Chapter 7
Legislation
Prior City Legislation:
Section 7.1 All valid bylaws, ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations of the city which are not inconsistent with this charter and which are in force and effect at the time of the effective date of this charter shall continue in full force and effect until repealed or amended. If any such ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation provides for the appointment of any officers or any members of any board or commission by the Mayor, such officers or members of any board or commission shall, after the effective date of this charter, be appointed by the Council.
Those provisions of any effective valid bylaw, ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation which are inconsistent with this charter, are hereby repealed.
Form of Ordinances:
Section 7.2 All legislation of the City of Reed City shall be by ordinance or by resolution. The word "resolution" as used in this charter shall be the official action of the Council in the form of a motion, and such action shall be limited to matters required or permitted to be done by resolution by this charter or by state or federal law and to matters pertaining to the internal affairs or concerns of the city government. All other acts of the Council, and all acts carrying a penalty for the violation thereof, shall be by ordinance. Each ordinance shall be identified by a number and a short title. Each proposed ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed form. The style of all ordinances passed by the Council shall be, "The City of Reed City ordains":
Enactment, Amendment and Repeal of Ordinances:
Section 7.3 Ordinances may be enacted, amended, or repealed by the affirmative vote of not less than four Councilmen, and except that when an ordinance is given immediate effect, Section 7.4 shall govern. Unless by the affirmative vote of five Councilmen, no office shall be created or abolished, no tax assessment be imposed, no street, alley, or public ground be vacated, no real estate or any interest therein be sold or disposed of, no private property be taken for public use, nor any vote of the Council be reconsidered or rescinded at a special meeting, nor any money appropriated except as otherwise provided by this charter.
Except in the case of ordinances which are declared to be emergency ordinances, no ordinance shall be finally passed by the Council until one month after the meeting at which it is introduced. A brief description of the subject and contents of the ordinance as introduced shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least one week before final passage, either separately or as part of the published proceedings of the Council.
No ordinance shall be revised, altered, or amended by reference to the title only, but the section or sections of the ordinance revised, altered, or amended shall be reenacted and published at length in a newspaper of local circulation in the city. However, an ordinance may be repealed by reference to its number and title only.
Publication and Recording of Ordinances:
Section 7.4 Each ordinance shall be published within ten days after its enactment by publishing the full text thereof in a newspaper as defined in Section 17.9 either separately or as part of the published Council proceedings.
All ordinances shall be recorded by the Clerk in a book to be called "The Ordinance Book," and it shall be the duty of the Mayor and Clerk to authenticate such records by their official signatures thereon, but the failure to so record and authenticate such ordinance shall not invalidate it or suspend its operation.
Effective Date of Ordinances:
Section 7.5 The effective date of all ordinances shall be prescribed therein but the effective date, except in the case of emergency ordinances, shall not be less than fifteen days after enactment nor before publication thereof.
Penalties for Violations of Ordinances:
Section 7.6 The Council may provide in any ordinance for the punishment of those who violate its provisions. The punishment for the violation of any city ordinance shall not exceed a fine of five hundred dollars or imprisonment for ninety days, or both in the discretion of the court.
Enactment of Technical Codes by Reference:
Section 7.7 The Council may adopt in whole or in part any provision of state law or any detailed technical regulations as a city ordinance or code by citation of such provision of state law or by reference to any recognized standard code, official or unofficial, provided that any such provision of state law or recognized official or unofficial standard code shall be clearly identified in the ordinance adopting the same as an ordinance of the city. Where any code, or amendment thereto, is so adopted, all requirements for its publication may be met, other provisions of this charter notwithstanding, by (1) publishing the ordinance citing such code in manner provided for the publication of other ordinances and (2) by making available to the public copies of the code cited therein in book or booklet form at a reasonable charge.
Severability of Ordinances:
Section 7.8 Unless an ordinance shall expressly provide to the contrary, if any portion of an ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be found to be invalid by a court, such invalidity shall not affect the remaining portion or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid portion or application, provided such remaining portions or applications are not determined by the court to be inoperative, and to this end ordinances are declared to be severable.
Compilation or Codification of Ordinances:
Section 7.9 Within five years after the effective date of this charter, the Council shall direct the compilation or codification and printing in looseleaf or pamphlet form of all ordinances of the city then in force. Such compilation or codification shall be completed within one year thereafter. If a codification is completed, it shall be maintained thereafter in current form; if a compilation is completed, a recompilation shall be completed at least once in every five years thereafter. Any codification may include provisions not previously contained in ordinances of the city.
All requirements for publication of such compilation or codification, and of the ordinances contained therein, other provisions of this charter notwithstanding, may be met by making copies thereof available for inspection by, and distribution to, the public at a reasonable charge and by publishing notice of the printing and availability thereof before the effective date thereof.
The copies of the ordinances and of any compilation, code or codes referred to in the charter may be certified by the Clerk and when so certified shall be competent evidence in all courts and legally established tribunals as to the matter contained therein.
Initiative and Referendum:
Section 7.10 An ordinance may be initiated by petition, or referendum on an ordinance enacted by the Council may be had by petition, as hereinafter provided.
Initiatory and Referendum Petitions:
Section 7.11 An initiatory or a referendary petition shall be signed by not less than ten per cent of the registered electors of the city, as of the date of the last regular city election, and all signatures on said petition shall be obtained within twenty-one days before the date of filing the petition with the Clerk. Any such petition shall be addressed to the Council, and may be the aggregate of two or more petition papers identical as to contents. An initiatory petition shall set forth in full the ordinance it proposes to initiate and no petition shall propose to initiate more than one ordinance. A referendary petition shall identify the ordinance or code sections it proposes to have repealed.
Each signer of a petition shall sign his name, and shall place thereon, after his name, the date and his place of residence by street and number or by other customary designation. To each petition paper there shall be attached a sworn affidavit by the circulator thereof, stating the number of signers thereof and that each signature thereon is a genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that it was made in the presence of the affiant. Such petition shall be filed with the Clerk who shall, within fifteen days, canvass the signatures thereon. If the petition does not contain a sufficient number of signatures of registered electors of the city, the Clerk shall notify forthwith the person filing such petition and fifteen days from such notification shall be allowed for the filing of supplemental petition papers. When a petition with sufficient signatures is filed within the time allowed by this section, the Clerk shall present the petition to the Council at its next regular meeting.
Council Procedure on Initiatory and Referendary Petition:
Section 7.12 Upon receiving an initiatory or referendary petition from the Clerk, the Council shall either, within thirty days, unless otherwise provided by statute:
   (a)   Adopt the ordinance as submitted by an initiatory petition;
   (b)   Repeal the ordinance referred to by a referendary petition; or,
   (c)   Determine to submit the proposal provided for in the petition to the electors.
Submission of Initiatory and Referendary Ordinances to Electors:
Section 7.13 Should the Council decide to submit the proposal to the electors, it shall be submitted at the next election held in the city for any other purpose, or, in the discretion of the Council, at a special election called for the specific purpose. In case of an initiatory petition, if no election is to be held in the city for any other purpose within one hundred and fifty days from the time the-petition is presented to the Council and the Council does not adopt the ordinance, then the Council shall call a special election within sixty days from such time for the submission of the initiative proposal. The results shall be determined by a majority vote of the electors voting thereon, except in cases where otherwise required by statute or the Constitution.
Ordinance Suspended:
Miscellaneous Provisions on Initiatory and Referendary Ordinance:
Section 7.14 The presentation to the Council by the Clerk of a valid and sufficient referendary petition containing a number of signatures equal to twenty-five per cent of the registered electors of the city as of the date of the last regular city election shall automatically suspend the operation of the ordinance in question pending repeal by the Council or final determination by the electors.
An ordinance adopted by the electorate through initiatory proceedings may not be amended or repealed for a period of six months after the date of the election at which it was adopted, and an ordinance repealed by the electorate may not be reenacted for a period of six months after the date of the election at which it was repealed. It is provided, however, that any ordinance may be adopted, amended or repealed at any time by appropriate referendum or initiatory procedure in accordance with the provisions of this chapter or if submitted to the electorate by the Council on its own motion.
If two or more ordinances adopted at the same election shall have conflicting provisions, the provisions in the ordinance receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall govern.