Charter and Rules Committee Meeting January 26, 2022
6:30 pm City Hall Holyoke
536 Dwight St, Holyoke 01040
City Council
Holyoke Massachusetts
Pursuant to the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18-25,
and Section 20 of Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021,
notice is hereby given of a meeting of the committee on
Charter and Rules
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
6:30 PM
Meeting to take place at
Holyoke City Hall, 536 Dwight St
and can be accessed remotely on Zoom Meetings
Per order of the Chair: Jose Maldonado Velez
Remote access via www.zoom.us
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81457655705?pwd=NHNkQzNFellBa3V0dGFVY0xqVDhsZz09
Meeting ID: 814 5765 5705 Meeting Passcode: 365622 or by call in at 1 (646) 558-8656 with the same Meeting ID and Passcode.
Agenda
Item 1: 1-18-22 MALDONADO-VELEZ — Order that the City Council Rules are reviewed, reorganized, and that titles are added for accessibility.
Item 2: 1-18-22 MALDONADO-VELEZ — Order that we degender the language of rule 2
Item 3: 1-18-22 MALDONADO-VELEZ — Order that we degender the language of rule 4
Item 4: 1-18-22 MALDONADO-VELEZ — Order that we degender the language of rule 37
Item 5: 1-18-22 MALDONADO-VELEZ — Order that we degender the language of rule 62
Item 6: 12-21-21 ANDERSON-BURGOS — Ordered, that Rule 32 be amended to add “and Marijuana Establishments” after “except for Home Occupation” to the description of the D&GR Committee. This needs to be updated to reflect that the Ordinance Committee handles those petitions.
Item 7: 1-18-22 VACON — Amend city council rules by adding: Legal form for Ordinance changes shall be provided 48 hours prior to a City Council meeting.
If legal form is not provided 48 hours prior to the meeting, upon objection of any member of the City Council, the matter will be tabled until the next meeting. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that each Councilor has time to read proposed changes prior to voting on the matter.
Item 8: 1-18-22 MURPHY-ROMBOLETTI — Ordered that the City Council amend or clarify enforcement of Rule 61 so that a committee must act on an order within 30 days of City Council referral. Any order not acted on within 30 days shall be deemed tabled.
Item 9: 12-21-21 ANDERSON-BURGOS — Ordered, that Rule 61 be amended by inserting “or at the next meeting of the committee, whichever comes later,” after the words “30 days.” Also amend this Rule by adding a new section: “Orders laid on the table in a committee shall be acted on with a vote with or without recommendation within six months of the committee receiving them. If not acted on, they shall be placed on the agenda of the next regular City Council meeting for action, referral, or disposal. Orders may be acted on up to the end of the term following the one in which they are filed. Such orders that remain in committee following the end of the term after the one in which they were filed shall be placed on the agenda for the next regular City Council meeting for disposal.”
This is to make sure that orders are handled in a timely manner when councilors file them for consideration and to establish a step to be taken if they are not taken up. It also clarifies a time period before orders go stale and can no longer be acted on.
Item 10: 12-21-21 ANDERSON-BURGOS — Ordered, that a new rule be created stating that “For the purposes of determining voting majorities and super majorities at full City Council meetings, eligible voting members shall mean the full body of the City Council except any members that may have properly abstained from participating in debate for a vote.”
In addition, in any rules referring to the full membership of the City Council for determining a voting majority or super majority, amend them to state “eligible members of the City Council.” These locations are in Rule 35 and Rule 66
Item 11: 12-21-21 ANDERSON-BURGOS — Ordered, that Rule 38 be amended by striking out “a 2/3 super majority” and replacing it with “a majority of all eligible members”
Item 12: 1-18-22 MALDONADO-VELEZ — Order that we create a Technology Advisory Board to advise the council on the impact and implications of technological innovations on financial services, human services, infrastructure, politics, taxing of tech companies. The board will give recommendations on policy change in order to bring our systems up to date.
Administrative Assistant: Jeffery Anderson-Burgos
The listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. Also one or two items may require the committee to enter into executive session at this meeting. Agenda subject to change up to two business days (48 hours) prior to posted meeting time.