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Council shall be the sole and final judge of the election and qualification of its members. It may expel or remove any member for gross misconduct, or for misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in, or disqualification from holding office, or for conviction while in office of a crime, or for conviction in office of a crime as enumerated by the Ordinances of the Municipality or the Ohio Revised Code, or for the violation of his oath of office, or for persistent failure to abide by the rules of Council, or for absence without justifiable excuse for three consecutive regular meetings of Council. Such expulsion shall not take place except on concurrence of five (5) of the members elected to Council, nor until the accused member shall have been notified in writing of the charge against him at least ten (10) days in advance of any hearing upon such charge, and until he or his counsel shall have been given the opportunity to appear before Council and be heard, present evidence and examine witnesses appearing in support of the charge.
(Amended 11-4-2003)
Whenever the office of a member of Council becomes vacant for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled by a majority vote of the then remaining members of Council. If the vacancy is not filled by Council within thirty (30) days of its occurrence, the Mayor shall fill the vacancy by appointment.
Such person shall serve through December 31 following the next regular municipal election, provided, however, that the term of a member shall not be lengthened by their resignation and subsequent appointment. At such election a successor shall be elected to serve for the unexpired term, if any remains, for a full term commencing January 1 next following his election.
(Amended 11-6-90; 5-2-95)
Council shall determine and fix the salary of its members on or before the first day of June each year. If the Council determines to change the established salary of its members in respect to a term of office, such change must be made by Council on or before the first day of June, to be effective January 1 of the following year; and unless and until the salary is so changed it shall remain as last fixed. The salary of a member of Council shall be payable in substantially equal installments fixed by ordinance of Council.
(Amended 11-6-1973; 5-2-95; 11-4-2003)
At 7:30 P.M. on the first business day after January 1st following each regular municipal election, Council shall meet at the Council Chambers of the Municipality for the purpose of confirmation of organization. Thereafter, Council shall meet at such times as may be prescribed by its rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws; but it shall hold regular meetings at least twice during each calendar month of the year, with the exception of the months of July and August, during each of which months Council may at its discretion dispense with one of its regular meetings. All meetings of the Council, whether regular or special, shall be open to the public. However, Council may meet in closed executive session upon an affirmative majority roll call vote of at least four members, in order to discuss and act on those matters as are now authorized by the general laws of the State of Ohio.
(Amended 11-8-1988; 11-8-2005)
The Council shall, at the time of its organization, choose one of its members as President. When the Mayor is absent or inaccessible, or for any reason is unable to perform his duties as Mayor, the President shall become the acting Mayor, and while so acting shall have and exercise all of the powers of the Mayor, but shall not cease to be a Council member, nor lose the right to vote as a member of Council. The President shall preside at all meetings of Council.
If the office of President becomes vacant, any vacancies in Council shall first be filled in the manner provided in Section 6 of this Charter, and then a new President shall be chosen by Council.
(Amended 11-6-1990; 11-2-1999; 11-6-2001; 5-6-2003)
Editor’s note:
Former Section 8B., as amended November 7, 1972, was repealed by the voters on November 6, 1973.
Former Sections 8C. and 8D. were renumbered 8B. and 8C., respectively.
SECTION 8B. SPECIAL MEETINGS.
Special meetings of Council may be held in accordance with and as provided for by the rules, regulations and by-laws adopted by Council; but in the absence of such provisions, special meetings may be called by a vote of Council taken at any regular or special meetings; or special meetings may be called by the Clerk of Council upon the written request of the Council President, or the written request of three (3) members of Council. Any such vote or request for the calling of a special meeting shall state the subject or subjects to be considered at the meeting and no other subject or subjects shall be there considered, except on the approval of five (5) or more of the members of Council in attendance at the special meeting. Twenty-four hours notice, in writing, of such special meeting, if called by the Council President or by three (3) members of Council, shall be given to each member of Council and the Council President by personal service, or by leaving it at their usual place of residence; except that the members of Council shall be held to have waived such notice by their attendance at the special meeting.
(Amended 5-6-2003)
The Council shall determine its own rules and order of business in so far as they are not set forth in this Charter. Council shall keep a journal of its proceedings which shall be a public record.
Action by Council, not required by law to be by ordinance or resolution, may be taken by motion approved by at least a majority vote of the members present at the meeting when the action is taken.
On the passage of every ordinance or resolution, the vote shall be taken by a “yes” or “no” vote of each member which shall be entered into the journal. No ordinance or resolution shall be passed without the concurrence of a majority of the members of Council. Each ordinance or resolution shall be read by title only, unless a majority of the members of Council vote to require any reading to be in full. Each ordinance or resolution shall be read on three different days unless five (5) members of Council vote to suspend this rule. No ordinance shall deal with more than one subject, and such subject shall be clearly expressed in the title.
Council may provide for the revision, rearrangement and codification of the ordinances of the Municipality or any portion thereof, at such time as Council may determine. All ordinances, resolutions, statements, orders, proclamations, notices and reports required by law, or by this Charter, or by ordinance of Council, to be published, may either be posted in five (5) of the most public places in the Municipality as determined by Council for a period of not less than fifteen (15) days next following action thereon, or be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Municipality, as the Council may determine. All ordinances or resolutions upon their final passage shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose and shall be authenticated by the signature of the presiding officer and the Acting Clerk of Council, save and except that the failure of the presiding officer, Clerk or Acting Clerk to sign an ordinance or resolution for the purpose of authentication shall neither invalidate the ordinance nor impair its effectiveness. All ordinances and resolutions of a general or permanent nature, or involving the expenditure of money in which no emergency is declared, shall take effect thirty (30) days after their passage by Council, subject to the provisions of Section 11 of this Charter. Emergency ordinances in which the emergency is declared in one section thereof shall take effect as provided by Section 10 of this Charter.
(Amended 11-8-1977; 5-6-2003)
By a two-thirds vote of the members of the Council any ordinance or resolution may be referred to the electors of the City at a general, primary or special election. Any referral must be submitted, for placement on the ballot, not later than the deadline established by the election laws of the State of Ohio.
(Enacted 5-7-1985; Amended 11-4-2003; Amended 5-6-2014)
Council shall prepare an annual report. At minimum, the report shall communicate the Council’s strategic plan for the future of the Municipality, including the means to achieve the plan. The annual report shall also discuss: (1) accomplishments to date and resultant impacts, (2) multi-year and current year plans (and costs) for roads, recreational and utility facilities improvements and repairs, and (3) multi-year and current year plans (and costs) for organizational charges.
(Enacted 11-4-2003)
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