Okaloosa County BOCC — March 7, 2017 — Amended Procedure for Meetings of BOCC

1 RESOLUTION NO. 2017- 2 3 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY 4 COMMISSIONERS OF OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA, 5 AMENDING RESOLUTION 14-76 RELATING TO 6 PROCEDURES FOR MEETINGS OF THE OKALOOSA 7 COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS; 8 ESTABLISHING A PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERING 9 MATTERS AT BOARD MEETINGS THAT WERE NOT 10 INCLUDED ON THE AGENDA; PROVIDING FOR AN 11 EFFECTIVE DATE. 12 13 WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners previously adopted Resolution 14-76 14 which established the Rules of Procedure to provide for the smooth and orderly function of the 15 business of the Board and to provide a basis for resolving questions of procedure when they 16 arise; and 17 18 WHEREAS, those Rules of Procedure provided they should be periodically reviewed 19 and amended as deemed necessary; and 20 21 WHEREAS, on occasion, the Board is required to consider matters that have not been 22 included on the published agenda for its meeting; and 23 24 WHEREAS, it would be appropriate for the Board to establish a uniform process for the 25 inclusion of items for the Board’s consideration at a meeting that was not included on the 26 published agenda for that meeting. 27 28 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of 29 Okaloosa County, Florida, as follows: 30 31 SECTION 1: PURPOSE. The purpose of these Rules of Procedure (“Rules”) is to provide 32 for the smooth and orderly functioning of the business of the Board of County Commissioners 33 (“Board”) and to provide a basis for resolving questions of procedure when they arise. 34 35 SECTION 2: APPLICABILITY. These Rules shall govern all official meetings of the 36 Board. The members of the Board, County staff, and the public shall adhere to these Rules. 37 38 SECTION 3: RULES OF ORDER. To the extent they are not in conflict with these 39 Rules, Roberts Rules of Order Revised shall serve as a guide to official meetings of the Board. 40 Accordingly, no action taken by the Board shall be deemed void or invalid because of the failure 41 to adhere to Roberts Rules of Order Revised. 42 43 SECTION 4: PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of 44 the Board. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman shall preside. In the absence of the 45 Chairman and Vice-Chairman, a presiding officer shall be selected by a majority vote of those 46 Commissioners present. The presiding officer of the Board shall have the following functions: 1 47 48 a. Opening the meeting and calling the meeting the order, having ascertained that a quorum 49 is present. 50 51 b. Announce the business to come before the Board, in accordance with the prescribed order 52 of business. 53 54 c. Recognizing Commissioners to speak. 55 56 d. Recognizing members of the public or staff to speak. 57 58 e. Deciding all questions of order. 59 60 f. Preserving decorum and order, an in case of disturbance or disorderly conduct in the 61 Commission Chambers, may cause the same to be cleared or cause any disruptive individual to be 62 removed in order to maintain and preserve decorum and civility. 63 64 g. Adjourning meetings when there is a sudden emergency affecting the safety of the Board 65 and others. 66 67 The decision of the presiding officer shall stand unless reversed by a majority vote of the 68 members present after the proper motion has been made and seconded to reverse such a decision. 69 70 SECTION 5: RULES OF DEBATE. 71 72 a. Decorum. 73 74 1. Every Commissioner desiring to speak should address the Chairman, and upon 75 said recognition by the C