Rules Committee narrows 'special order of business' language and lowers threshold to three council members

The Rules Committee approved changes to the draft city council rules that narrow how items are classified as a “special order of business” and lowered the threshold for placing such items on the city council agenda.

Committee members voted 6‑4 to remove a proposed clause that would have allowed items “of particular importance to the community” to be placed as a special order of business; several members said the phrase was too vague and could be used to bypass established board, committee and commission review. After debate, the committee accepted a draft that focuses special orders on time‑sensitive or emergency matters and items that do not fit an existing board or commission jurisdiction.

Separately, the committee voted to change the procedure for placing a special order of business so that three council members — rather than a majority of the entire council — may place a special order on an agenda. Staff said the proposed change had been discussed previously and that a motion to reduce the threshold to three members had been raised at earlier meetings and withdrawn; the committee moved forward this session and approved the change by a 9‑1 roll call.

Committee members asked staff to draft a written procedure for how a special order request should be submitted (timing, written rationale, and whether the request must cite which of the permitted categories applies) so the process would be auditable and consistent.

Ending: Staff will return a refined procedure for submitting special order requests that clarifies timing and required rationale.