The Board shall protect and promote the right
of the citizens of Haverford Township to participate in a positive
and constructive manner in the government of the township. Any qualified
Citizen of the township may participate in the government of the township
by:
A.
Seeking elective office of the township as prescribed
by this Charter and voting for candidates for elective office.
B.
Serving on boards, commissions, authorities or other
agencies of the township government when requested by the appropriate
officials.
C.
Attending and being heard at public meetings of the
Board and other boards, commissions, authorities and other agencies
of the township government.
D.
Addressing suggestions to the Board and others to
provide guidance for their actions.
E.
Exercising the right of recall of elected officials
as provided in this Charter or as otherwise may be provided by law.
The Board shall make every effort to appoint
qualified citizens of the township to boards, commissions, authorities
or other agencies of the township government in order that the greatest
possible use can be made of the talents and interests of township
citizens in promoting public interest and welfare of Haverford Township.
Any person holding an elective office in the
government of Haverford Township, whether by election, succession
or appointment to fill a vacancy, shall be subject to removal from
office at a recall election in the manner provided in this Charter
or as may otherwise be required by general law. Officers elected from
the township at large may be removed only by petition and referendum
of the voters of the township at large. Commissioners elected by wards
shall be subject to removal by petition and referendum only of voters
of the wards they represent.
A.
Recall petition. A recall of an incumbent of an elective
office shall be initiated upon petition signed by 40% of the registered
electors voting at the last gubernatorial election in the township,
in the case of an official elected at large, or in the respective
ward, in the case of a Commissioner elected from a ward. Every recall
petition shall name the office and officer against whom it is directed.
Each elector signing a recall petition shall add to his signature
his residence, his election ward and the date of signing. Signatures
on a recall petition may be on separate sheets, but each sheet shall
have appended to it the affidavit of some person, not necessarily
a signer of the petition, that, to the best of the affiant's knowledge
and belief, the persons whose signatures appear on the sheet are registered
electors of Haverford Township and, in the case of a petition applying
to a Commissioner elected from a ward, are registered electors of
the ward served by the Commissioner whose recall is sought, and that
the petition was signed with full knowledge of the contents and purpose
of the petition and that the residences are correctly given.
B.
Filing of petition. A recall petition shall be tendered
for filing to the election officers of Delaware County. No signature
shall be counted as valid which is dated more than 60 days prior to
the date the petition is tendered for filing. Upon tender to the election
officers, the petition shall be available for examination by any interested
person. Within 15 days after tender of the petition, the election
officers shall have authority to pass upon the validity of the petition
and the validity and number of signatures required thereon. The decision
of the election officers shall be subject to immediate review on appeal
to the Court of Common Pleas.
C.
Notice to incumbent. As soon as the election officers
have received a recall petition for filing and determined its validity
and sufficiency, the appropriate officer shall notify the incumbent
named in the petition that the petition has been filed. Upon receipt
of such notice, the incumbent may resign from his office, and thereupon
the recall proceedings shall terminate.
D.
Recall election. If the incumbent against whom the
recall petition is directed does not resign from his office within
10 days after notice of filing of such petition shall have been given
to him, the election officers shall arrange a recall election. The
recall election shall be held at the special election conducted at
the first regularly scheduled election, municipal, general or primary,
which shall occur not less than 40 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 a recall election, and
thereupon the election for this purpose shall not be held.
E.
Recall question.
(1)
The following question shall be presented to each
elector entitled to vote on the recall question: "Shall (name of officer)
be recalled and removed from the office of (name of office)"?
(2)
The above question shall appear as to every officer
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,
but if a majority of such registered electors shall vote no, he shall
remain in office. Should the result of such election be affirmative,
the date of the removal and vacancy in the office shall be effective
seven days after the date when the results of the election are certified
by the County Board of Elections, unless such date is further postponed
by order of a court.
G.
Filling of vacancy. The filling of a vacancy created
by the recall of an elected official shall be in accordance with the
provisions of this Charter with respect to filling vacancies in the
office involved.
H.
Disqualification for office. No person who has been
removed from an elective office by a recall election or has resigned
from such an elective office after a recall petition directed to him
has been filed shall be eligible for election or appointment to any
office of the township government within two years after his removal
from office 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 months of the term of office or within nine months after an unsuccessful
recall election against him, and no officer who has been reelected
for a successive term shall be subject to recall during the first
year of such term.
