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The Council shall have seven members with one elected from each ward and three elected at large as provided in Article VII, by the qualified voters of the City for terms of four years.
Councilmen shall be qualified electors of the City who have been residents of the City for at least one year prior to taking office and shall hold no other elective office. If a councilman shall cease to possess any of these qualifications or shall be convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, his office shall immediately become vacant.
Each council person (formerly referred to as “councilmen”) shall be paid the sum of three hundred dollars ($300) per month. The Mayor shall receive the same pay as a council person plus additional compensation of one hundred dollars ($100) per month while serving in that capacity.
(Amended 7-17-17)
The Council, at the first regular meeting held in July of each year, shall elect one of its members to serve as Mayor for a term of one year. The Mayor shall preside at meetings of the Council and shall be recognized as head of the City government for all ceremonial and military purposes, but shall have no regular administrative duties.
The Council shall appoint a City Manager who shall have the powers and perform the duties provided in this Charter. No councilman shall receive such appointment during the term for which he shall have been elected, nor within one year after the expiration of his term, nor shall a member of the Council be employed in any other capacity by the City during his tenure as councilman.
The Council shall appoint the City Manager for an indefinite term and may remove him by a majority vote of its members. At least thirty days before such removal shall become effective, the Council shall, by a majority vote of its members, adopt a preliminary resolution providing for such removal. The Manager may request a hearing which, in the discretion of the Council, may be held prior to the effective date of such removal. By the preliminary resolution the Council may suspend the Manager from duty, but shall in any case, cause to be paid him forthwith any unpaid balance of his salary for the next two calendar months following adoption of the preliminary resolution.
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 in the administrative service of the City, except that members of the Council may recommend to the City Manager for his consideration, qualified persons for positions in the administrative branch of the City government. Except for the purposes of inquiry, the Council and its members shall deal with the administrative services solely through the City Manager and neither Council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the City Manager, either publicly or privately. Any councilman violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall cease to be a councilman.
If a vacancy occurs in the office of ward councilman, the Council shall, by a majority vote of the remaining members, appoint a qualified person living in the ward where the vacancy occurs, to fill the vacancy until the next regular election, at which time a councilman to fill the unexpired term shall be elected. Vacancy in the office of councilman at large shall be filled by appointing any qualified person to fill the vacancy until the next regular election, at which time a councilman at large to fill the unexpired term shall be elected.
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