Section 1. All powers of the Village of Franklin, except as otherwise provided by statute or this Charter, shall be vested in the Council which shall consist of a President and six (6) Trustees to be elected at large.
Section 2. The Council shall constitute the legislative and governing body of said Village of Franklin, with power and authority to pass such ordinances and adopt such resolutions as it shall deem proper in order to exercise the powers possessed by said Village of Franklin.
Section 3. The President and Trustees shall be elected on a non-partisan ticket from the Village of Franklin at large and shall be subject to recall as hereinafter provided. No person shall be eligible to the office of President or Trustee who shall not be at the time of his or her election or appointment twenty-five (25) years of age and a citizen of the United States; and have been a resident of the territory incorporated as the Village of Franklin at least two (2) years immediately prior to the last day for filing nominating petitions for such office or prior to the time of his or her appointment to fill a vacancy; and an owner of real property in the Village of Franklin; or the lawful wife or husband of such person.
Section 3-A. No person shall be elected to any office unless he or she shall be an elector of the Village of Franklin. And no person shall be elected or appointed to any office in the Village of Franklin who is a defaulter to the Village. All votes for or any appointment of any such defaulter shall be void. All officers of the Village of Franklin, elected or appointed, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution of the State, and file the same with the Village Clerk, and in case of failure to do so within ten (10) days after the time fixed for taking office shall be deemed to have declined the office.
(Enacted 3-12-79; amended 11-8-16)
Section 4. At the election at which this Charter shall be submitted there shall be elected a President whose term of office shall begin upon the taking effect of this Charter and who shall serve until 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in the year 1956. At the regular Municipal election in the year 1956 and every fourth year thereafter there shall be elected a President, whose term of office shall begin at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following his or her election and shall expire at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in the fourth year thereafter.
(Amended 2-22-05)
Section 5. At the election at which this Charter shall be submitted there shall be elected six (6) Trustees whose terms of office shall begin upon the taking effect of this Charter. The three (3) candidates for Trustee receiving the highest number of votes at said election shall be deemed to be elected and shall serve until 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in the year 1956, and the three (3) candidates for Trustee receiving the next highest number of votes at said election shall be deemed to be elected and shall serve until 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in the year 1955. In event that the determination of the term of office of two (2) or more candidates is impossible because of a tie vote, then the same shall be determined by a run-off election. At the regular Municipal election in the year 1955 and every year thereafter there shall be elected three (3) Trustees. The term of office of each Trustee, except those elected at the election at which this Charter is submitted, shall begin at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in the fourth year thereafter. The Council shall be the judge of election and qualification of its own members, subject, however, to the provisions of the laws of the State in respect to recounts and to review by the courts in appropriate proceedings. (Amended 3-13-95; 2-22-05)
Section 6. At 8:00 p.m. of the day upon which this Charter shall take effect, and at the same time on the second Monday following each regular Municipal election thereafter, the Council shall meet for the purpose of organization. The first organization meeting shall be held at the Franklin Community Hall or such other place as Council may adjourn to, and thereafter the organization meetings shall be held at the usual place for holding meetings of the Council. Other meetings of the Council shall be held at such times as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, provided that it shall meet regularly and not less than once a month. The President or any two (2) Trustees may call special meetings of the Council upon at least twenty-four (24) hours written notice to each member, served personally or left at his or her usual place of residence, provided, however, any special meetings at which all members of the Council are present shall be a legal meeting for all purposes, without such written notice. All meetings of the Council shall be public and any person may have access to the minutes and records thereof at all reasonable times. The Council shall determine its own rules and order of business. It shall keep a journal of the proceedings in English which shall be signed by the President and Clerk.
Section 7. Four (4) members of the Council shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may adjourn from time to time and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as may be prescribed by ordinance, and all pending business noticed or set down for hearing at such meeting shall be taken up and heard at such adjourned meeting or at the next regular meeting without further notice. The Council shall act only by ordinance or resolution. The affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees, which shall be four (4) votes, shall be required for the passage of any ordinance or resolution, unless in any given case a different number is required by this Charter or State law. (Amended 3-12-79)
Section 8.
(a) The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Village of Franklin. He or she shall preside at the meetings of the Council. He or she shall be deemed a voting member of the Council. He or she shall from time to time give the Council information concerning the affairs of the corporation and recommend such measures as he or she may deem expedient. It shall be his or her duty to exercise supervision over the affairs of the Village of Franklin and over the public property belonging thereto and to see that the laws relating to the Village of Franklin and the ordinances and regulations of the Council are enforced.
(b) The President shall appoint a Chief of Police, which appointment shall require the ratification of Council. In case of a vacancy in the office of Chief of Police, the vacancy shall be filled through appointment by the President of the Village Council, subject to ratification by the Council. The Chief of Police shall be subject to the direction of, and shall report directly to, the President and Council and such other Village Official as the Council may prescribe by ordinance. The Chief shall be authorized to enforce all ordinances and regulations of the Council. The Chief shall, within said Village, be vested with all the powers conferred upon sheriffs for the preservation of quiet and good order. The Chief shall have power to serve and execute all process directed or delivered to him or her, in all proceedings for violations of the ordinances of the Village. Such process may be served anywhere within the county in which said Village is located. (Amended 11-8-16)
(c) The President may remove any officer appointed by him or her at any time when he or she shall deem it for the public interest and may suspend the Chief of Police for neglect of duty. Such removal shall require the ratification of Council. The President shall have authority at all times to examine and inspect the books, records and papers of any agent, employee, or officer of the corporation, and shall perform generally all such duties as are or may be prescribed by the ordinances of the Village of Franklin. (Amended 11-8-16)
(d) In the absence or disability of the President, the President Pro Tempore of the Council shall perform the duties of the President.
(Amended 3-12-79; 3-14-88; 3-13-95)
Section 9. The Council shall at its organization meeting following the adoption of this Charter and at each organization meeting following each regular Municipal election, elect by ballot a member of the Council as President Pro-Tem, who, during the absence or disability of the President to perform his or her duties, shall act in his or her stead and shall exercise all the duties and possess all the powers of the President. In the absence or disability of the President Pro-Tem, the Council may temporarily appoint one (1) of its members to preside.
Section 10. The President and Trustees shall receive not less than one dollar ($1.00) for each meeting, but not more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) in any one (1) year. Said officers shall receive no other compensation for services performed for and on behalf of said Village of Franklin during their terms of office. All other officers, except where other provision is made herein or by law regulating fees for services, shall receive such compensation as the Council shall prescribe.
Section 11. Absence from three (3) consecutive regular meetings of the Council shall automatically operate to vacate the seat of a member of the Council, unless the absence is excused by the Council by resolution setting forth such excuse.
(Amended 3-13-95)
Section 12. The Village of Franklin Council shall have authority to appoint advisory committees, and to change the same from time to time. Except as provided in Chapter III, Section 13, one person may be appointed to two or more offices.
(Amended 3-13-95)
Section 13. At the regular 1966 Municipal election, there shall be elected a Village Clerk and a Treasurer whose terms of office shall begin at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the said Municipal election in the year 1966. The offices of Clerk and Treasurer shall not be filled by the same person.
(Amended 3-11-02)
The Village Clerk shall serve until 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the Municipal election in March 1967 and at the regular Municipal election in every second year thereafter, there shall be elected a Clerk whose term of office should commence at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the election and shall expire at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in every second year thereafter.
The Treasurer shall serve until 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday after the regular Municipal election in 1968. At the regular Municipal election in the year 1968 and every second year thereafter, a Treasurer shall be elected whose term of office shall begin at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following his or her election and shall expire at 8:00 p.m. on the second Monday following the regular Municipal election in every second year thereafter.
(Amended 3-14-66; 3-13-95; 3-10-97)
However, commencing upon the expiration of the Treasurer's elected term of office in 2002, the Treasurer shall be appointed by the Village Council and shall hold office at the will of the council and shall be subject to the direction of the Council and such other Village officials as the Council may prescribe by ordinance.
(Enacted 3-11-02)
Section 14. The Village Clerk shall keep the corporate seal and all the documents, official bonds, papers, files and records of the Village, not by this act or the ordinances of the Village entrusted to some other officer; he or she shall be Clerk of the Council, and shall attend its meetings. In case of the absence of the Clerk, or if from any cause he or she shall be unable to discharge, or be disqualified from performing, the duties required of him or her, then the Council may appoint one (1) of their own number, or some other person, to perform the duties of the Clerk for the time being. The Clerk shall record all the proceedings and resolutions of the Council, and shall record, or cause to be recorded, all the ordinances of the Village. He or she shall countersign and register all licenses granted; he or she shall, when required, make and certify, under the seal of the Village, copies of the papers and records filed and kept in his or her office; and such copies shall be evidence in all places of the matters therein contained, to the same extent as the original would be. He or she shall possess and exercise the powers of the township clerk so far as the same are required to be performed within the Village and which have not been prescribed or delegated by ordinance or council resolution to another officer of the village; and he or she shall have the authority to administer oaths and affirmations.
(Amended 3-11-02)
Section 15. The Council may provide by ordinance for the appointment of additional officers for the Village of Franklin.
Section 16. The Village Treasurer shall have custody of all moneys, bonds other than official, mortgages, notes, leases, and evidences of value belonging to the Village; he or she shall receive all moneys belonging to and receivable by the corporation, and keep an account of all receipts and expenditures thereof; he or she shall pay no money out of the Treasury, except in pursuance of and by authority of law, and upon warrants signed by the Clerk and President, which shall specify the purpose for which the amounts thereof are to be paid; he or she shall collect and keep an account of and be charged with all taxes and money appropriated, raised, or received for each fund of the corporation, and shall keep a separate account for each fund, and shall credit thereto all moneys raised, paid in, or appropriated therefor, and shall pay every warrant out of the particular fund raised for the purpose for which the warrant was issued. He or she shall give bond in such amount and with such sureties as is satisfactory to the Council. Premium on all bonds of officials shall be paid by the Village of Franklin.
Section 17. [Reserved]
Section 18. [Reserved]
Section 19. All officers of the Village of Franklin shall perform such duties and possess such powers as are or may be prescribed by this Charter, by the general laws of the State and by the Council.
Section 20. All elective officers, and all officers who are appointed for a definite term or periodically, shall hold office until their successors are duly elected or appointed, and duly qualify.
Section 21. In addition to other provisions herein contained, a vacancy shall exist in any elective office when an elected officer fails to qualify as in this Charter provided, dies, resigns, is removed from office, removes from the Village of Franklin, or is convicted of a felony.
Section 22. No member of the Council or other officer or employee of the Village of Franklin shall knowingly accept any gift, frank, free ticket, pass, reduced price or reduced rate of service from any person, firm, or corporation operating a public utility within the Village of Franklin or from any person known to him to have or to be endeavoring to secure a contract with the Village of Franklin. No Village of Franklin Councilmember, officer, appointee or employee shall have or be involved in any conflict of interest in the performance of his or her official duties.
(Amended 3-13-95)
Section 23. It shall be the duty of the Village Clerk, within seven (7) days after the meeting and determination of the Council, as provided in this Charter, to notify each person elected, in writing, of his or her election, and he or she shall also, within seven (7) days after the appointment of any person to any office, in like manner notify such person of the appointment.
(Amended 3-13-95)
Section 24. Every officer elected or appointed to any Village office, before entering upon the duties of his or her office, shall take and subscribe to an oath of office, which shall be filed and kept in the office of the Village Clerk, to support the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of Michigan; to endeavor to secure and maintain an honest and efficient administration in the affairs of the Village of Franklin, free from partisan distinction or control; and to perform the duties of his or her office to the best of his or her ability. In case of his or her failure to do so, within ten (10) days after the time fixed for taking office, he or she shall be deemed to have declined his or her office.
Section 25. If for any reason any appointment shall not be made by the Council within the time provided in this Charter, it may be made at any subsequent regular or special meeting.
Section 26. A vacancy in any elective office shall within thirty (30) days after such vacancy occurs be filled by appointment by a majority of the members of the Council, or the remaining members of the Council when the vacancy is in the Council. Such appointee shall hold office until the next regular Municipal election, taking place more than forty (40) days after such vacancy occurs, at which election a successor shall be elected for the unexpired term of the person in whose office the vacancy occurs. Provided, however, that the term of no member shall be lengthened by his or her resignation and subsequent appointment. When a vacancy occurs in any office to which a person has been appointed for a definite term, such vacancy shall within thirty (30) days be filled for the unexpired term, by appointment made in the manner provided for full term appointment to such office.
Section 27. When the Council shall deem it necessary, it may establish a Board of Health for the Village of Franklin and appoint officers therefor, make rules for its government and invest it with such powers and authority as may be necessary for the protection and preservation of the health of the inhabitants.
Section 28. The Council shall provide for the public peace and health, and for the safety of persons and property.