City Code Section
- A. To preserve order and decorum, the presiding officer or designee may direct that any person who disrupts any Council meeting, or any person who engages in dangerous or threatening behavior, after first having been warned to cease and desist from such disruption or dangerous or threatening behavior, be ejected or excluded from Council Chambers or such other place as the Council may be in session.
- B. For purposes of this Section, an ejection is an order made by a Person-in-Charge to immediately leave the meeting, and an exclusion is an order made by the Chief Administrative Officer of the Office of Management and Finance, the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of the Office of Management and Finance, or their designees prohibiting a person from entering or remaining at future meetings for a specified period of time.
- C. Ejection or exclusion shall be issued in the following manner:
- 1. The presiding officer or designee will give a warning to the person engaging in disruptive, dangerous or threatening behavior. If the person engaging in disruptive, dangerous or threatening behavior does not cease that behavior following the warning, the presiding officer or designee will issue an ejection. An ejection shall be for the remainder of the session at which the disruptive, dangerous or threatening behavior has occurred.
- 2. For purposes of this Section, a person disrupts a meeting of the Council if the person engages in any conduct that obstructs or impedes the orderly carrying on of the business of the meeting. Such conduct includes, but is not limited to: any conduct that substantially prevents any other person from hearing, viewing or meaningfully participating in the meeting; any conduct that substantially interferes with ingress or egress to or free movement within the Council Chambers or such other place as the Council may be in session; shouting over, or otherwise disrupting, any person who is recognized by the presiding officer; any conduct that substantially interferes with City business conducted by City staff present at the session; or failure to obey any reasonable direction of the presiding officer.
- 3. A direction of the presiding officer is reasonable if it is reasonably related to maintaining order and decorum. A direction of the presiding officer is not reasonable if it is directed to speech or conduct the right to engage in which is, under the circumstances, protected by the federal or Oregon constitution.
- 4. For purposes of this Section, behavior is dangerous or threatening if a reasonable person, exposed to or experiencing such behavior, could believe that the person was in imminent danger of physical harm from the behavior. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, if the presiding officer reasonably believes that a person’s dangerous or threatening conduct constitutes an emergency, the presiding officer is not required to give the person a warning before ordering the person ejected.
- D. If a person has previously been ejected for dangerous or threatening behavior before the Council within 1 year before the date of the present ejection, or for disruptive behavior on three or more separate occasions within 1 year before the date of the present ejection, the person shall be excluded from Council meetings for 30 days. Written notice of such exclusion shall be given as provided in this Section.
- E. If a person has been excluded from the Council on one or more occasions within 1 year before the date of the present exclusion, the person shall be excluded from Council meetings for 60 days. Written notice of such exclusion shall be given as provided in this Section.
- F. The Chief Administrative Officer of the Office of Management and Finance, the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of the Office of Management and Finance, or their designees, shall give written notice of any exclusion issued under this Section, and the person excluded may appeal the exclusion to the Code Hearings Officer in the manner provided under Section 3.18.030.
- G. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, the Hearing Officer’s review of the question of whether the excluded person in fact engaged in disruptive, dangerous or threatening behavior shall be based upon the audio and video record of the meeting, applying the criteria described in this Section. Under no circumstances shall the presiding officer or any member of the Council be compelled to testify at the hearing, or in any proceeding connected therewith. The exclusion shall be stayed upon the filing of the notice of appeal, but any stayed exclusion shall be counted in determining the length of any subsequent exclusion under this Section. If any exclusion is reversed on appeal, the effective periods of any exclusions that are not reversed shall be adjusted accordingly. If multiple exclusions issued to a person are simultaneously stayed, the effective periods for those which are affirmed shall run consecutively.
- H. It shall be unlawful for any person to be in the Council Chambers or in any other place where the Council is meeting, at any time during which there is in effect an ejection or an exclusion of the person from Council meetings.
- I. An exclusion issued under this Section does not affect or limit the right of the person excluded to submit written testimony or materials to the Council Clerk for inclusion in the record and for consideration by the Council, or otherwise lawfully to petition or seek redress from the City or its elected officials.
- J. The provisions of this Section apply to any public meeting of a City board or commission. If a person engages in disruptive, dangerous or threatening behavior at a public meeting of a City board or commission, any Person-in-Charge may eject that person by applying the provisions of this Section.