Gulfport council declines to amend special-call agenda; docket of claims not taken up

A motion to amend the agenda of a Gulfport City Council special-call meeting was ruled out of order and failed on a 3-3 vote, leaving the meeting to proceed only on its single noticed item — the docket of claims scheduled for that meeting window — and preventing the council from adding consideration of a separate advertising action.

The motion to amend the agenda was made and seconded early in the session. Council members asked whether a special-call meeting could be broadened to include approval to advertise a legally required notice tied to an upcoming statutory requirement. Legal counsel responded that the special-call meeting had been advertised for a single, specific purpose and that council practice and the ordinance’s provisions limit a special-call meeting to the purpose for which it was called. Council legal representative Mister Breeding explained the ordinance’s language and noted the meeting in question was noticed specifically for the docket of claims.

After legal counsel said the proposed amendment was not in order, the presiding official put the motion on the floor and called for a vote. The motion failed on a 3-3 vote. The presiding official observed that, absent a successful reconsideration motion by a member who voted against the motion, the meeting would end without addressing the additional item. Council members and the presiding official discussed the consequences, with one council member noting that vendors — ranging from single-person firms to larger businesses — could go unpaid if the council did not approve the docket of claims in a timely fashion.

Council members asked whether the agenda item could be considered later, for example after a separate budget meeting, but legal counsel and the presiding official said the special-call meeting could not be altered without additional notice or unless the mayor or a majority of the council called a new special-call meeting. The presiding official also said the earliest the mayor could call another special session that day would be 3:40 p.m., subject to quorum. No formal reconsideration motion was offered on the record before the meeting concluded.

This session addressed procedural authority and notice requirements rather than the substantive docket of claims. The record shows the council debated whether changing the single-item special-call agenda was permissible under the ordinance and past practice; no final action on the additional advertising item was taken.