Neither the Council nor any of its members shall direct or request the appointment of any person to, or his removal from, office by the City Manager or by any of his subordinates, or in any manner take part in the appointment or removal of officers and employees in the administrative service of the City. The Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the City Manager and neither the Council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the City Manager, either publicly or privately, except that a Councilperson shall be permitted to request information from Department Heads that is related to the performance of their Council duties.
Charges against a Councilperson for violating this Section shall be requested by at least two Councilpersons during a Regular Meeting of Council. The details of the charges shall be presented in writing to the Director of Law and discussed in an open Council Meeting. Thereafter, the Director of Law shall draft the charges against the accused official, and the matter shall be placed on the agenda for the next Regular Council Meeting. If a majority of the non-accused Councilpersons vote to proceed with the charges at the Council Meeting at which the charges drafted by the Director of Law are presented, the Mayor, or the Vice-President of Council if the Mayor is the person charged, shall schedule a Special Council Meeting, open to the public, to be held within 15 days, to hear testimony regarding the charges. At that Special Council Meeting, the accused shall have the opportunity to cross examine all witnesses and present a defense. At the conclusion of the Special Council Meeting, Council shall vote whether to Censure the accused based upon the charges and evidence presented. A censure motion shall pass by a minimum of a four-fifths vote of the non-accused members of Council. If the Censure motion is adopted by Council, the Director of Law shall prepare a written public reprimand of the offending official to be delivered by the Mayor or Director of Law at the next Regular Council Meeting after the passage of the Censure motion. In addition to being censured and publicly reprimanded, persons who are censured a second time shall be subject to a loss of Council pay for a period of 3 months. In addition to being censured and publicly reprimanded, persons who are censured a third or subsequent time shall be subject to a loss of Council pay for a period of 4 months. A censured Councilmember shall continue to serve on Council and vote on any other proceedings. (Amended November 5, 2013; November 7, 2023)