(A) At the regular municipal election held in 1979, and each four years thereafter, a person shall be elected from the City at large to serve as Mayor for a term of four years commencing on the first day of the next January following that person's election.
(B) If a vacancy in the office of Mayor occurs on any date after the tenth day prior to the last day for filing nominating petitions and statements of candidacy for the primary election occurring during the second year of a mayoral term, the person succeeding to the office of Mayor in accordance with Division (C) or (D) of this Section shall serve for the remainder of the former Mayor's unexpired term. If such a vacancy occurs on any earlier date during the elected term of a Mayor, the person succeeding to the office of Mayor in accordance with Division (C) or (D) of this Section shall serve until the first day of January of the year following the election of a successor to the office of Mayor. Such a successor to the office of Mayor shall be elected for the unexpired term at the next regular municipal election and take office on the first day of the next January following that successor's election.
Notwithstanding any statement or implication to the contrary, no person succeeding to the office of Mayor in accordance with Division (C) or (D) of this Section shall be entitled to serve for a period longer than that person's predecessor in office was entitled to serve under this Division (B).
(C) In the event of a vacancy in the office of Mayor, the person holding the office of President of Council shall succeed to the office of Mayor; provided, however, that the President of Council shall have the right to refuse the office of Mayor by written notice to City Council and the refusal shall then be irrevocable.
(D) If a President of Council shall refuse the office of Mayor, that President of Council shall thereupon become Acting Mayor for a term not to exceed thirty (30) days and the Council shall elect a person having all of the qualifications of an elected officer set forth in Section 11.01 to serve as Mayor. If Council fails to so elect a Mayor within thirty (30) days, an appointment to the office of Mayor for the term contemplated in Section 5.01(C) shall be made by the Presiding Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Seneca County within fifteen (15) days.
(E) In the event of a vacancy in the office of Mayor occurring after the tenth day prior to the last day for filing nominating petitions and statements of candidacy for the primary election for the unexpired term and thereby elevating the President of Council to the office of Mayor, the successor Mayor shall serve to the end of the term to which the former Mayor had been elected, but at the conclusion of that time shall be restored to the position of President of Council to serve for the balance of the four-year term to which that President of Council had been elected.
(Amended 11-5-91; 11-6-01; 11-2-21)