The governing body of the Township shall be known as the "Board
of Supervisors" (hereinafter called "Board") and shall be composed
of five members elected from the Township at large.
All powers and duties of the Township, including those set forth
in § 102 of this Charter and those in existence or hereafter
conferred on the Township by the Constitution of Pennsylvania or the
Acts of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania that are uniform and
applicable throughout the Commonwealth (hereinafter called "general
law"), shall be exclusively vested in and exercised by the Board.
The Board shall provide for the exercise of and the performance of
all such powers and duties, including, but not limited to, the following:
a.
To
adopt a budget, make appropriations for expenditures for lawful purposes
and levy taxes;
b.
To
adopt and amend an Administrative Code which shall create, alter,
combine and/or abolish municipal departments, boards, commissions,
agencies, authorities and committees and prescribe their functions,
duties and procedures;
c.
To
adopt ordinances and resolutions and to prescribe fines and penalties
for the violation thereof; and
d.
To
appoint the Township Manager, Solicitor, Finance Director and Police
Chief.
A member of the Board shall:
a.
Be
a citizen of the United States of America;
b.
Be
a registered elector of the Township;
c.
Not
have been convicted of embezzlement of public monies, bribery, perjury
or other infamous crime;
d.
Not
otherwise be disqualified from office by the terms of this Charter
or by general law; and
e.
During
his term of office hold no other elective public office nor any other
compensated or appointed position in the Township government.
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 8052]
The procedure for the nomination and election of Supervisors,
as well as the procedure for filling any vacancy in the office of
Supervisor, shall be governed by the Election Code of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 805]
A Supervisor shall serve a term of office of four years beginning
at the organizational meeting under § 211 of this Charter
following the year in which he or she is elected. A Supervisor appointed
or elected to fill a vacancy in an unexpired term of office shall
serve as provided in § 208 of this Charter. No Supervisor
shall be elected to more than two consecutive four-year terms and
the balance of one unexpired term. Thereafter, no such person shall
be permitted to serve as Supervisor unless such person shall not have
held the office of Supervisor for at least two consecutive years.
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 805]
a.
The
office of a Supervisor shall be forfeited if the Supervisor:
b.
The
following procedure shall be followed to determine whether forfeiture
has occurred:
1.
The Board shall hold a public hearing and decide thereat by resolution
whether a petition shall be filed in the Court of Common Pleas of
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, to determine whether the office of
a Supervisor has been forfeited.
2.
Notice of such public hearing with the purpose, date, time and place
thereof shall be advertised at least once in one or more newspapers
of general circulation in the Township not more than thirty (30) days
nor less than ten (10) days prior to the hearing. The Board shall
cause such notice to be sent by certified mail to the named Supervisor
not less than ten (10) days prior to the hearing.
3.
If so resolved, the petition shall be filed within five (5) days
following the public hearing.
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 805]
The office of a Supervisor shall become vacant upon death, resignation,
legal incompetency, removal from office in any manner authorized by
this Charter or general law, or by final order of a court of competent
jurisdiction that said office has been forfeited.
[Amended 8-8-2005 by Ord. No. 805]
Whenever a vacancy exists in the office of Supervisor, the vacancy
shall be filled strictly in accordance with the following procedures:
a.
The
remaining members of the Board, by the affirmative vote of at least
three members thereof, shall fill the vacancy within 30 days from
the date the office becomes vacant. In the event there are two vacancies,
each vacancy shall be filled one at a time. The newly appointed Supervisor
may vote on the appointment of the next vacancy to be filled. The
person appointed shall have the qualifications set forth in § 203
of this Charter.
b.
If
the Board for any reason fails to fill a vacancy within the aforesaid
thirty-day period, the vacancy shall be filled within 15 additional
days by the majority vote of a Vacancy Board consisting of five members
having the same qualifications as Supervisor and appointed to serve
a one-year term by the Board of Supervisors at the annual organizational
meeting.
c.
If
the Vacancy Board fails to act as aforesaid, the Court of Common Pleas
of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, upon petition of any remaining
Supervisor or any five registered voters of the Township, shall fill
the vacancy by the appointment of a person having the qualifications
set forth in § 203 of this Charter.
d.
The
person so appointed pursuant to subparagraphs a, b or c above, shall
serve until the earlier of (i) the beginning of the first regularly
scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors following the certification
of election under § 208e if such an election is held; or
(ii) the scheduled expiration of the original Supervisor's term.
e.
When
any vacancy shall arise in the office of Supervisor, the Township
Manager shall, within 10 business days, notify the Montgomery County
Election Board in writing of the vacancy and shall provide the Election
Board with a copy of this Charter and an explanation of the procedure
set forth in this § 208. If the vacancy is not otherwise
scheduled to be filled by a municipal general election in the year
of the vacancy, such notification shall also request that a special
election be scheduled in accordance with the Election Code of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A person so elected shall assume office
at the beginning of the first regularly scheduled meeting of the Board
of Supervisors following certification of his or her election and
shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
The compensation of a Supervisor shall be $2,500 per annum.
A Supervisor shall receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses actually
incurred in the performance of his duties in accordance with the Administrative
Code or other ordinance.
The Board may change by ordinance the compensation of a Supervisor,
but no such ordinance shall become effective until the expiration
of the current terms of all Supervisors in office at the time the
ordinance is adopted.
The Board shall organize at 8:00 p.m. on the first Monday of
January of each year. If the first Monday is a legal holiday, the
organizational meeting will be held on the first day following which
is not a legal holiday. At the organizational meeting the Board shall:
The Chairman or, in the Chairman's absence, the Vice Chairman
shall preside at Board meetings; designate the Township's representative
at ceremonial occasions; and carry out such duties and sign such legal
documents as prescribed elsewhere in this Charter, the Administrative
Code or other ordinance or general law.
The Board shall meet regularly in public at least once every
month at such time and place within the Township as prescribed by
the Board. Special meetings may be held on the call of the presiding
officer upon notice to each Supervisor at least 24 hours in advance
thereof. Special meetings shall be held in public and notice thereof
posted in the Township Office. These requirements may be waived in
an emergency under § 408 of this Charter.
All Board meetings shall be conducted to assure full and equal
participation in the deliberations by all Board members. The Board
shall have an agenda for each meeting of matters to be considered.
The agenda shall be available to the public and distributed to those
in attendance prior to the start of the meeting. No official action
may be taken by the Board on any matters not included in the agenda
except by the affirmative vote of at least three members thereof.
The agenda shall include the opportunity and reasonable time for public
participation in the meeting.
Three members of the Board shall constitute a quorum. The Board
shall conduct no business except in the presence of a quorum. The
action of a majority of the Supervisors present and entitled to vote
shall be binding upon and constitute the official action of the Board
except as otherwise provided in this Charter. No Supervisor shall
by virtue of his office publicly or privately seek individually to
interfere with the official acts of the Township and its employees.
Official action of the Board shall be taken by the adoption of an ordinance or resolution at a public meeting. All legislation shall be enacted by the adoption of an ordinance in compliance with Article IV of this Charter. All final action in adopting ordinances and resolutions shall be by roll call vote and shall be entered into the record of the meeting.
The Board shall make and maintain a written record of its minutes
and proceedings. Such record shall be open and available for public
inspection at the Township Office. No citizen of Whitemarsh Township
shall be denied reasonable access to such records. Copies of minutes,
ordinances, resolutions and other official actions of the Board shall
be available to the public without charge or at a reasonable fee established
by the Board.
