The Council shall be composed of nine (9) members, two (2) of whom shall be elected at large, six (6) of whom shall be elected from wards, and the President of Council. For purposes of the first election for members under this Charter and until changed by ordinance, the aforesaid wards shall be the wards in effect on the effective date of this Charter.
Members of Council shall be elected at large or from their respective wards at general Municipal elections for staggered terms of four (4) years each, the members of Council at large being elected as a group at one general Municipal election and the members from wards being elected at the next such election, and shall serve until their successors are elected and assume office. They may be candidates to succeed themselves.
At the general Municipal election to be held in the year 1989 and every fourth (4th) year thereafter the two (2) members of Council-at-Large and the President of Council shall each be elected for a term of four (4) years.
All members of Council shall qualify for office by giving any required bond and taking the oath of office following the official certification by the election authorities of their election and shall assume office on the first day of January next following their election. (Nov. 8, 1988)
All members of Council including the President of Council shall be qualified electors for at least one (1) year and shall have been residents of the Municipality, and members from wards shall have resided in their respective wards for at least one (1) year immediately prior to the last date on which their declarations of candidacy or nominating petitions may be filed, and shall continue to be a resident of the Municipality throughout their terms of office. No person elected or appointed from a ward as a member of Council shall serve unless during his term of office he shall be and continue to be a resident of that ward. A member of Council and the President of Council shall not hold any other public office, except as otherwise provided in this Charter or by ordinance enacted thereunder, and except that of notary public or membership in the State Militia or Reserve Corps of the Armed Forces of the United States.
Any member of Council or President of Council who shall cease to possess, or who violates, any of the qualifications herein enumerated shall forfeit his office, but failure to maintain such qualifications shall not render void or ineffective any action of Council in which such member has participated.
(Nov. 8, 1988; Nov. 7, 1995)
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