This page contains helpful hints about our meetings. We hope it will assist you when participating in our meetings. We do not discriminate with respect to age, race, religion, disability, national origin or sexual identity.

Addressing The Common Council

Please follow this procedure when addressing the Common Council:

• Come forward to the podium.
• State your name and address.
• State the topic on which you will speak.
• Wait for the Mayor to ask you to "proceed".
• Be concise with your presentation. Please do not repeat yourself.
  If you have supporting paperwork, documents, resources or pictures, please forward a copy to the City Clerk.

Our meetings are conducted under Roberts Rules of Order as revised. They are formal proceedings. We tape record them for reference. Please speak clearly into the microphone for your comments to be recorded. Comments made from the floor during meetings are usually not picked up by the tape recorder and will then not be available for later reference.

In order for every person to have an opportunity to speak during meetings and public hearings, the Mayor may restrict each person to speaking only once on a particular issue. The Mayor may request that each speaker fill out a “speaker slip” which is to be turned in to the City Clerk. Your name will be called when it is your turn to speak. The Mayor may also restrict you from speaking if your comments are a repeat of the previous speakers. You may ask for a show of hands to demonstrate support for your position.

Etiquette For Meetings

Please observe the following meeting etiquette:

• Remain seated, unless you are addressing the Common Council. Standing is allowed if all the chairs are occupied, as long as the room capacity is not exceeded.
• Be attentive to the subject under discussion. Creating noise disrupts our meetings while other speakers are at the podium or while the Common Council is discussing the issue.
• Generally, only one person is allowed at the podium at a time.
• The Mayor may stop you from speaking if you make derogatory and/or inflammatory statements towards an individual, institution, or organization.
• The Mayor may have you removed from the Council Chambers if you do not observe the above etiquette.
• After the meetings, or any time you have questions about the operations of your City government, please feel free to discuss them with the Mayor or the Alderpersons. The staff is also available to answer questions or to deal with your problems.

Thank you for your participation and courtesy. - Please come again!