ARTICLE III
COUNCIL
COUNCIL
The legislative powers of the City, except as otherwise provided by this Charter and by the Constitution of the State of Ohio, shall be vested in the Council.
The Council to serve during the years 1966 and 1967 shall consist of ten members. Three of such members shall be elected from the City at large and seven of such members shall be elected from wards as established by this Charter. In the years 1966 and 1967 there shall be, in addition to the ten members of Council provided hereinabove, a President of Council who shall be the presiding officer of the Council, but he shall not vote on any matter except to break a tie vote of the members of Council. The three members of Council elected at large under the statutory form of government at the November 1965 municipal election shall serve as at large members of Council under this Charter for a term of two years. The seven members of Council elected from wards under the statutory form of government at the November 1965 municipal election shall serve their respective wards as members of Council under this Charter for a term of two years. The person elected to the office of President of Council under the statutory form of government at the November 1965 municipal election shall serve as President of Council under this Charter for a term of two years. Members of Council elected under the statutory form of government at the November 1965 municipal election shall have the powers, duties, and functions this Charter confers upon members of Council.
At the regular municipal election to be held in November 1967, and each two years thereafter, four members of Council shall be elected from the City at large and seven members of Council shall be elected from wards as established in this Charter; provided that additional wards may be created in the manner as established by Sec. 3.03 of this Charter. Such members of Council shall be elected for two year terms.
Members of Council shall take office on the first Monday in December following their election. Members of Council shall serve until the expiration of their term of office, unless removed therefrom as provided in Sec. 21.08 of this Charter or recalled by the electors as provided in Sec. 19.04 of this Charter. If for any reason a member of Council shall fail to qualify for office within forty-five days after the first Monday in December following his election, a vacancy shall be determined to exist and such vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided in Sec. 3.12 of this Charter.
The salary of members of Council and of the President of Council shall be as established by Council, subject to the limitation provided in Section 3.11 of this Charter, and shall begin when Council members take office on the first Monday in December.
(Amended 11-3-81)
(Editor’s Note: Because of the 2006 amendment to Charter Section 23.01 (Terms of Elected Officials), all references to the date an official takes office should be deemed to mean that the official shall take office on the first day of January following his/her election. See Section 23.01.)
All members of the Council shall have been residents of the City for at least one continuous year immediately prior to the time of their election, shall be qualified electors of the City, and shall continue to be qualified electors thereof throughout their respective terms of office. In addition to the qualifications provided hereinabove, members of Council elected from wards shall have been residents of the ward from which they seek election for at least one continuous year immediately prior to the time of their election and shall continue to be qualified electors thereof throughout their respective terms of office. Members of Council shall hold no other elective or appointive office, position or employment with the City, nor shall they hold any other elective public office, except that of member of the county central committee of the political party of which they are members or that of a delegate to a state or national political party convention of the political party of which they are members.
Any member of Council who shall cease to possess or who violates any of the qualifications of office herein provided; who is finally convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude; or who fails to attend three consecutive regular meetings of the Council, unless such absence is excused by a majority vote of the members present at such meetings or a subsequent meeting of the Council, shall be subject to the forfeiture of his office in the manner provided by Sec. 21.08 of this Charter, A member of Council shall not vote upon the question of whether his absence from a regular meeting shall be excused.
As used in this Charter, the phrase "members of Council" and the words "Council" and"member", when the word "member" is used in reference to the Council, shall include all persons whether elected to office as a member of Council or appointed thereto to fill a vacancy in the Council membership.
The seven wards, and the territory in each such ward, under the statutory form of government as they are constituted on the effective date of this Charter shall be the wards for the purpose of electing ward Council members under this Charter; however additional wards may be created and ward boundaries may be re-established as hereinafter provided by this section.
When any territory is annexed or otherwise attached to the City, which territory contains the same or a greater number of registered voters than is contained in any existing ward, that territory shall constitute an additional ward and a member of Council from said ward shall be elected at a special election within the new ward so created not sooner than thirty days nor later than sixty days after the annexation or other attachment of such territory to the City becomes final. The member of Council elected from such newly created ward need only be an elector of the ward in order to qualify for the term of office for which he is elected at such special election, and such member shall hold office until his successor is elected at the next regular municipal election. Candidates at such special election shall be nominated by petitions containing not less than one hundred signatures of electors residing in such newly created ward, and such nominating petitions shall be filed with the Board of Elections of the county within which the City is located or within which the major portion of the population thereof, ascertained by the next preceding Federal census, is located, if the City is situated in more than one county, not later than 4:00 p.m. of the 30th day before the day of such special election. The person receiving the greatest number of votes cast at such special election shall be elected and shall take office five days after his election is certified by the Board of Elections. After the initial special election, members of Council from such newly created wards shall have the qualifications of ward Council members as provided in Sec. 3.02 of this Charter and shall be elected in the manner provided in Article XVIII of this Charter.
When any territory is annexed or otherwise attached to the City, which territory contains fewer registered voters than is contained in any existing contiguous ward or wards, the Council shall cause such territory to be attached to an existing contiguous ward or wards.
After each recurring Federal census and within three months after the issuance of the proclamation by the Secretary of State of the population of the City, the Council shall by ordinance, redivide the City into wards, not exceeding the number provided herein, in order to provide substantially equal population in each of the wards. All wards so established shall be bounded, as far as practical, by county lines, streets, alleys, avenues, public grounds, canals, watercourses, municipal boundary lines, center lines of platted streets or railroads, or lot lines of platted subdivisions. Redivision of the City into wards by the Council shall not terminate or otherwise affect the unexpired terms of ward Council members; however at the next regular municipal election at which ward Council members are to be elected following the redivision of the City into wards, providing such redivision is in full force and effect at least thirty days prior to the date for filing declarations of candidacy by ward Council members, ward Council members shall be elected from the wards as re-established under this section.
On the first Monday of December of each odd-numbered year, the Council shall meet in the Council chambers for the purpose of organization. The Council shall adopt its own rules, regulations and by-laws except as otherwise provided in this Charter.
(Amended 11-3-81)
(Editor’s Note: Because of the 2006 amendment to Charter Section 23.01 (Terms of Elected Officials), the first sentence of Section 3.04 should be deemed to mean that at the first meeting of Council in each even numbered year, the Council shall meet in the Council chambers for the purpose of organization. See Section 23.01)
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