Procedural Rules of Des Moines City Council

Part III. Agenda
Rule 16. Citizen Agenda Requests.
Any citizen may request to have an item placed on the Agenda (including a request to speak) by filing such request in writing with the City Clerk on or after the date ten days preceding a regular Council meeting but prior to 5:00 P.M. on the Tuesday preceding a regular Council meeting. All such requests, up to a maximum of twenty items, shall be placed under a single item number, but last on the agenda, by lettered paragraph and limited collectively to no more than forty minutes in duration. Each item shall receive up to two minutes time and time shall not be recalculated or additional speakers recognized if the time used by any speaker is less than two minutes or the collective time for all speakers is less than forty-minutes. No other person may speak on any such item. Any requested item not included on the agenda due to the collective time limit and maximum number of items specified herein being exceeded, shall, subject to such time limit and maximum number of items applied to each Agenda for a subsequent regular meeting, move in the same order received by the City Clerk to the Agenda for the next regular meeting or, as necessary, the Agenda for the next subsequent meeting(s), with any new timely requests added to the end of the list of pending Citizen’s Agenda items in the order received. Any person may have no more than one Agenda item request pending at a time and the City Clerk shall not accept a new request from a person that has a request pending.

Part V. Citizen Participation
Rule 27. Citizen's Right to Address Council.
Persons other than Council Members shall be permitted to address the Council only upon specific Agenda Items.

Rule 28. Manner of Addressing Council.
At each regular Council meeting, if any requests to speak have been received, a person desiring to address the Council shall step to the podium, state his or her name, address, and group affiliation (if any) and speak clearly into the microphone. If the meeting is entirely electronic, the person shall use the prescribed method for comments, but shall not speak on the same item more than once. If the meeting is not entirely electronic, then only those persons in attendance at the physical location of the meeting will be permitted to speak and only in accordance with these rules and the City Code.  The person shall follow these rules and the direction of the presiding officer at all times.

Rule 29. Time Limit on Citizen's Remarks.
Citizens shall be limited to no more than five minutes speaking time per Agenda item on which the public is allowed to speak, unless
additional or less time is determined by the presiding officer.  Total citizen in-put on any subject under Council consideration can be further limited to a fixed period by the presiding officer.  A majority vote of the Council may alter the time limitations of this rule.

Rule 30. Remarks of Citizens to be Germane.
Citizen comments must be directed to the subject under consideration. The presiding officer shall rule on the germaneness of citizen comments. Citizens making personal, repetitive, slanderous or disruptive remarks or engaging in any action that otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of a council meeting shall not be recognized by the presiding officer during the remainder of the meeting. To ensure the meeting is conducted orderly and free from interference or interruption, the presiding officer is vested with exclusive discretion to review and determine whether remarks or actions meet any prohibited terms of this rule. Without limitation, arguing with the presiding officer about any determination will be considered per se disruptive. Persons who make or attempt to make non-germane remarks during any portion of the meeting shall not be recognized by the presiding officer during the remainder of the meeting.

Rule 37. Action on Consent Agenda.
Except as herein provided the "Consent Agenda" shall be considered in bulk and voted upon in single motion. Each Council Member shall separately note upon a form provided by the City Clerk any matter on the "Consent Agenda" upon which he or she wishes to speak or to vote no. At the time of consideration of the "Consent Agenda" the presiding officer shall announce the items upon which Council members have indicated they wish to speak or vote no. Members of the public may request via email, written mail or other writing to the City Clerk to remove any single item by 3:00 pm on the day of the Council meeting, which Council may remove upon majority vote, but no oral requests may be made at the meeting. Any items upon which any Council Member wishes to speak, or items upon which a citizen wishes to speak which have been removed from the consent agenda by majority vote, shall be considered separately and not as a portion of any motion calling for action upon the remainder of the "Consent Agenda". The City Clerk, on all matters contained in the "Consent Agenda" shall record the yes and no votes on each item separately as if each item had been moved and voted upon separately. Rule 21 shall not apply.

A committee will review this request and contact you if it is approved for moving forward to Council.