At present the Council organizes annually. Sometimes this is done at the regular January meeting and sometimes a special meeting is held, usually in the first week of January. At the organizational meeting, the Council elects a President and a Vice President.

Your thoughts:

Council meetings are held at 9:00 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month except December, when the Council meets on the second Tuesday. Dates may be adjusted due to holidays. Council meetings are held in the Commissioners’ Courtroom, Third Floor, Delaware County Building. A schedule of meeting dates for the coming year is adopted in December. Special meetings are scheduled at the call of the President.

Your thoughts:

The President annually appoints a Finance Committee consisting of three members of the Council. The Committee does not exercise any powers of the Council, but merely reviews transfer and additional appropriation requests in advance of each Council meeting. Finance Committee meetings are held at 9:00 a.m. on the Thursday preceding the Council meeting in the Second Floor Conference Room, Delaware County Building.

Your thoughts:

Each office or department making a request for a transfer or additional appropriation is expected to file a written explanation of the request with the County Auditor. Additional appropriations must be advertised; therefore the filing deadline is twenty-two days prior to the Council meeting at which the request will be considered.

Your thoughts:

The office holder or department head making a request for an additional appropriation or transfer, or his or her designee, is required to attend both the Finance Committee and Council meetings.

Your thoughts:

The Council annually appoints an attorney or law firm to represent it. The attorney is expected to attend all Council meetings and serves as an advisor to the President on parliamentary procedure. The attorney also reviews or prepares resolutions and ordinances and issues legal opinions as requested.

Your thoughts:

The Council makes appointments to various boards and commissions as provided by law. Most terms begin on January 1. The Council in past years has made such appointments before the end of the prior year; this year the appointments were made at the regular January meeting of the Council. There is no formal process to advertise what positions will be open for appointment or by which a person may apply to be appointed to a board or commission.

Your thoughts:

The public hearing on the budget is generally held in September on the Wednesday after Labor Day followed by as many days as needed to review the budget submitted by each office or department. Office holders and department heads are expected to attend the Council’s budget meeting at a time scheduled by the Auditor’s office.

Your thoughts:

The agenda for regular meeting of the Council has generally been in this format: Call to Order

    Pledge Roll Call

    Approval of the Agenda Approval of Minutes

    Consideration of Transfer Requests

    Consideration of Additional Appropriation Requests      

    Appointments and Committee Reports         Considerationof Ordinances and Resolutions

    New Business

    Comments by Office Holders and Department Heads      Public Comments

    Adjournment

Your thoughts:

The Council adopted a resolution pursuant to Indiana state law that permits a Council member to attend up to two consecutive Council meetings via Zoom or comparable electronic platform with certain exceptions.

Your thoughts:

By what vote should rules be adopted or amended? Majority (4 votes)
Two-thirds (5 votes)
Three-fourths (6 votes)
or unanimous (7 votes)

By what votes should the Council be able to suspend a rule?

Your thoughts:

Other items which should be included in the rules of the Council. 

Your thoughts: