Article II - CITY COUNCIL
Article II - CITY COUNCIL
Section - 2.01 Composition, Eligibility, Election and Terms.
(a) Composition. There shall be a City Council of five members elected by the qualified voters of the City at large.
(b) Eligibility. Only qualified voters of the City shall be eligible to hold the office of
(c) Election and Terms. The regular election of
Section - 2.02 Compensation; Expenses.
Section - 2.03 President.
At the first meeting, or as soon thereafter as possible, the City Council shall elect by majority vote one of its members as president of the Council, who shall serve at the pleasure of the Council, and/or until
If the president shall fail from sickness, disability, absence from the City or other cause to attend to and perform the duties incumbent on
The president shall preside at all meetings of the Council and shall perform such other duties, consistent with
Section - 2.04 Prohibitions.
(a) Holding Other Office. Except where authorized by law, no
(b) Appointments and Removals. Neither the Council nor any of its members shall in any manner dictate the appointment or removal of any City administrative officers or employees whom the manager or any of
(c) Interference with Administration. Except for the purpose of inquiries and investigations under section 2.08, the Council or its members shall deal with the City officers and employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the manager solely through the manager, and neither the Council nor its members shall give orders to any such officer or employee, whether publicly or privately.
Section - 2.06 Vacancies; Forfeiture of Office; Filling of Vacancies.
(a) Vacancies. The office of a Councilman COuncilor shall become
vacant with
in any manner authorized by law or forfeiture of
(b) Forfeiture of Office. A Councilman Councilor shall forfeit
his/her office after a public hearing, if
any time during his term of iffice any qualification for office
prescribed by this Charter of by law, violates an express
prohibition of this Charter, is convisted of criminal homicide,
1st or 2nd degree, a class A, B, C and D crime or any crime
involving moral turpitude, fails to attend three (3) consecutive
regular meetings of the Council without being excused by the
Council.
(c) Fillings of Vacancies. A vacancy in the Council shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term, if any, at the next regular election following not less than sixty days upon the occurrence of the vacancy, but the Council by a majority vote of all its remaining members shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the person elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term takes office. If the Council fails to do so within thirty days following the occurrence of the vacancy,
the election authorities shall call a special election to fill the vacancy, to be held not sooner than ninety days and not later than one-hundred-twenty days following the occurrence of the vacancy and to be otherwise governed by the provisions of Article VII.
Section 2.07 Judge of Qualifications.
The Council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications of its members and of the grounds for forfeiture of their office and for that purpose shall have power to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and require the production of evidence. A member charged with conduct constituting grounds for forfeiture of
Section - 2.08 Investigations.
The Council may make investigations into the affairs of the City and the conduct of any City department, office or agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. Any person who fails or refuses to obey a lawful order issued in the exercise of these powers by the Council shall be guilty of a
Section - 2.09 Independent Audit.
The Council shall provide for an independent annual audit of all City accounts and may provide for such more frequent audits as it deems necessary. Such audits shall be made by a certified public accountant or firm of such accountants who have no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the City government or any of its officers. The Council may, without requiring competitive bids, designate such accountants or firm annually or for a period not exceeding three years.
Section 2.10 Procedure.
(a) Meetings. The Council shall meet regularly at least once in every month at such times and places as the Council may prescribe by rule. Special meetings may be held on the call of the president or of three or more members and upon not less than forty-eight hours notice to each member.
(b) Rules and Journal. The Council shall determine its own rules and order of business and shall provide for keeping a journal of its proceedings. This journal shall be a public record.
(c) Voting. Voting, except on procedural motions, shall be by roll call and the ayes and nays shall be recorded in the journal. Three members of the Council shall constitute a quorum,
Section - 2.11 Action Requiring an Ordinance.
In addition to other acts required by law or by specific provision of this charter to be done by ordinance, those acts of the City Council shall be by ordinance which:
(1) Adopt or amend an administrative code or establish, alter or abort
a City department, office or agency.
(2) Provide for a fine or other penalty or establish, a rule or regulation,
violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed;
(3) Levy taxes, except as otherwise provided in Article V with respect
to the property tax levied by adoption of the budget;
(4) Grant, renew or extend a franchise;
(5) Regulate the rate charged for its services by a public authority;
(6) Authorize the borrowing of money, except as hereinafter provided;
(7) Adopt with or witout amendment ordinance propsed under the
initial power; and
(8) Amend or repeal any ordinance previously adopted, except
as otherwise provided in Arthcle VIII with respect of the
ordinance reconsidered under referendum power.
Acts other than those referred to in the preceding sentence may be done either with ordinace, rosolution or order.
No provision of this section shall be constructed to undo or render invalid
an article or ordinance enacted previous to the adoption of this charter.
Section - 2.12 Ordinances in General.
(a) Form. Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing and in the form required for final adoption. No ordinance shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. The enacting clause shall be "The City of Eastport hereby ordains…” Any ordinance which repeals or amends an existing ordinance or part of the City Code shall set out in full the ordinance sections or subsections to be repealed or amended, and shall indicate matter to be omitted by
enclosing it in brackets or by strikeout type and shall indicate new matter omitted by underscoring or by italics.
(b) Procedure. An ordinance may be introduced by any member at any regular or special meeting of the council. Upon introduction of any ordinance, the city clerk shall distribute a copy to each council member and to the manager, shall file a reasonable number of copies in the office of the city clerk and such other public places as the council may designate, and shall publish the ordinance together with a notice setting out the time and place for a public hearing thereon and for its consideration by the council. The public hearing
shall follow the publication by at least ten days, and may be held separately or in connection with a regular or special council meeting and may be adjourned from time to time; all persons interested shall have an opportunity to be heard. After the hearing the council may adopt the ordinance with or without amendment or reject it, but if it is amended as to any matter of substance, the council may not adopt it until the ordinance or its amended sections have been subjected to all the procedure hereinbefore required in the case of a newly introduced ordinance. As soon as practicable after adoption of any ordinance, the clerk shall have it published again together with a notice of its adoption.
(c) Effective Date. Except as otherwise provided in this charter, every adopted ordinance and/or resolution shall become effective at the expiration of fifteen days after adoption or at any later date specified therein.
"Publish" Defined. As used in this section, the term
the proposed ordinance (or a brief summary thereof), and the places
where copies of it have been filed and the times when they
are available for public inspection.
Section - 2.13 Emergency Ordinance.
To meet a public emergency affecting life, health, property or the public peace, the council may adopt one or more emergency ordinances, but such ordinances may not levy taxes, grant, renew or extend a franchise, regulate the rate charged by any public utility for its services or
Section - 2.14 Codes of Technical Regulations.
The council may adopt any standard code of technical regulations by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance. The procedure and requirements governing such an adopting ordinance shall be prescribed for ordinances generally except that:
(1) The requirements of Section 2.12 for distribution and filing of copies of the ordinance shall be construed to include copies of the code of technical regulations as well as of the adopting ordinance, and
(2) The copy of each adopted code of technical regulations as well as of
the adopting ordinance shall be authenticated and recorded by the city
clerk pursuant to subsection 2.15 (a).
Copies of any adopted code of technical regulations shall be made available by the city clerk for distribution or for purchase at a reasonable price.
Section - 2.15 Authentication and Recording; Codification; Printing.
(a) Authentication and Recording. The city clerk shall authenticate by
(b) Codification. Within eighteen months after adoption of this charter and at least every five years, thereafter, the council shall provide for the preparation of effect of law. The general codification shall be adopted by the council by ordinances and shall be published promptly in bound or looseleaf form, together with this charter and any amendments, thereto, pertinent provisions of the constitution and other laws of the State of Maine, and such codes of technical regulations and other rules and regulations as the council may specify. This compilation shall be known and cited officially as the Eastport City Code. Copies of the Code shall be furnished to city officers, placed in libraries and public offices for
free public reference and made available for purchase by the public at a reasonable price fixed by the council.
(c) Printing of Ordinances and Resolutions. The Council shall cause each ordinance and resolution having the force and effect of law and each amendment to this charter to be printed promptly following its adoption, and the printed ordinances, resolutions and charter amendments shall be distributed or sold to the public at reasonable prices to be fixed by the council. Following publication of the first Eastport Code and at all times thereafter, the ordinances, resolutions and charter amendments shall be printed in substantially the same style as the code currently in effect and shall be suitable in form for integration therein. The Council shall make such further
arrangements as it deems desirable with respect to reproduction and distribution of any current changes in or additions to the provisions of the constitution and other laws of the State of Maine, or the codes of technical regulations and other rules and regulations included in the Code.
|
