SECTION 3. ELECTION AND QUALIFICATIONS.

   (a)    The Council shall consist of seven members elected for a term of four years beginning on the first day of January after their election and shall serve until their successors are chosen and have been qualified. One member shall be elected by the electors from each of the four wards as now established or as they are subsequently established in the manner provided by this Charter and three members shall be elected by electors of the City at large. Council members for wards shall have resided in their respective wards and Council members at large shall have resided in the City for at least two years next preceding their election.

   (b)    All members of Council shall be qualified electors of the City and shall continue to be qualified electors thereof throughout their respective terms of office. A member of Council shall not hold any other public office except: that of notary public; member of the National Guard or Reserve Forces of the United States; member or officer of any political party or committee thereof, or delegate to any state or national political party convention; or as otherwise allowed in this Charter or by ordinance. Any member of Council who moves from their ward, if elected from a ward, or from the City, if elected from the City, as herein provided shall forfeit their office, provided that such forfeiture shall not render void or ineffective any action of the Council in which such member has participated.

   (c)    President of Council pro tempore. The Council shall elect one of its members as president pro tempore, to serve at the pleasure of Council and until a successor is elected by the Council. The president pro tempore shall act as the presiding officer of the Council in the absence or disability of the President of Council and shall exercise all the powers and duties granted the President of Council by this Charter during the absence or disability of the President of Council. The president pro tempore may vote upon all matters coming before the Council, but in no event shall president pro tempore, in their dual capacity as Council member and presiding officer of Council, cast more than one vote on any action.

   (d)    President of Council. The President of Council shall be elected by the electors of the City at large for a term of four years beginning on the first day of January following the election. The President of Council shall be and remain a qualified elector of the City and shall have resided in the City for at least two years next preceding the election. The President of Council shall have executive and administrative powers. The President of Council shall preside at all regular and special Council meetings, but shall have no vote except in case of a tie. A vacancy of the office of President of Council shall be deemed to occur at the time of presentation of a resignation to the Mayor, death or other disqualification as provided for by Section 7 of this Charter. Any vacancy in the office of President of Council shall be filled by a majority vote of Council for the unexpired term. If the vacancy is not filled within sixty (60) days after it shall have occurred, the power of Council to fill the vacancy shall lapse, and in that event, the Mayor shall fill a vacancy in the office of President of Council by appointment for the unexpired term.

   (e)   Commencing with the municipal elections to be held during November 2018, persons seeking to represent a ward shall be elected for a two (2) year term and persons seeking to be elected as President of Council or at large shall be elected for a four (4) year term; thereafter, all persons seeking election to Council shall be elected for a term of four (4) years. The President and members of Council shall be limited to seeking election to not more than three (3) consecutive four (4) year terms. A former president or member of Council may seek election or may be appointed to a vacancy of Council only after the expiration of the regular term of Council next following their departure from the former position for which the disqualification set forth by this subsection shall apply.
(Amended 11-2-93; 11-4-08; 11-6-18.)