Charter Amendment to Article IV, Section 6 (2)
Preamble: Arborfield City Council sessions not held in-game are still subject to Article IV, Section 6’s clause that limits the duration of the session if the presiding officer is deemed to be absent for longer than fifteen (15) minutes, even if the session is held on discord or another legal venue not in-game where the expectation is that all councilmembers including the Presiding Officer (if they are one) are present once quorum is taken unless this status is changed either by themselves or extenuating circumstance (e.g. expulsion). This Charter Amendment seeks to amend this rule to exclude sessions not held in-game from this clause for quality-of-life purposes that include not having to create multiple city council sessions if a presiding officer does not interact with a session for longer than fifteen minutes if the session is not held in-game. Minor grammatical and syntax changes are also made.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE CITY OF ARBORFIELD COUNCIL HERE ASSEMBLED THAT,
SECTION 1
This document shall be legally empowered and binding upon the completion of the process set out by the City Charter.
SECTION 2
Should any part of this document be struck down and/or declared unenforceable, then that part shall be severed with the rest remaining in full force and effect unless all is struck down and/or declared unenforceable.
SECTION 3
Article IV, Section 6 of the Arborfield City Charter currently states:
“City Council sessions, or simply sessions, are meetings of the City Council to discuss
proposals, other actions, duties, and so on. Sessions may be presided over by the Mayor,
Deputy Mayor, or City Council Chairperson. The person presiding over a session is
referred to as the Presiding Officer. For a session to begin, a Presiding Officer must be
present, and only one person may serve as the Presiding Officer. A quorum of at least
half (1⁄2) of the incumbent Councilpersons, excluding the Presiding Officer, are required for a session to take place. If the number of Councilpersons present at a session falls below this quorum after the session has begun, the session may be halted for a maximum of thirty (30) minutes until a quorum is restored, or the session may be adjourned. If a quorum is not reached while the session has been
stopped for the maximum amount of time allowed, the session must be adjourned. If
the Presiding Officer is no longer present at a session after it has begun, the session
must be halted for a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes until a Presiding Officer is present
again. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Chairperson may establish additional rules known as floor rules that must be followed by individuals attending sessions, these floor rules must be approved by the City Council with a simple majority vote. These floor rules may also be amended or repealed by any City Councilman but must receive a simple majority vote for them to be passed. Sessions of the City Council may be held in a ROBLOX game, on the City of Arborfield Discord, or in any other manner specified in the floor rules. All sessions and votes must be open to the public unless the City Council has voted to restrict access to
the session or vote.”
SECTION 4.
Article IV, Section 6 of the Arborfield City Charter shall be amended to state:
“City Council sessions, or simply sessions, are meetings of the City Council to discuss
proposals, other actions, duties, and so on. Sessions may be presided over by the Mayor,
Deputy Mayor, or City Council Chairperson. The person presiding over a session is
referred to as the Presiding Officer. For a session to begin, a Presiding Officer must be
present, and only one person may serve as the Presiding Officer. If the session is to be hosted A quorum of at least half (1⁄2) of the incumbent Councilpersons, excluding the Presiding Officer, are required for a session to take place. If the number of Councilpersons present at a session falls below this quorum after the session has begun, the session may be halted for a maximum of thirty (30) minutes until a quorum is restored, or the session may be adjourned. If a quorum is not reached while the session has been stopped for the maximum amount of time allowed, the session must be adjourned. If the Presiding Officer is no longer present at a session after it has begun, the session must be halted for a maximum of fifteen (15) minutes u̶n̶t̶i̶l̶ ̶a̶ ̶P̶r̶e̶s̶i̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶O̶f̶f̶i̶c̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶s̶e̶n̶t̶̶ a̶g̶a̶i̶n̶ or the session must be adjourned also, if the respective session is held within a ROBLOX experience. Arborfield City Council sessions not held within a ROBLOX experience shall consider the Presiding Officer present unless the Presiding Officer notifies the chamber otherwise. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and City Chairperson may establish additional rules known as floor rules that must be followed by individuals attending sessions, these floor rules must be approved by the City Council with a simple majority vote. These floor rules may also be amended or repealed by any City Councilman but must receive a simple majority vote for them to be passed. Sessions of the City Council may be held in a ROBLOX ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ experience, on the City of Arborfield Discord, or in any other manner specified in the floor rules. All sessions and votes must be open to the public unless the City Council has voted to restrict access to the session or vote.”
CHIEF SPONSOR
Councilman StormSmithBased
COSPONSOR(S)
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yes this really has become a problem for arborfield councilors for some reason (someone decided arbitrarily to enforce this law to non in game sessions out of the blue) and its annoying, i didn’t edit a lot but checking 100 times to make sure i didn’t actually put in a nuclear bomb provision at 3 am got me tired so i probably messed something up anyway
-your friendly municipal official trying to steer a firestone city government out of procedural hell