CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS

CITY COMMISSION

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2024

7:00 PM

Welcome to the Grand Rapids City Commission Meeting. This session is the final process in the consideration of the items listed on the following agenda. All of these agenda items have been thoroughly reviewed and discussed in the various Standing Committees of the City Commission which meet on Tuesday morning. To view supporting documents for agenda items, please visit: www.grandrapidsmi.gov/commission.

Persons who need reasonable accommodation to participate, are asked to contact the City Clerk’s Office at 616-456-3010 or [email protected].

Expected Meeting Procedures

1.

Depending on the meeting there can be multiple opportunities for public comment.

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The First is limited to items on the Commission’s agenda that are slated to be voted on

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The Second is for specially scheduled required public hearings

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The Third is for any issue you would like to bring to the attention of the Commission

2.

You may only speak once on each issue.

3.

All comments are to be limited to 3 minutes.

4.

City Commission meetings are to be a safe place for everyone involved, as such:

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No clapping, cheering, or holding up of signs

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Please refrain from swearing, name calling and/or making derogatory comments. The City’s Human Rights Ordinance prohibits discrimination against any individual in the exercise of civil rights because of actual or perceived color, race, religion or creed, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, nation of origin, genotype, age, marital status, familial status, medical condition, disability, height, weight, or source of lawful income.

5.

Do not request or expect comment from the Commission.

6.

Please turn OFF cellular phones.

TERM

DEFINITION

Adjournment  

To close the meeting.

Adopt  

To accept or approve; i.e., an ordinance, a resolution, a motion, etc.

Amend  

To modify; i.e., an ordinance, a resolution, a motion, etc.

Call to Order  

Formal opening of a meeting.

City Charter  

Legal document establishing a municipality (city).

City Commission  

Local form of government consisting of the Mayor and six Commissioners.

City Officers  

Includes: Mayor, President of the City Commission, City Manager, City Attorney, City Treasurer, and City Clerk.

Closed Session

A meeting in which the proceedings are of a confidential nature.Only members and invited guests may attend, and all are honor-bound to maintain confidentiality.

Consent Agenda  

Matters listed as Consent Agenda items are considered to be routine or matters of unanimous consent by the City Commission. There will be no separate discussion of these matters, and they will be enacted by one motion.

Motion  

A proposal that the Commissioners take a specific action or stand on an item being presented to the City Commission.

Ordinance  

A piece of legislation enacted by a municipal authority.

Postpone  

A motion to postpone is made if the City Commission needs more time to make a decision. A postponement cannot go beyond the next session.

Quorum  

Number of voting members who must be present in order that business can be legally transacted.

Recess  

Short intermission within a meeting.

Recognize / Obtain the Floor  

Acknowledgment by the presiding officer of the City Commission that a member has the right to address the assembly.

Rescind (Repeal)  

Allows the City Commission to repeal an action previously taken; i.e., ordinances, etc.

Resolution  

A decision by the City Commission to do or not to do something.

Robert’s Rules of Order  

A guide to fair and orderly meeting procedures.

Suspend the Rules  

This motion is used when the City Commission wants to do something that violates its own rules. The motion does not apply to an organization’s bylaws, local, state, or national law; or fundamental principles of parliamentary law. An appropriate suspension of the rules, used on occasion by the City Commission, would be a motion to change the agenda.

Table, Lay on the  

This motion puts aside an item, and everything adhering to it, currently being presented to the City Commission.The item remains “on the table” until taken off.

Table, Take (Remove) from the  

The motion to Take from the Table is used when the City Commission wants to continue considering a motion that was Laid on the Table earlier in the present session or in the previous session of the City Commission. When a motion is Taken from the Table, it has everything adhering to it exactly as it was when it was Laid on the Table.

 Revised: 10-17-2024

Source(s):    Robert’s Rules of Order

City Commission Standing Rules