Agenda Item Name:
Title
Board Rules of Procedure for Meetings Update
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Presenter:
County Attorney’s Office
Description:
Review of the Board's Rules of Procedure for Meetings
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Adopt Resolution revising the Board’s Rules of Procedure for meetings, including amendments recommended by County Attorney and staff
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Prior Board Motions:
The Board has asked for a Board Rules of Procedure for Meetings amendment to codify the procedures for remote participation of the public.
On February 8, 2022, County Attorney Sylvia Torres stated that there needs to be a decision on how many public comment sections there will be for special meetings.
The Board moved the adoption of rules as emailed to the Board from the County Manager with the one change that for special meetings the Board allows for
public comment at the conclusion of the meeting.
On February 1, 2022, the Board moved to draft a resolution for approval by the Board on a consent agenda revising the Board’s Rules of Procedure for meetings, including amendments recommended by County Attorney and staff. For Quasi-Judicial items extending the evidence days to 5 and the party days to 7 and keep two time certain public comment at 12:00 PM and 5:30 PM or close of business whichever comes first. Citizens who speak during time certain public comments are entitled to speak in one of the time certain periods but not both. Ask staff to prepare a summary of rules and procedures and what it means to be a party of quasi-judicial and develop a guide for citizen participation. At the discretion of the chair a citizen may request to speak during the Time Certain Public Comments on an item on the agenda if they will not be able to speak to the item later in the meeting. The will no longer be a Public Comments period at the end of business. If there is not a going to be an evening session then an end of business Public Comment will be held. However, a citizen is entitled to speak at the 12:00 p.m. time certain or the end of business public comment but not both. The Chair has discretion to allow a citizen to speak at both. The rule should state that Public Comment is for up to 30 minutes with the Chair having discretion to extend the time. Staff is to develop a guide or expectations for citizens participating in public comment.
On October 26, 2021, during Commission Comment, Chair Cornell stated that it is time for the Board to review its Rules of Procedure to update any policies the Board would like to improve on. At a recent Florida Association of Counties meeting a survey was released that showed how Counties are addressing public comments during the pandemic times. Chair Cornell requested that the County Attorney provide the survey to the Board for review. By consensus, the Board directed that a discussion for the Board Rules of Procedure be added to the next available policy meeting.
On August 10, 2021, the Board moved to 1. Extend the State of Emergency with the recommended actions by staff 2. Make guidance and information for organizations that have COVID exposures or outbreak consistent with the CDC guidelines and local
recommendations available and distributed to those organizations 3. Designate resources in support for a COVID hotline in coordination with UF Health. 4. Execute the recommended changes to the Board's Rules of Procedures and Policies. 5. Staff to return with a Resolution for Board.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
N/A
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Strategic Guide:
Strategic Guide
N/A
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Background:
The Board's current rules of procedure may not reflect how the Board wishes to conduct its meetings.
The County Attorney’s Office and staff have reviewed the Board’s rules and recommend the changes indicated in the redline version of the rules, attached.