[Amended 4-1-2008 by Ord. No. 07-2008]
The legislative power of the City shall be exercised by the
Common Council. The Common Council has the following responsibilities,
as authorized by the Charter:
A.
Legislation.
Except as may be otherwise provided by general law, the Common Council
shall exercise the legislative power of the City.
B.
Inquiry.
The Common Council, by majority vote of the whole Council, may require
any City officer to prepare and submit sworn statements regarding
the performance of his/her official duties and may otherwise investigate
the conduct of any department, office or agency.
C.
Administration. The Common Council shall have the authority to advise and consent to actions of the Mayor and override the Mayor's veto of an ordinance. The Council, and individual members thereof, shall deal with officers and employees of the City through the Mayor, or his/her designee, and, except for inquiries as provided in Subsection B of this section, all communication regarding administration of the City shall be with them.
D.
Removals.
Common Council, by two-thirds vote of the whole Council and for cause,
may remove any City officer, except the Mayor or a Council member,
upon notice and an opportunity to be heard in public or executive
session. Common Council may also disapprove mayoral removals by a
two-thirds vote of the whole Council.
E.
Appointments.
On request of the Mayor, the Common Council shall receive and consider
any nomination for appointment requiring Common Council advice and
consent. The Common Council shall appoint the Municipal Clerk and
any staff subordinate to the Municipal Clerk.
F.
Financial
responsibilities. The Common Council shall set the salaries of directors,
department heads and the Administrator. It shall approve the budget
and expenditures and appoint a registered municipal accountant of
New Jersey to prepare the annual audit of the City's accounts and
financial records.
A.
Election.
Pursuant to the Charter, the Common Council, at its first meeting
after each election for Councilpersons, shall elect a President of
the Common Council from among its members to serve until the election
and qualification of his/her successor. At the same time, the Council
may elect a Vice President of the Common Council, to serve until the
election and qualification of his/her successor, who shall have all
the functions, powers and duties of the President of the Common Council
whenever the President may be absent. In the absence of both the President
and Vice President of the Common Council, the Council shall elect
a temporary presiding officer, who shall have all the functions, powers
and duties of the President during his/her absence.
B.
Duties.
The President shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
(1)
Presiding officer. The President of the Common Council shall establish
the agenda and preside at all meetings of the Council.
(2)
Parliamentary questions. The President of Common Council, as the
Council's presiding officer, shall be the Chief parliamentary officer
of the Council.
(3)
Vote. The President of the Common Council may vote on all questions
coming before Council. However, his/her name shall be called last
upon a roll call vote.
(4)
Execution of documents. The President of Common Council, or Vice
President in his/her absence, shall sign all ordinances and resolutions
adopted by the Common Council.
(5)
Decorum. The President of Common Council shall be responsible for
the preservation of order and decorum at all meetings of Council.
(6)
Other duties. The President of Common Council shall perform such
other duties as Council, by resolution, shall determine.
There shall be no standing committees of the Common Council
other than the committee of the whole. The President of the Common
Council shall be the presiding officer of the committee of the whole,
and the rules and proceedings in the Council shall be observed in
the committee of the whole, as far as the same may be applicable.
A.
Organizational;
regular. The Common Council shall meet annually for organization on
the first day of January, unless such meeting date is changed by the
Council President, however, such new meeting date shall not be more
than one week from the first day of January. The time of the organization
meeting shall be established by the Council President. The meeting
shall be held in the Council chambers of the Municipal Building. At
the organization meeting, the Council shall determine, by resolution,
the regular meeting schedule for the year. Such resolution shall specify
the time and place for all regular meetings to be held. There shall
be a minimum of one meeting each month of the year.
B.
Special.
The Mayor may and, upon written request of a majority of the members
of the Common Council, shall call a special meeting of the Common
Council. In the call (s)he shall designate the purpose of the special
meeting and no other business shall be considered. All meetings of
the Common Council shall be open to the public, except for those allowed
to be closed provided for under the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A.
10:4-6 et seq.
A.
Rules.
Except as may be provided in this Code, questions of order, methods
of organization and conduct of business of the Common Council shall
be governed by Robert's Rules of Order.
B.
Quorum.
A majority of the whole number of members of the Common Council shall
constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting of the Council.
The Mayor shall submit items on behalf of the administration
to the Municipal Clerk. The Council President shall then establish
the Common Council agenda and submit it to the Municipal Clerk for
preparation and distribution to Council members, Mayor, Business Administrator,
City Solicitor and other appropriate officials.
The order of business shall be determined by the President of
the Common Council.
A.
Preparation.
All ordinances shall be drafted by the City Solicitor. All resolutions
shall be prepared by the Municipal Clerk and may be reviewed by the
City Solicitor as to form and legality.
B.
Submission
of ordinances to Mayor. All ordinances adopted by the Common Council
shall be submitted to the Mayor. Within 10 days after receiving any
ordinance, the Mayor shall either approve the ordinance by affixing
his/her signature thereto or return it to the Council by delivering
it to the Municipal Clerk, together with a statement setting forth
his objections thereto, or to any item or part thereof. The Clerk
shall immediately notify the members of the Council in writing. No
ordinance, or any item or part thereof, shall take effect without
the Mayor's approval, unless the Mayor fails to return an ordinance
to the Council within 10 days after it has been presented to him/her,
at which time the ordinance shall be deemed approved, or unless the
Council, upon reconsideration thereof on or after the third day following
its return by the Mayor, by a vote of two-thirds of the members, shall
resolve to override the Mayor's veto.
C.
Effective
date of ordinance. No ordinance, other than the local budget ordinance,
which is governed by local budget laws, shall take effect less than
20 days after its final passage by the Common Council and approval
by the Mayor, unless the Council overrides the Mayor's veto, then
it takes effect 20 days after the overriding action. The Council may
adopt a resolution declaring an emergency, with at least 2/3 of the
Council voting in favor of such resolution, providing for an earlier
effective date, provided that nothing herein shall affect the provisions
of the local bond law with respect to the effective date of ordinances
passed pursuant thereto.
D.
Certification
of passage over Mayor's veto. Whenever an ordinance has been vetoed
by the Mayor and is passed by the Common Council over such veto in
the manner provided by law, the Clerk shall append to such ordinance
a certificate in substantially the following form:
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I hereby certify that the above ordinance was adopted by Common
Council on the ____ day of __________, 20___ and was vetoed by the
Mayor by his/her action, whereby (s)he returned said ordinance to
the Council by delivering it to the Municipal Clerk, together with
a statement setting forth his/her objections thereto; and thereafter,
on the ____ day of __________, 20___ the Council (by a vote of 2/3
of the members thereof, did resolve to override the Mayor's veto)
or (sustained the Mayor's veto).
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Dated
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Signed
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E.
Ordinances
not returned by Mayor. Whenever an ordinance shall take effect without
the Mayor's signature by reason of his/her failure to return it to
the Common Council by filing it with the Clerk within 10 days after
it has been presented to him/her, the Clerk shall append to such ordinance
a certificate in substantially the following form:
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I hereby certify that the above ordinance was adopted by Common
Council on the ____ day of __________, 20___ and was presented to
the Mayor, duly certified, on the ____ day of __________, 20___, and,
upon the Mayor's failure to sign it or to return and file it with
the Clerk within 10 days thereafter, said ordinance took effect in
like manner as if the Mayor had signed it.
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Dated
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Signed
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