Declaration of candidacy for elected City offices shall be made
with the City Clerk at City Hall in the form and manner prescribed
by ordinance. Any City employee desiring to seek elective position
shall take a general leave of absence without pay from his or her
position for a period running from the filing period for the elective
office through the date of losing the election or to the date of installation
as an elected official in the City, whichever is later. Any City employee
shall resign his or her position in the City, regardless of whether
the person is appointed or elected to the City office.
The City Clerk shall cause the names of the qualified candidates
to appear on all ballots in the order in which the candidates filed
for office. The candidates shall appear on the ballot without party
designation.
At a regular election any official may be elected who would
not ordinarily be elected in such year if by death, resignation, removal
from the City or other cause there exists a vacancy in any office
to be filled by such election. Such an official may also be elected
if the interim appointment of any person filling a vacancy in office
by appointment shall terminate so that a successor need be elected
to fill the unexpired portion of the term of office of the original
holder of such office. If two (2) Council Members are to be elected
from any district at a regular election where only one (1) Council
Member normally would be elected, there shall be placed on the ballot
two (2) separate offices for election: one (1) office for the unexpired
term and one (1) office for the full three (3) year term which would
appear regardless of any vacancy referred to above. No person shall
be allowed to file his candidacy for more than one (1) of the offices
of Council Member referred to above.
There shall be three (3) Council districts, bounded and numbered
the same as the wards which exist at the time of adoption of this
Charter. The Council may by ordinance increase the number of districts
up to a maximum of five (5). District boundaries shall be established
by ordinance within one hundred eighty (180) days of receipt of the
final data for each decennial census or at other more frequent intervals
as may be determined by the Council. Districts shall be comprised
of compact and contiguous territory and shall contain, as nearly as
possible, an equal number of inhabitants.