[Code 1961 §4.01(a); CC 1983 §2-11]
The City Council shall consist of eight (8) members, two (2)
of whom shall be chosen from each ward of the City in accordance with
the provisions of the laws of the State governing Cities of the Third
Class.
No person shall be Councilman unless he/she is at least twenty-one
(21) years of age prior to taking office, a citizen of the United
States, and an inhabitant of the City for one (1) year next preceding
his/her election, and a resident of the ward from which he/she is
elected six (6) months next preceding his/her election. Whenever there
is a tie in the election of a Councilman, the matter shall be determined
by the Council.
All officers elected to offices or appointed to fill a vacancy
in any elective office under the City government shall be voters under
the laws and constitution of this State and, except appointed officers,
must be residents of the City. No person shall be elected or appointed
to any office who shall at the time be in arrears for any unpaid City
taxes, or forfeiture or defalcation in office.
[Code 1961 §4.03; CC 1983 §2-13; Ord. No. 521 §§2 — 3, 2-21-1977; Ord. No. 2009-4 §1, 2-23-2009]
A.
Regular And Adjourned. Regular meetings of the Council shall
be held on the first (1st) and third (3rd) Monday each month at 5:00
P.M. in the Council room of the municipal building and adjourned meetings
shall be reconvened whenever the Council shall deem necessary.
B.
Special Meetings. The Mayor or two (2) members of the Council
may call a special meeting of the Council at any time by causing the
City Marshal to serve a notice upon members of the Council of the
time fixed for such special meeting, or by reading the same to and
within the hearing of each Councilperson, or if they are not found,
by leaving a copy of such notice at the usual place of residence of
each Councilperson with some member of his/her family above the age
of fifteen (15) years, or with his/her clerk, agent or representative
at his/her usual place of business. Such notice shall state the purpose
or purposes for which such meeting is called and the time of holding
the same and comply with all other provisions of Chapter 610, RSMo.
Such notice shall be filed with the City Clerk with the return of
the Marshal or other Police Officer serving the same. Such call shall
be read at the opening of a special meeting, and the call together
with the return thereon shall be copied at length in the journal of
the Council, and the original thereof shall be filed in the office
of the City Clerk.
[Code 1961 §4.04; CC 1983 §2-14]
A.
The
Council shall cause to be kept a journal of its proceedings, and the
"ayes" and "nays" of the members shall be entered on any question
at the desire of two (2) members.
B.
The
Council may prescribe and enforce such rules as may be necessary to
secure the attendance of its members and the expeditious transaction
of its business.
[Code 1961 §§4.05, 4.06; CC 1983 §2-15]
A.
No
member of the City Council shall absent himself/herself from a regular
meeting thereof, or from an adjourned or special meeting after due
notice thereof, unless he/she has leave from the Mayor, or is sick
and unable to attend or otherwise prevented by circumstances beyond
his/her control. A member absenting himself/herself without having
such excuse may be fined not less than one dollar ($1.00) nor more
than five dollars ($5.00) unless such fine is remitted by consent
of a majority of the members elected to the Council.
B.
Whenever
a member shall absent himself/herself from three (3) or more successive
meetings of the Council without having a reasonable excuse for his/her
absence, the Council by a vote of two-thirds (⅔) of the members
elected thereto, may expel such member and declare his/her office
vacant.
[Code 1961 §4.08; CC 1983 §2-16]
A member of the Council shall not be permitted to vote for or
against any ordinance appropriating money, or for the allowance of
an account or claim, or for the award or approval of a contract in
which such member is directly or indirectly interested. An ordinance,
resolution or motion having passed by the vote of such interested
member shall be deemed illegal and of no effect.
[Code 1961 §4.09(a); CC 1983 §2-17]
Resignations of Councilmen shall be in writing and addressed
to the Mayor and the Council.
[Ord. No. 921 §1, 12-15-2003]
A.
Each
bill shall be numbered consecutively in a format which commences with
the calendar year in which the bill is introduced, followed by a hyphen
and the number corresponding to the order of introduction of the bill
for such calendar year.
B.
Each
ordinance duly passed and approved shall be numbered consecutively
in a format which commences with the calendar year in which the ordinance
was introduced by bill, followed by a hyphen and the number corresponding
to the order of passage of such ordinance.
[Code 1961 §4.10; CC 1983 §2-18]
The City Marshal shall be ex-officio sergeant-at-arms of the
Council, and shall attend its meetings and execute its orders, and
keep the Council chamber in order and provide necessary articles therefor.
[Code 1961 §4.11; CC 1983 §2-19; Ord. No. 831 §1, 9-8-1998]
A.
A majority
of the members elected to the Council shall constitute a quorum to
do business. Two (2) members may send for and compel the attendance
of the other members and make an order for their censure or fine.
B.
Upon
a call of the Council the names of the members shall be called and
the absentees noted, after which the names of the absentees shall
again be called over, and those who do not appear may be sent for
by the sergeant-at-arms, and he/she shall take them into custody wherever
found and bring them before the Council. When a member shall be discharged
from custody, the Council shall determine whether such discharge shall
be with or without defraying the costs of arrest. In calling the names
of the Council, either upon call of the meeting or upon roll call
for voting purposes, the Council shall be called in a modified alphabetical
order so that the members will be called alphabetically, however,
the initial member called shall rotate alphabetically for each successive
meeting, without respect to whether it is a regular or special meeting.
For example: Assume Council members, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. The
call in the first (1st) meeting will be in the following order: A,
B, C, D, E, F, G and H. The call in the second (2nd) meeting will
be in the following order: B, C, D, E, F, F, G, H and A. The call
in the next meeting will be in the following order: C, D, E, F, G,
H, A and B. It shall be the responsibility of the City Clerk to maintain
a record of the order of voting under this system. No ordinance passed
or other action taken by the Council shall be invalidated or otherwise
affected merely because of improper order of call hereunder, so long
as it is passed by the requisite number of members voting in favor
thereof.
[Code 1961 §4.12; CC 1983 §2-20]
A.
The
Mayor shall be President of the Council, but shall not be entitled
to vote upon the passage of any bill, resolution or other matter before
the Council, except in the event of a tie vote. At the first (1st)
regular meeting of the Council after the election in each year, the
Council shall elect one (1) of its members President Pro Tem who shall
hold his/her office for the term of one (1) year, and who, in the
absence of the Mayor, shall preside at the meetings of the Council.
In the absence of both the Mayor and President Pro Tem, the Council
may elect one of its members present to preside at such meeting who
shall be styled the "Acting President Pro Tem."
B.
At
the hour designated for the Council meeting the Mayor shall call the
Council to order, and after roll call, if a quorum is present, he/she
shall cause the minutes of the last preceding meeting to be read for
correction and approval. He/she shall preserve order and decorum,
and decide upon all questions of order, subject to an appeal to the
Council. He/she shall appoint all committees, subject to the concurrence
of the Council, the appointment or election of which is not otherwise
provided for by this Chapter. He/she shall have the right to name
a member to perform the duties of president, but such substitution
shall not extend beyond adjournment.
[Code 1961 §4.13; CC 1983 §2-21]
By a vote of two-thirds (⅔) of its members the Council
may compel the attendance of a witness and the production of papers
relating to a subject under consideration in which the interest of
the City is involved, and to that end may authorize a subpoena to
be issued by the City Clerk, and shall require the Marshal or a Policeman
to serve the subpoena. The Presiding Officer of the Council shall
administer oaths or affirmations to such witnesses.
[Code 1961 §4.15; CC 1983 §2-22]
The Council shall semi-annually, in January and July of each
year, publish a full and detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures
and indebtedness of the City for the half year ending on December
thirty-first (31st) and June thirtieth (30th) preceding the date of
such report, which statement shall be published in some newspaper
of general circulation in the City.
[Code 1961 §4.24; CC 1983 §2-23]
No files or other documents of the Council shall be taken from
the office of the City Clerk, except by the City Counselor or City
Engineer. All such documents shall be receipted for by the City Counselor
or the City Engineer and returned promptly when such officers are
through using them.
[Code 1961 §2.02; CC 1983 §2-24]
The City is divided into four (4) Wards with such boundaries
as established by the City Council from time to time, by ordinance.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 110.160, Participation in City
Departments Restricted, as adopted and amended by CC 1983 §2-25;
Ord. No. 514 §§1 — 2, 8-12-1976, was repealed 5-4-2015
by Ord. No. 2015-02 §1.
[CC 1983 §2-37; Ord. No. 771 §2-37, 8-1-1994]
A.
No
ordinance shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall become
an ordinance unless on its final passage a majority of the members
elected to the Council shall vote therefor, and the "ayes" and "nays"
shall be entered on the journal.
B.
Every
proposed ordinance shall be introduced to the Council in writing and
shall be read by title or in full two (2) times prior to passage.
Both readings may occur at a single meeting of the Council.
C.
If
the proposed ordinance is read by title only, copies of the proposed
ordinance shall be made available for public inspection prior to the
time the bill is under consideration by the Council.
D.
After
the second (2nd) reading the question shall be: "Shall the
bill pass?"
E.
No
bill shall become an ordinance until it shall have been signed by
the officer presiding at the meeting of the Council at which it shall
have been passed. When so signed, it shall be delivered to the Mayor
for his/her approval and signature, or his/her veto.
[Code 1961 §4.18; CC 1983 §2-38]
Each bill shall indicate the purpose or subject sought to be
accomplished thereby.
[Code 1961 §4.20; CC 1983 §2-40]
A.
Every
bill passed by the Council and presented to the Mayor and approved
by him/her, shall become an ordinance. Every bill presented as aforesaid,
but returned with the Mayor's objections thereto, shall stand reconsidered.
The Council shall cause the objections of the Mayor to be entered
at large upon the journal and proceed at its convenience to consider
the question pending which shall be in this form: "Shall the
bill pass, the objections of the Mayor thereto notwithstanding?" The vote on this question shall be taken by "ayes" and "nays", and
the names entered upon the journal. If two-thirds (⅔) of the
elected members of the Council shall vote in the affirmative, the
President shall certify the fact on the roll. The bill thus certified
shall be deposited with the proper officer, and shall become an ordinance
in the same manner and with like effect as if it had received the
approval of the Mayor.
B.
The
Mayor shall have power to sign or veto an ordinance passed by the
Council, and shall also have the power to approve all or any portion
of the general appropriations bill or to veto any item or all of the
same. If he/she shall neglect or refuse to sign an ordinance and return
it without his/her objections in writing at the next regular meeting
of the Council, the same shall become law without his/her signature.
[Code 1961 §4.21; CC 1983 §2-41]
The style of an ordinance shall be as follows: "Be it
ordained by the Council of the City of Caruthersville, Missouri, as
follows:".
