The Council shall, within one (1) year of the effective date of this Charter, create and establish an Office of Citizens' Advocate. It shall be the purpose of said office to provide the citizens of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government with an independent agent through whom they can seek redress of their grievances. To that end, the Citizens' Advocate shall be empowered to:
(a) Investigate any complaint by citizens of the Urban County Government;
(b) Disclose any abuses or irregularities on the part of the Urban County Government, its officers, agents or employees; and
(c) Recommend such substantive or procedural policies as may be required to reduce or eliminate problems of citizen access to the departments, divisions, agencies and officers of the Urban County Government.
The Citizens' Advocate shall be appointed by the Council from a list of candidates recommended by an ad hoc Citizens' Committee established for that purpose. Members of said committee shall be appointed by the Council and shall be composed of citizen representatives from each of the twelve (12) council districts. All vacancies in the Office of Citizens' Advocate shall be filled in the manner prescribed for initial appointment. The rules governing the tenure and removal of the Citizens' Advocate shall be the same as those prescribed for the Chief Administrative Officer in Section 5.09 of this Charter.
Annotation—See Code of Ordinances Section 2-16 and the council rules adopted by Resolution No. 55-79, as amended, relating to the Citizens' Advocate.