All processes against the City shall run against the City in the corporate name thereof, and may be served by leaving a certified copy with the Mayor, Clerk, or Attorney.
Schedule
Sec. 1. Election to adopt this Charter. This Charter shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the City of Mason at a special election to be held on Tuesday, June 12, 1951. This election shall be conducted by the officers under the existing Charter, who are charged with the conduct and supervision of elections, and shall follow the election procedure and be canvassed in the manner provided in the existing City Charter.
Sec. 2. Form of ballot. The form of the ballot for the submission of this Charter is as follows:
Instructions: A cross (X) in the square before the word "YES" is in favor of the proposed Charter, and a cross (X) in the square before the word "NO" is against the proposed Charter.
Shall the proposed Charter of the City of Mason drafted by the Charter Commission elected on the 7th day of November, 1950, be adopted?
Yes
No
Sec. 3. Effective date of this Charter. For all purposes not otherwise provided for in this Chapter, this Charter shall take effect on June 26, 1951, at 7:30 P.M. Eastern Standard Time.
Sec. 4. First elections under this Charter.
(a) The first election of officers under this Charter shall be held on the first Monday in April, 1952, at which election there shall be elected four Councilmen, who shall hold office for terms specified in Section 3.5 in this Charter, commencing on and dating from the Monday next following such election. The second election of officers under this Charter shall be held on the first Monday in April, 1953, at which election there shall be elected three Councilmen who shall serve for the terms specified in Section 3.5 of this Charter, commencing on and dating from the Monday next following such election. The nomination and election of officers at the above specified elections shall be in accordance with the provisions of this Charter.
(b) The first election of a Justice of the Peace under this Charter shall be held on the first Monday in April, 1953, at which election there shall be elected one Justice of the Peace, who shall assume office on the fourth day of July, 1953, for a term of two years. The second election of a Justice of the Peace under this Charter shall be held on the first Monday in April, 1955, at which election there shall be elected the Justice of the Peace and the Associate Justice of the Peace who shall assume office on July 4, 1955, and hold their office for the term specified in Section 3.5. of this Charter.
(c) Thereafter, all city elections for the election of officers of the City shall be held upon the dates specified therefor in this Charter. The terms specified in this Section are for the purpose of bridging the transition from the schedule of terms of office in the prior Charter of the City and those provided in this Charter.
Sec. 5. Holdover elected officers. The Mayor and Aldermen whose terms of office would expire in November, 1951, shall serve as Councilmen until their successors are elected at the City election held in April, 1952, and have qualified. The Aldermen whose terms of office would expire in November, 1952, shall serve as Councilmen until their successors are elected at the city election held in April, 1953, and have qualified. The persons holding the office of Mayor and Aldermen, respectively, at the time that this Charter became effective as the Charter of the City of Mason shall constitute the Council under this Charter and, in the performance of their duties as such, shall be subject to the provisions thereof.
The Constables holding office at the time this Charter became effective shall continue to hold such offices until such date as the term to which they were respectively elected under the former Charter would have expired. At the expiration of each such term of office, the successor to such office shall be appointed by the Council under the provisions of Section 15.14 of this Charter.
Sec. 6. Administrative and other officers. If this Charter is adopted at the election thereon, the terms of office of the City Clerk, City Treasurer, City Assessor, and of each Supervisor, shall terminate at the time that this Charter becomes effective as the Charter of the City of Mason. The persons holding the first three such offices under the former Charter of the City shall assume the office of the Clerk, Treasurer, and Assessor, respectively, under this Charter and shall hold such offices on the same basis as though they had been appointed thereto in the manner provided in this Charter, except that said three appointive officials shall not be removed from office by the Council or any City Administrator, until such date as the terms for which they were respectively elected under the former Charter would have expired, unless for misconduct in office. All other administrative officers and employees of the City shall continue in the respective offices and employment held by them at the time this Charter became effective and shall be subject to the provisions thereof.
Sec. 7. Interim finance and taxation provisions. The appropriations and tax levy required to be made by the Council in September, 1950, under the provisions of the previously existing Charter, shall remain in full force and shall continue until the third Monday in March, 1952, as though this Charter had not become effective. However, all future budget appropriations and tax levies shall be made in accordance with this Charter.
In order to accomplish the transition from the fiscal year as existing at the time this Charter became effective to the fiscal year provided for in this Charter, the period from the third Monday in March, 1952, to June 30, 1952, shall constitute a special three-months interim fiscal budget and tax period. A special budget for this three-month period shall be prepared and adopted in accordance with the provisions of this Charter, except that the administrative officer designated by the Council as the Budget Officer shall submit the budget to the Council on or before the first regular meeting in September, 1951, and the Council shall adopt a budget not later than its second regular meeting in October, and at the same time shall appropriate the money needed for municipal purposes for the three-months period and shall provide a tax levy of the amount necessary to be raised by taxes for such purposes. Such levy shall not exceed three-twelfths of the annual limit of two per cent of the assessed value of all real and personal property subject to taxation in the City. Such levy shall be spread on the December, 1951, tax roll and shall be collected in all respects as city taxes were collected prior to the adoption of this Charter.
There shall be an audit of the interim fiscal period in accordance with the provisions of Section 8.7. of this Charter.
Sec. 8. First board of review. The terms of all members ofthe Board of Review existing under the previous Charter of the City shall expire as soon as the members of the Board of Review herein provided for have been appointed and qualified, but in no case before January 1, 1952. In January, 1952, the Council shall appoint a Board of Review of freeholders who meet the qualifications for such office provided in this Charter, and shall fix their compensation. One such member shall be designated to serve for a term expiring January 31, 1953, one for a term expiring January 31, 1954, and one for a term expiring, January 31, 1955.
Sec. 9. Status of schedule chapter. The purpose of this schedule chapter is to inaugurate the government of the City under this Charter and to accomplish the transition from the old to the new Charter of the City and it shall constitute a part of this Charter only to the extent and for the time required to accomplish this end.
Resolution of adoption
At a meeting of the Charter Commission of the City of Mason, held in the Council Chamber of the City of Mason, the usual meeting place of the Charter Commission, on April 10, 1951, the following members of the Charter Commission were present: Messrs. Glen Coon, Frank W. Dakin, Leo H. Harrison, D. R. Lethbridge, S. A. Morrison, Howard McCowan, John Shepard, and James H. VanderVen, a quorum.
At such meeting, the following resolution was offered by Commissioner Morrison and seconded by Commissioner Harrison:
RESOLVED, That the Charter Commission of the City of Mason does hereby adopt the foregoing instrument as the proposed revised Charter of the City of Mason and the Clerk of this Commission is hereby instructed to transmit the same to the Governor of the State of Michigan, in accordance with the provisions of the statute, for his approval.
The vote on the adoption of said resolution was as follows:
Ayes: 8
Nays: None
Absent: Commissioner Parsons
GEORGE KELLOGG,
____________________
Clerk of the Charter Commissionof the City of Mason
Countersigned by the following Commissioners:
GLEN COON
FRANK W. DAKIN
LEO H. HARRISON
S. A. MORRISON
HOWARD McCOWAN
GERALD A. PARSONS
JOHN SHEPARD
JAMES H. VANDER VEN
D. R. LETHBRIDGE, Chairman
All of the Commissioners having attested as to said resolution as above and also having attested the copy to be signed by the Governor, the meeting adjourned, subject to the call of the chairman.