Also at Tuesday’s special meeting, Ione City Council members, the Ione Planning Commission, and the Park and Recreation Commission met to discuss Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, a set of guidelines meant to standardize meeting procedure. The rules were reviewed in detail at the meeting, for the purpose of opening discussion on the implementation of Rosenberg’s Rules for all city meetings, as opposed to the more widely known Robert’s Rules. Rosenberg’s Rules are a simpler and more modern set of Parliamentary Procedure; however they do retain the basic tenets of order from Robert’s Rules. A PowerPoint presentation was the catalyst for review at the meeting, and was presented by City Manager Kim Kerr.

Information given in the presentation included: The four main principles of Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, which are 1. Rules should establish order, 2. Rules should be clear, 3. Rules should be user friendly, and 4. Rules should enforce the will of the majority while protecting the rights of the minority. A chair should also be named for the governing body, who is charged with applying the rules of conduct. There are three basic motions in Rosenberg’s Rules, including the “Basic Motion,” which puts forth a decision for consideration, the “Motion to Amend,” which is to retain the basic motion that is under determination but modify it in some way, and the “Substitution Motion” which involves doing away with the basic motion and putting a new motion before the governing body for discussion. After the information was disseminated at the meeting, it was requested that all individuals review the presentation and the protocol manual. A request was then made for all members of the various governing bodies present, as well as citizens, to send in any comments regarding Rosenberg’s Rules by May 9th, and all comments on the Protocol Manuel by May 16th.