The Board shall protect and promote the right
of citizens to participate in a positive and constructive manner in
the government of the township.
A.
Unless otherwise provided by ordinance or law, the
Board shall appoint registered electors of the township to township
boards, commissions or authorities, to serve on a staggered basis
for terms set by the Board but which shall not exceed six (6) years.
No member shall serve consecutively more than two (2) full terms and
the balance of one (1) unexpired term on the same board, commission
or authority.
B.
A Chairman shall be elected for a one-year term by
each board, commission or authority from among its members. The Chairman
shall preside at all meetings and shall report to the Board in the
manner which it directs. Other appropriate offices may be created
and filled from the membership of the body.
C.
Vacancies on boards, commissions and authorities shall
be announced at a public meeting of the Board at least thirty (30)
days in advance of the date on which the appointment is made.
Any person holding an elective office in the
government of the township shall be subject to removal from office
at a recall election in the manner provided in this Charter. Officials
elected from the township at large may be recalled by registered electors
of the township at large. Officials elected by ward shall be subject
to recall by registered electors of such wards represented.
A.
Recall petition. A recall of an incumbent of an elective
office shall be initiated upon petition signed by thirty percent (30%)
of the electors registered to vote for that office at the time of
the most recent primary, municipal or general election. With the exception
of the number of signatures and the time permitted for obtaining such
signatures required for recall, the same requirements as to form of
signature and affidavit shall apply to a recall petition as apply
to an initiative and referendum petition under this Charter.
B.
Filing of petition. A recall petition shall be tendered
for filing to the Board of Elections of Delaware County. At the same
time, a copy shall be served upon the incumbent official. No signature
shall be counted as valid which is dated more than sixty (60) days
prior to the date the petition is tendered for filing. Upon tender
to the Board of Elections, the petition shall be available for examination
by any interested person. Within fifteen (15) days after tender of
the petition, the Board of Elections shall pass upon the validity
of the petition and the validity and number of signatures required
thereon. The decision of the Board of Elections shall be subject to
review on appeal to any court of competent jurisdiction in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania within thirty (30) days of the date of the decision
of the Board of Elections.
C.
Notice to incumbent. As soon as the Board of Elections
has received a recall petition for filing and determined its validity
and sufficiency, the Board of Elections shall notify the incumbent
named in the petition that the petition has been filed and validated.
Upon receipt of such notice, the incumbent may resign from office,
and thereupon the recall proceedings shall terminate.
D.
Recall election. If the incumbent against whom a recall
petition is directed does not resign from office within ten (10) days
after receipt of such notice, the Board of Elections shall arrange
a recall election. The recall election shall take place at a special
election conducted at the first regularly scheduled election, primary,
municipal or general, which shall occur not less than seventy (70)
days after the incumbent has been notified as provided above. The
incumbent against whom a recall petition is directed may resign at
any time prior to the recall election, and thereupon the recall proceeding
shall terminate.
E.
Recall question.
(1)
At the recall election, the following question shall
be presented to each elector entitled to vote on the recall question:
"Shall (name of official) be recalled and removed from the office
of (name of office)?"
(2)
The above question shall appear in the case of each
official whose recall is to be voted upon, and provision shall be
made for the elector to vote "Yes" or "No" to the question.
F.
Results of election. If a majority of the registered
electors who vote on the question at a recall election shall vote
"Yes," the incumbent shall be deemed recalled and removed from office;
otherwise, the incumbent shall remain in office. When the result of
such election is affirmative, the date of the removal and vacancy
in the office shall be effective seven (7) days after the date when
the results of the election are certified by the Board of Elections.
G.
Filling of vacancy. A vacancy in the office created
by the recall of an elected official shall be filled in accordance
with the provisions of this Charter.
H.
Ineligibility for office. Any person who has been
removed from an elective office by recall petition or who has resigned
from such an elective office after a recall petition directed to such
person has been filed shall be ineligible for appointment to any office
of the township government for two (2) years after removal or resignation.
I.
Limitations. No recall petition shall be filed against
any incumbent of an elective office within the first year or the last
nine (9) months of the term of office or within one (1) year after
the date of certification of an unsuccessful recall election.
A.
Initiative. The registered electors of the township
shall have the power to propose ordinances to the Board. If the Board
fails to adopt, without any changes in substance, an ordinance so
proposed, the registered electors of the township shall have the opportunity
to approve or reject it at the next election.
B.
Referendum. The registered electors of the township
shall have the power to require reconsideration by the Board of any
enacted ordinance. If the Board fails to repeal an ordinance so reconsidered,
the registered electors of the township shall have the opportunity
to approve or reject it at the next primary, municipal or general
election.
C.
Limitations. The exercise of initiative and referendum
shall not extend to ordinances affecting the annual budget in its
entirety, to any emergency ordinance or to an ordinance relating to
the levy of taxes. Such limitation, however, shall not apply to specific
capital projects in the budget or capital program.
The procedures which follow shall be employed
to exercise the powers of initiative and referendum:
A.
Initiative and referendum petition.
(1)
All papers of a petition circulated for the purposes
of initiating or repealing an ordinance shall meet the requirements
which follow:
(a)
They shall contain the names and addresses of
five (5) registered electors of the township, designated as the Committee
of the Petitioners, including the person designated as Chairman.
(b)
They shall contain the full test of the ordinance
proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
(c)
They shall contain on each page an affidavit
executed by the circulator of the page that the circular observed
personally the signing of each signature on the page.
(d)
They shall bear in ink the signatures, addresses,
wards and dates of signing of at least ten percent (10%) of the registered
electors of each ward of the township qualified to vote at the time
of the most recent primary, municipal or general election. No signature
shall be counted as valid which is dated more than thirty (30) days
prior to the date of filing with the Township Secretary.
(2)
For a referendum petition to cause the suspension
of an ordinance which has not become effective, such petition shall
be filed no later than thirty (30) days after the enactment of the
ordinance proposed to be reconsidered; furthermore, no signature shall
be valid which is dated prior to the enactment of the ordinance.
(3)
The assembled petition shall be filed with the Township
Secretary as one (1) instrument.
B.
Certification and Board action. The Township Secretary
shall, within fifteen (15) days after a petition is filed, examine
the petition for compliance with the provisions of this Charter, submit
the petition to the Township Solicitor for a written opinion as to
legality and certify the results of such examination by registered
mail to or personal service upon the Committee of the Petitioners
and the President of the Board.
(1)
Valid certified petitions. If the Township Secretary
certifies that the petition is valid, the following procedures shall
apply:
(a)
An initiative ordinance shall be presented at
the next Board meeting and be acted upon subject to other provisions
of this Charter.
(b)
If the petition calls for repeal of an ordinance
which was not in effect at the time the petition was filed with the
Secretary, the effectiveness of the ordinance shall be suspended until
a final decision has been made under this Article. Otherwise, the
ordinance will remain in effect until repealed by the Board or referendum.
(2)
Invalid petitions and amendment. If the Secretary
certifies that the petition is invalid, the particulars in which it
is defective shall be set forth in the certificate. Any petition may
be corrected by the Committee of the Petitioners within ten (10) days
after notification of invalidity has been received.
C.
Special election. If, within sixty (60) days of the
service of a certified petition by the Secretary or the President
of the Board, the Board shall fail to pass an ordinance required by
initiative petition without any change in substance or to repeal an
ordinance as required by referendum petition, the Secretary shall,
within fifteen (15) days thereafter, or the Committee of the Petitioners
if the Secretary fails to act, file the petition with the Board of
Elections. The proposed or referred ordinance shall be voted upon
by the township electors at the next regular primary, municipal or
general election which shall occur not less than sixty (60) days from
the date of filing the petition with the Board of Elections. An initiative
or referendum election shall be held in accordance with the provisions
of the Pennsylvania Election Code relating to the conduct of special
elections.
D.
Final action. If a majority of the registered electors
voting on the proposed ordinance vote in favor thereof, such ordinance
shall thereupon become a valid and binding ordinance of the township
upon certification of the election results by the County Board of
Elections. If the provisions of two (2) or more ordinances approved
or adopted at the same election conflict, then the ordinance receiving
the greatest affirmative vote shall control. If a majority of the
registered electors voting on a referred ordinance vote to repeal
it, the ordinance shall be considered repealed upon certification
of the election results; otherwise, the referred ordinance shall become
effective if it were suspended. The Board may not consider reversing
the results of an initiative or referendum vote for at least two (2)
years following certification of such vote. Ordinances adopted or
repealed by initiative or referendum vote, or summaries thereof, shall
be published and recorded as provided elsewhere in this Charter.
