Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

Where the New Business rule is written

When a commissioner asks for something to be put to a vote, the Town's written procedures say where that item goes on the agenda. This is that sentence, where it lives, and what it does and does not require.

The short answer

It is Section F.vii(b), “Commissioner Agenda Items,” of the Town Commission Meeting and Agenda Procedures — the version adopted by Resolution 2025‑19 on March 11, 2025, two months before the May 13 discussion and six months before the September 10 vote.

1

Town Code of Ordinances § 2‑19

“Minutes and Procedures of Meetings” requires that the Town Commission establish procedures for its meetings and agendas. The Code does not contain the procedures themselves.

2

Town Commission Meeting and Agenda Procedures

A standalone document adopted by resolution and amended repeatedly — 2011‑05, 2011‑17, 2014‑15, 2014‑42, 2015‑17, 2016‑13, 2016‑42, 2022‑17, 2024‑25, each repealing the last.

3

Resolution 2025‑19, adopted March 11, 2025, 5–0

The version in force through all of this. Its stated change was moving agenda publication from Friday to Thursday. Motion by Commissioner DeNapoli, seconded by Vice Mayor Strauss.

4

Section F.vii(b) — Commissioner Agenda Items

Inside Section F, “Commission Meeting Items,” under subsection vii, “Old and New Business.” Paragraph (a) covers items from the Town Manager. Paragraph (b) covers items from a commissioner.

The provision, in full

Nothing removed, nothing paraphrased. The two sentences that matter are marked.

F.vii(b) · Commissioner Agenda Items Res. 2025‑19, p. 10

Commissioners may submit a request for the preparation of policy, legislation or action by the Town Attorney or Town Manager. The item will be placed under New Business (or Old Business if it has been previously discussed). Except for informational reports, a signed written memorandum or form provided for such purposes should state the purpose of the item/action, the major points to be covered, the reasons for necessary action, whether visual aids such as maps, plans, photos or PowerPoint‑style presentations may be appropriate, and the specific action or motion desired by the Commissioner. If the item can be resolved by the Town Manager without action of the Commission, the Manager shall be given the opportunity to do so. Once heard, the request shall not be acted upon until such request is approved by motion of the majority of the Town Commission. As much as possible, the topic of the report or item shall be provided to the Town Manager prior to the close of the agenda, so that the item may be noticed to the public.

Town Commission Meeting and Agenda Procedures, § F.vii(b), as adopted by Resolution 2025‑19

Read it: the resolution and the full procedures (PDF, 14 pp.) · the same packet on the Town’s portal (item 18.a, pages 68–81)

“Commissioners may submit a request…”
This is the signed Commissioner Agenda Item Request form. DeNapoli signed one on April 23, 2025.
“The item will be placed under New Business”
Not “may.” This is the sentence that routes a commissioner's request. New Business is the discussion section of the agenda.
“a signed written memorandum or form… should state the purpose”
The form itself, and what it must say. “Should,” not “shall.”
“Once heard, the request shall not be acted upon until such request is approved by motion of the majority”
The sentence staff relied on. It says the request must be approved by a majority vote. It does not say when that vote happens — same night, or a later meeting. That silence is the whole argument of May 13, 2025.
“the topic… shall be provided to the Town Manager prior to the close of the agenda, so that the item may be noticed to the public”
The only notice requirement in the provision, and it is notice by way of the published agenda — not notice to the residents of an affected street.

Two other provisions you need beside it

These are why “it was supposed to go under New Business” is not the end of the argument.

F.xi · ResolutionsRes. 2025‑19, p. 11

Resolutions not included on the consent agenda may be placed under New or Old Business or on this portion of the agenda. The Mayor may allow public comments on Resolutions.

Read these two together

F.vii(b) says a commissioner's request will go under New Business. F.xi says a resolution may go under New Business, Old Business, or the Resolutions section. Resolution 2025‑42 was placed under Resolutions on September 5, 2025. Under F.xi that placement is permitted. Anyone who says a rule was broken has to get past this sentence, and we have not found a way past it.

G.iii · Agenda PublicationRes. 2025‑19, p. 12

A complete package of all agenda material shall be provided to the Town Commission by the Town Clerk on the Thursday prior to the meeting, by posting the agenda material on the Town website. In the event that pertinent information relating to the agenda item is missing or unaccounted for prior to the meeting, the Town Commission may remove the item from the agenda at the meeting.…

The word “Friday” was struck and replaced with “Thursday” by this resolution.

The September 10 agenda was published Friday, September 5 — five days ahead, the same interval as a Thursday posting before a Tuesday meeting. Of 36 meetings between January 2025 and August 2026, 23 agendas went up on a Thursday and 8 on a Friday. The lead time was ordinary.

What May 13, 2025 actually changed

Not the words above. Those are unchanged to this day. What changed was the reading of the one sentence that is silent.

The Town Attorney, on F.vii(b)
The procedures ask commissioners to submit requests for preparation of agenda items, “which would be placed under New Business.” On when the vote happens: “the language of the process itself is silent on this issue.”
The practice staff had followed
Request → Commission agrees to take it up → staff compile the information into the agenda packet → vote at a later meeting. The Town Manager read “acted upon” as staff preparing the item.
The competing reading
The Mayor's interpretation was that an agenda item can be acted upon — that is, voted the same night. Commissioner DeNapoli said proposals from elected officials should not require “consensus followed by a second meeting at which a vote is taken.”
How it was resolved
No vote was taken. DeNapoli asked whether it should be; the Mayor said the Commission's consensus was clear. The minutes record: “It was decided that a Commissioner could place an item on an upcoming agenda which would simply require an ‘up‑or‑down’ vote for passage rather than consensus followed by another vote.”
And what staff would do after
The Town Manager: going forward, staff “would prepare an agenda memo on that item, and the proposing Commissioner would prepare any supporting documentation as well.”

So the written rule was never amended. A silence in it was read one way instead of the other, by consensus rather than by vote, and the step that produced independent staff information and the gap that gave residents time both became optional.

Every document quoted here.
Resolution 2025‑19 and the full Meeting and Agenda Procedures (PDF, 14 pp.) — § F.vii(b) on p. 10, § F.xi on p. 11, § G.iii on p. 12. Also on the Town’s portal: March 11, 2025 meeting files, item 18.a.
March 11, 2025 minutes — adoption of Resolution 2025‑19, 5–0.
May 13, 2025 minutes, pages 4–7 — the discussion and the outcome. Same meeting on the portal.
May 13, 2025 staff report, item 13.d — the signed Commissioner Agenda Item Request of April 23, 2025 is page 4.
September 10, 2025 packet, item 18.e — Resolution 2025‑42 as placed under Resolutions. Same meeting on the portal.
Town Code of Ordinances — Part II, Chapter 2 “Administration,” Article I, § 2‑19 “Minutes and procedures of meetings.”

Every quotation above is verbatim from the Town's own documents. Where a sentence is marked, the marking is ours and the words are not.