Probably. There is general authority set out in the case Cowlitz County v. Johnson, where the court explains that "unless restrained by charter or statute, the legislative body of a municipal corporation possesses the undoubted right to reconsider its vote upon measures before it at its own pleasure, and to do and undo, consider and reconsider, as often as it may think proper, until a final conclusion is reached."

Under parliamentary law, a member of the prevailing side must move to reconsider. Typically, such a motion will be made at the same meeting at which such action was taken. However, the council could move to suspend the rules, if that was required, or, for that matter, it could adopt other rules allowing for a later reconsideration of the rejection. Robert's Rules also provides for the renewal of a motion, provided it is not during the same session.

Yes. In cities and towns, the mayor shall preside over all meetings of the city/town council. See, e.g., RCW 35A.12.100 & .110 (mayor-council code cities), RCW 35A.13.030 (council-manager code cities), RCW 35.23.201 (second-class cities), RCW 35.27.160 & .280 (towns). The city/town council determines its rules of proceeding. See, e.g., RCW 35A.11.020 (code cities generally – power of legislative body to regulate its internal affairs), RCW 35A.12.120 (mayor-council code cities), RCW 35A.13.170 (council-manager code cities), RCW 35.23.270 (second-class cities), RCW 35.27.280 (towns). Typically city and town councils will adopt rules of parliamentary procedure to help govern their meetings. As the presiding officer, the mayor enforces the council's rules.

If a person violates the council's rules, he or she is "out of order." If the mayor notices that the council rules are being violated (for example, a person speaking out of turn), he or she should immediately correct the matter. If the mayor fails to do so, a member of the council can raise a "point of order," for which the mayor will make a ruling (either that someone is out of order or not).

Once the mayor has made a ruling -- either on his or her own initiative or in response to a point of order raised by a councilmember -- that ruling is subject to appeal. To appeal the mayor's decision, one councilmember must make a motion to appeal the decision, and that motion must be seconded by another councilmember. To reverse the mayor's decision, a majority of the council must vote to override the decision. If there is a tie, the mayor can vote to break the tie. See Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised (10th edition, 2000), sections 23-24.

We have also stated that a mayor could rule that a citizen is "out of order" in certain circumstances. For example, if a citizen’s statement is not germane to the topic at issue or unresponsive to a question asked, or if abusive language is used, the statement could be out of order. If a citizen’s statement violates council rules, the mayor could rule the citizen out of order, but the mayor’s decision would be subject to appeal and possible reversal by action of the council.

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