A vacancy shall be deemed to occur in the Council upon the written resignation of a member of Council, the death of a member of Council, the removal of a member of Council as provided in Sec. 21.08 of this Charter, or the recall of a member of Council as provided in Sec. 19.04 of this Charter. In the case of a written resignation of a member of Council, such resignation shall be effective upon adjournment of the next regular meeting of Council following the date that the written resignation is submitted to the Clerk of Council by the resigning member. Any vacancy in the Council shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Council of the same political party as the member whose term is vacated, except that if the member whose term is vacated did not have any political party affiliation as evidenced by whether or not he voted in a party primary during the year of his election to Council, or if there are no other members of Council of the same political party as the member whose term is vacated, the vacancy shall be filled by a majority vote of all remaining members of Council without regard to political party affiliation of the remaining members. If the vacancy is not filled within forty-five days after it shall have occurred, the power of Council to fill the vacancy shall lapse and the Mayor shall fill it by appointment, immediately following the expiration of said forty-five days. Any appointee under this Section shall qualify under the provisions of this Charter and shall hold office and serve for the unexpired term, and shall be a member of the same political party as the member whose term is vacated, except that if the member whose term is vacated did not have any political party affiliation, as evidenced by whether or not he voted in the most recent party primary, the vacancy shall be filled by an individual who has no political party affiliation.
(Amended 5-2-23)