Council adopts housekeeping resolution to update Covington policies and procedures

The Covington City Council on Feb. 24 voted to adopt a resolution repealing and replacing the council’s policies and procedures, a set of housekeeping changes staff said are intended to align the written rules with current practice and state law.

City staff explained the draft language would clarify how newly elected council members are sworn in, update how minutes are recorded and add a simple nomination-and-notice process for selecting the mayor and mayor pro tem. A staff member said the revisions were intentionally concise to allow council to handle one‑off situations as they arise.

Councilmembers discussed one phrasing issue: whether the internal rules should say council members are “elected” or “appointed” by their peers when selecting a mayor and mayor pro tem. One councilmember urged changing the wording to “appointed” to avoid public misperception; staff and other councilmembers noted the current rules use “elect” and that the terms are functionally interchangeable for choosing a presiding officer from within the council.

Council members also asked about section 3.3, which addresses swearing in newly elected members after election certification. Staff clarified that taking an oath before Jan. 1 does not make the newly sworn-in person’s term effective until Jan. 1, so an emergency meeting on Dec. 31 would still be handled by the incumbent.

Following the discussion, a motion to approve the proposed resolution was moved and seconded and the council approved the measure by voice vote. Council did not record individual tallies on the record; staff characterized the vote as a standard voice vote and confirmed the resolution passed.

The resolution takes effect according to the timing described in the staff report; staff said they will incorporate any minor wording edits (such as 'elected' vs. 'appointed') in the final published document.