AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BASTROP, TEXAS
AMENDING CHAPTER 1, ARTICLE 1.500 OF THE CITY'S CODE OF ORDINANCES,
ENTITLED "FORM OF GOVERNMENT," TO ADD NEW SECTIONS 1.500.1,
1.500.2 AND 1.500.3 TO PROVIDE FOR UNIFORM RULES AND REGULATIONS APPLICABLE
TO ALL CITY APPOINTED BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES,
AND ENTITIES, RELATED TO `BOARD MEMBER ATTENDANCE' 'QUORUMS' AND TRAINING;
PROVIDING A SAVINGS CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, pursuant to the City's Home Rule Charter,
the Council of the City of Bastrop has full authority to, and at this
time has determined a need to, amend and replace portions of existing
Code of Ordinances, Board, Commission, Corporation, Authority Rules,
By-Laws, and Board and Commission Policies, to provide a Uniform City
Regulations related to(l) the attendance requirements of appointees
on all City Boards, Commissions, Corporations, Authorities, and similar
entities (referred to herein as "Advisory Bodies") and (2)
the quorum policies of all City Advisory Bodies.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF BASTROP, TEXAS:
PART 1: That a new Section 1.500.1, "Attendance at Meetings,"
shall be, and is hereby added to Chapter 1, Article 1, of the City
Code of Ordinances, which is entitled "Form of Government"
and shall state the following:
Section
1.500.1 Uniform Advisory Bodies' Attendance Requirements.
A. In order
to ensure the effectiveness and proper operation of the City's appointed,
Advisory Bodies, the City Council requires all members of City of
Bastrop Advisory Bodies, to maintain a suitable attendance record
for such civic service. Because regular attendance is vital to effective
service, the City Council requires attendance as follows:
1. Members of all Advisory bodies are required to attend a minimum
of two-thirds (66%), of the duly called regular meetings of the member's
Advisory Body, during any twelve consecutive month period. A member's
failure to achieve this required attendance level may, upon the written
request of the member, sent to the City Council within a month following
the absence, be excused by the Council for any of the following reasons:
a.
Medical circumstances involving the member, or the member's
immediate family,
b.
Urgent family matters that are not medical in nature,
c. Required attendance at events/meetings of the member's
primary employment, d. Any other "absence" excused
by the City Council, upon request by the absentee
member.
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2. Each Advisory Body Chair
(or his/her designee) (either of which may be referred to herein as
the "Chair") is responsible for taking necessary action(s)
to harmonize the Chair's Advisory Body's existing By-Laws, Policies,
Rules and/or Procedures with the terms of this Ordinance and ensuring
that each Advisory Body member is aware of this Uniform Attendance
Requirement.
3. For purposes of calculating attendance percentages, as required
herein, the term "duly called regular meetings" includes
only the standard and routine meetings of the Advisory Bodies, and
specifically does not include specially called workshops or other
specially convened meetings.
4. The Chair of each Advisory Body is responsible for accurately recording
member attendance at all Advisory Bodies' meetings.
5. The Chair shall provide the attendance records for their Advisory
Body on or before May 1st of each year, to the City Secretary.
6. Upon receipt, the City Secretary shall be responsible for providing
the attendance records to the City Manager, who will in turn, provide
such information to the City Council.
7.It is the responsibility of the Chair to notify the City Manager,
in writing, who will in
turn inform the City Council, at any time the Advisory Body's attendance
records demonstrate that any member has failed to meet the required
attendance level, set forth herein. Upon receipt of such information
the City Council will evaluate the attendance record of such members
and, at its sole option, the City Council may replace members who
fail to meet the attendance standard set forth herein. Nothing herein
is meant to or may be interpreted to alter or impinge upon the City
Council's authority to remove, replace, or otherwise alter the service
of any appointed members of any Advisory Body, at any time and for
any reason, not in conflict with law.
PART 2: That a new
Section 1.500.2, "Uniform Quorum Determination," shall be,
and is hereby added to Chapter 1, Article 1, of the City Code of Ordinances,
which is entitled "Form of Government" and shall state the
following
Section
1.500.2 Uniform Quorum Determination
A. The City
Council does hereby establish a uniform rule for determining whether
a quorum of any Advisory Body is present and/or has been convened.
In this Section 1.500.2, the following terms shall be defined as follows:
B. In this Section 1.500.2, the following terms shall be defined as
follows. "Vacancy and Vacancies" means that a person is
not seated in and/or is not eligible to serve in a particular position
on an applicable Advisory Body, for one or more of the following reasons:
- An appointed
member has ceased service, and no alternate member is serving
in the position, and the City has not filled the position.
- An appointed
member is absent at a meeting for one of the reasons specified
in Section 1.500.1 (A)(1) , above.
- An appointed
member is required to refrain from participating in a matter
before the Advisory Body, due to a conflict of interest
as that term is defined by State law or local regulation.
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C. Except as otherwise required by State law, or in circumstances
otherwise set forth herein below, a "simple majority" of
the total membership of each Advisory Body shall constitute a quorum
for purposes of convening a meeting, and/or conducting the business
of the Advisory Body.
D. In the event that one or more Vacancies exist on an Advisory Body,
then any such vacant position(s) shall not be included in a count
of the membership of the Advisory Body for determining the `total
membership' of the Advisory Body in question. In such circumstances,
the simple majority of the remaining Advisory Body positions shall
constitute a quorum of the Advisory Body, for purposes of convening
and for conducting the business of the Advisory Body.
PART 3: That a new
Section 1.500.3, "Uniform Training for Members of Advisory Members,"
shall be, and is hereby added to Chapter 1, Article 1, of the City
Code of Ordinances, which is entitled "Form of Government"
and shall state the following
Section
1.500.3 Uniform Training
A. The City Council
does hereby establish uniform training requirement for Advisory
Board members, which training shall be provided by the City
at no cost to the members of the Advisory Bodies. The following
types of information shall be provided to appointees to
the City's Advisory Bodies at the training sessions:
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- Attendance requirements
for service on a City Advisory Body.
- Duties, responsibilities
and roles of members on the respective City Advisory Bodies
- Open Meeting
and Public Information Laws
- State and Local
Conflicts of Interest and Ethics Law
- City Polices
and Regulations, as Applicable
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B. The City shall
conduct the above referenced training sessions, twice a year
and members are encouraged to attend as quickly as possible
once appointed to the Advisory Bodies.
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PART 4:
That should any section, clause or provision of this Ordinance be declared
by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the same shall not
affect the validity of this Ordinance or any other Ordinance of the
City as a whole or any part thereof, other than the part so declared
to be invalid.
PART 5: This Ordinance supersedes and repeals all Ordinances
or parts of Ordinances, if any, in conflict herewith; however, such
present Ordinances shall remain in full force and effect until the effective
date of this Ordinance.
PART 6: This Ordinance
supersedes and replaces all City and Advisory Body: (1) rules, (2)
By-Laws, (3) policies, and (4) procedures that are in conflict herewith,
as of the Effective Date of this Ordinance.
PART 7: This Ordinance
shall take effect upon the date of final passage noted below, or when
all applicable publication requirements, if any, are satisfied in
accordance with the City's Charter, Code of Ordinances, and the laws
of State of Texas. (the "Effective Date").
READ and Acknowledged on First Reading on the 11th day of September
2007.
READ and Adopted on Second Reading on the 25th day of September 2007.
APPROVED:
By: Tom Scott
Mayor
ATTEST:
Teresa Valdez
City Secretary
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