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The election of all city officers shall be on a non-partisan basis. The general election statutes shall apply to and control, as near as may be, all procedures relating to registration and election except as such statutes relate to political parties or partisan procedures and except as otherwise provided in this Charter.
The elective officers of the City shall be a City Commission of 7 members, one of whom shall in turn be elected by the commission as City Mayor. At each regular city election, four commissioners shall be elected on a single ballot. Each elector shall be entitled to vote for not more than four candidates. The three candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of four years and the candidate receiving the fourth highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of two years, all such terms shall commence at the first regular or special meeting following the certification of the election results.
(Amended 11-5-20)
The method of nomination of the elective officers shall be by petition signed by not less than twenty-five nor more than fifty qualified electors of the city. No person shall sign his or her name to a greater number of petitions for office than there will be persons elected to said office at said election. Where the signature of any individual appears on more petitions than he or she is so permitted to sign, such signatures shall be counted only to the extent he or she is so permitted to sign in the order of the respective dates of filing the petitions containing such signatures.
Nominating petitions shall be filed with the City Clerk by 4:00 p.m. on the fifteenth Tuesday preceding the election. The Clerk shall publish notice of the last day so permitted for filing petitions at least one week before, and not more than three weeks before, such last day.
The form of petition shall be substantially as that designated by the Secretary of State for the nomination of non-partisan judicial officers. A supply of official petition forms shall be provided by the Clerk.
(Amended 11-5-20)
The Clerk shall accept only nomination petitions which conform with the form provided and maintained by him or her and which, considered together, contain the required number of valid signatures for candidates having those qualifications required for elective office by this charter. When a petition is filed by persons other than the person whose name appears thereon as candidate, it may be accepted only when accompanied by the written consent of the candidate. The Clerk shall, forthwith after the filing of a petition, notify in writing any candidate whose petition is then known not to meet the requirements of this charter, but the failure to so notify any candidate shall in no way prevent a final determination that the petition does not meet such requirements.
Within three days after the last day for filling petitions, the Clerk shall make his final determination as to the validity and sufficiency of each nomination petition and whether or not the candidate has the qualifications required for office by this charter and shall write his determinations thereof on the face of the petition. The Clerk shall immediately notify in writing the candidate whose name appears thereon of his or her determination. Such notice to any candidate whose petition is found invalid or insufficient shall be delivered by personal messenger if possible.
The names of the candidates who file valid and sufficient nomination petitions shall be certified by the Clerk to the Election Commission to be placed upon the ballot for the next subsequent regular city election or the next special election for the filling of vacancies in office, as the case may be.
Any candidate may withdraw by filing a signed statement to such effect with the city clerk not later than 4:00 P.M. on the third day following the deadline for filing the original petition.
(Amended 11-5-20)
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