But upon any question of order
any member may appeal from the decision of the chair.

6. Every member present, when a question is put, shall
vote unless excused by the council.

7. The order of business at its regular meetings shall be
as follows:

First—Reading the minutes of last meeting.

Second—Unfinished business.

Third—New business.

But if the council shall have directed any matter to be
the special business of the meeting, the mayor or presiding
officer shall call up the same immediately after the reading
of the minutes, and it shall have priority over all other business.

8. Every motion or proposition shall be reduced to writing,
if the mayor or any member require it, and the name of the
member offering it shall be entered on the journal. No motion
shall be entertained by the presiding officer until it shall have
have been seconded, nor shall any proposition, after being
ing seconded, be withdrawn without the consent of the council.

9. On any vote, the mayor or any member may call for a
division.

10. Any member may call for a division of the question
when the same will admit thereof.

11. No person who is not a member of the council shall
orally address it, until leave to do so shall have been granted
by the council on the motion of a member.

12. At the first regular meeting after each election for
mayor and aldermen, the mayor shall appoint the following
standing committees:

A committee on Finance and Claims, consisting of two
members, to whom shall be referred all claims against the
town and all matters relating to the finances and property of
the town. It shall be their duty to report to the council annually
at the first meeting of the new council an estimate of the
debts and necessary expenditures of the town for the current
fiscal year, with a scale of taxes and levies for meeting the
same. They shall also examine the treasurer's accounts of receipts
and disbursements, and the accounts of the collector
and sergeant, and report thereon to the council at the same
meeting at which such accounts are rendered.

A committee on Streets, consisting of two members, to
whom shall be referred all matters relating to the streets, alleys,
walks, gutters, culverts and sewers.

A committee on Lights, Police and Safety, consisting of
two members, to whom shall be referred all matters relating to
the lighting of the town and the police department. It shall
also be their duty to examine and report on the condition of
the town as to exposure to danger from fire or other causes.

13. Reports of committees shall be in writing signed by
the members, and shall specify in the form of a resolution or
ordinance such action in the premises as the committee may
recommend for adoption by the council.

14. At the request of any member present, the ayes and
noes on any question shall be recorded. And every appointment
to office by the council shall be by ballot. And the
votes of a majority of the members present shall be requisite
to a choice.

15. Charges against a town officer must be made in writing
and verified by affidavit, and having been read shall be

referred to a committee for investigation, unless the accused
waive such reference.

16. A question once decided by the council shall not be
reconsidered, unless there be a number of votes in favor of
its reconsideration equal to a majority of the members present
when the question was decided. No motion for the reconsideration
of an ordinance which has taken effect prior to such
motion shall be considered.

17. Every ordinance shall be in force from the day of its
passage, unless otherwise specially provided.

18. No rule of the council shall be suspended without the
concurrence of two-thirds of the members present.