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.