A. Qualifications: No person shall be eligible to the office of mayor unless he shall be at least twenty one (21) years old, a resident of the state for at least three (3) years, and a resident of the town or an area which has been annexed by the town, two (2) years next preceding his election to said office. The mayor shall reside in the town during his term of office. (1976 Code § 2.08.010; amd. 2016 Code)
B. Powers Enumerated: The mayor is the chief executive officer of the town, and has power:
1. To nominate and, with the consent of the council, to appoint all nonelective officers of the town, provided for by the council, except as provided in Montana Code Annotated title 7.
2. To suspend and, with the consent of the council, to remove any nonelective officer, stating in the suspension or removal the cause thereof.
3. To cause the ordinances of the town to be executed, and to supervise the discharge of official duties by all subordinate officers.
4. To communicate to the council, at the beginning of every session, and more often if deemed necessary, a statement of the affairs of the town, with such recommendations as he may deem proper.
5. To recommend to the council such measures connected with the public health, cleanliness, and ornament of the town, and the improvement of the government and finances, as he deems expedient.
6. To approve all ordinances and resolutions of the council adopted by it, and, in case the same do not meet his approbation, to return the same to the next regular meeting of the council, with his objections in writing. No ordinance or resolution so vetoed by the mayor shall go into effect unless the same be afterward passed by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the whole number of members of the council.
7. To veto any objectionable part of a resolution or ordinance, and approve the other parts. If the mayor fails to return any resolution or ordinance as aforesaid, the same takes effect without further action.
8. To call special meetings of the council, and when so called, he must state by message the object of the meeting, and the business of the meeting must be restricted to the object stated.
9. To cause to be presented, once in three (3) months, a full and complete statement of the financial condition of the town.
10. To bid in for the town any property sold at a tax or judicial sale, where the town is a party or interested.
11. To procure and have in his custody the seal of the city.
12. To take and administer oaths. (1976 Code § 2.08.020)
13. To request that the governor call out the militia to aid him in suppressing riots or other disorderly conduct, preventing and extinguishing fires, for securing the peace and safety of the town, or for carrying into effect any law or ordinance. (1976 Code § 2.08.020; amd. 2016 Code)
14. To require of any of the officers of the town an exhibit of his books and papers.
15. To grant pardons and remit fines and forfeitures for offenses against town ordinances, when in his judgment public justice would be thereby subserved; but he must report all pardons granted, with the reasons therefor, to the next council.
16. To perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law or by resolution or ordinance of the council.
17. To have such power as may be vested in him by ordinance of the town, in and over all places within five (5) miles of the boundaries of the town, for the purpose of enforcing the health and quarantine ordinances and regulations thereof. (1976 Code § 2.08.020)
C. Preside At Council Meetings; Sign Warrants: The mayor, as the presiding officer of the council, shall sign the journals thereof, and all warrants on the town treasury, and decide by his vote all ties, and has no other vote. (1976 Code § 2.08.030)