a.
Each of the following officers, before entering upon
his official duties, whether he is elected, appointed or appointed
to till a vacancy, shall give and acknowledge a bond to the County.
(1)
Each member of Council;
(2)
County Clerk;
(3)
Executive Director;
(4)
Controller;
(5)
Treasurer;
(6)
Head Department of Judicial Support;
(7)
Sheriff;
(8)
Coroner;
(9)
Recorder of Deeds;
(10)
Register of Wills and Clerk of Orphans Court
Division of Court of Common Pleas;
(11)
Probation and Parole Officers required by order
of Court to give bond to the County; and
(12)
Such other officers as shall be designated by
Council.
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Every such official bond shall be joint and
several, with one or more corporate sureties which shall be surety
companies authorized to do business in this Commonwealth and duly
licensed by the Insurance Commissioner of the Commonwealth.
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b.
Council shall fix the amount of bonds of offices and
employees paid from County funds.
c.
Each official bond shall comply with all of the requirements
as established for official bonds by Commonwealth law applicable to
Counties of the Second Class A. The Controller shall be custodian
of all official bonds, except that of his own office which shall be
held by Council.
By no later than December 31, 1976, Council
shall approve and enact a County Administrative Code[1] stating direction and detailed procedures with respect
to but not limited to the following:
a.
Dual compensation arising from dual employment of
appointed County officers and employees.
b.
Designation of positions by pay level subject to merit
hiring, and the specific provisions therefor.
c.
Conflict of interest provisions for appointed officials
from the department head level and higher, but also including similar
provisions for elected County officers.
d.
Requirement that all elective and appointive County
offices require full time service except as otherwise provided in
this Charter or the Administrative Code.
e.
Financial management procedures which implement reporting
of monthly revenue and spending trends by departments and/or programs.
f.
Organizational structure and general functions of
each department in the County government.
g.
Procedures for annual review of County employee pay
scales.
h.
Employee grievance appeal procedures.
i.
Procedures for a Board of Merit Review composed of
Council Chairman, the Executive Director, Head, Department of County
Personnel, County Clerk and representation from the Board of Personnel
Grievance and Performance Review. The Board of Merit Review shall
be convened when questions arise as to the adequacy of qualifications
possessed by an applicant for County employment, or an employee's
qualification for promotion or job rotation, or related personnel
qualification matters.
The County shall continue to own, possess, and
control all rights and property, of every kind and nature, owned,
possessed or controlled by it when this Charter takes effect, and
shall be subject to all its debts, obligations, liabilities, and duties.
All ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations
in force when this Charter takes effect, to the extent not in conflict
herewith, are hereby continued in force and effect until amended,
repealed, superseded, or expired by their own terms. All ordinances
and resolutions in continued effect shall be construed as given effect
by this Charter, but as of the date of their enactment.
All rights, claims, actions, orders, contracts
and legal or administrative proceedings of the County government shall
continue, except as modified pursuant to the provisions of this Charter,
and in each case shall be maintained, carried on or dealt with by
the County officer or officers, department, office or agency appropriate
under this Charter.
No officer or employee of the County, elected
or appointed, shall direct or compel any other officer or employee
of the County to do or perform any private service work outside of
his public office or employment. No officer or employee shall perform
any such work during the hours he is performing as a County employee;
nor shall any officer or employee use or devote any County owned property
for any private purpose.
Council, the Controller, the District Attorney,
and such other officers, commissions, boards, or agencies of the County
as Council may provide by ordinance, shall have the power to administer
oaths, to compel the attendance of witnesses, and to require the production
of records or other materials in connection with any investigation,
inquiry or hearing authorized by law or this Charter.
All references to the County Commissioners in
the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shall, at such time as
the elected members of the first County Council take office, be construed
to refer to Council whenever such construction would be consistent
with this Charter. Council shall succeed to all legislative powers
heretofore residing in the County Commissioner.
If any provision of this Charter shall be held
by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect any other provisions of this Charter, it being the
intent of the electors of this County that the remaining provisions
of this Charter be given full force and effect as completely as if
such invalid provision had not been included herein. If the application
of this Charter or any provision thereof to any person or circumstance
shall be held invalid, the application of the Charter and its provisions
to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
This Charter may be amended pursuant to the
provisions of the Pennsylvania Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans
Law, Act of April 13, 1972, No. 62, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now Home Rule Charter and
Optional Plans Law, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2901 et seq.
As used in this Charter:
a.
Masculine pronouns shall be construed to include the
feminine pronoun, and the singular number shall be construed to include
the plural whenever the context shall require.
b.
The words "enact" and "adopt" and their derivatives,
when used in connection with legislative acts of Council shall mean
completion of action by Council in finally approving any item of business.
c.
The word "members" when used in connection with Council
shall mean the whole number of persons duly elected and holding office
as members of the County Council.
d.
The term "public notice" shall mean notice published
in at least one newspaper having at least 35,000 net paid circulation
per issue in the County. In the case of a public hearing, such notice
shall state the time and place of the hearing and the particular nature
of the matter to be considered at the hearing, and shall be given
not more than 30 days and not less than seven days in advance of such
hearing.
The County shall be subject to the provisions
of the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, Act of July 31,
1968, P.L. 805, as amended,[1] including those provisions that reserve the exercise of
planning, zoning, and land development powers to local municipalities.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 10101
et seq.
The County shall be bound by the debt limit
and other substantive provisions of the Local Government Unit Debt
Act, Act of July 12, 1972, No. 185, as amended, of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The 1972 Local Government Debt
Act was repealed 12-19-1996 by P.L. 1158, No. 177. See now 53 Pa.C.S.A.
§ 8001 et seq.
Positions exempted from merit procedures are:
(1) elected officers; (2) members of boards, commissions and committees;
(3) the heads of offices, boards and departments appointed by Council;
(4) the Executive Director; (5) the heads of departments appointed
by the Executive Director; (6) temporary, part time, intermittent
or seasonal employees; and (7) employees required to be covered by
a Commonwealth merit or civil service system.
In no way shall the provisions of this Charter
adversely affect the salary, tenure, retirement, employment, vacation,
sick leave or other personnel rights of persons employed by the County
on the date this Charter becomes effective. Section 1211 further defines
the rights of present and former County employees and officers.
Any local municipality in Delaware County, by
action of its governing body or by initiative and referendum, may
withdraw from a County exercise of a power or function, in accordance
with the requirements and procedures for withdrawal set forth in the
Pennsylvania Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of April
13, 1972, No. 62, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now Home Rule Charter and
Optional Plans Law, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2901 et seq.
All persons in County service shall maintain
a high standard of conduct pursuant to the following Code of Ethics
for County government officers and employees:
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UPHOLD the Constitution, laws, and legal regulations
of the United States, and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well
as the provisions of this Charter, and never be a party to their evasion.
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SEEK to employ more efficient and economical
ways of accomplishing necessary tasks and functions.
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NEVER discriminate unfairly by the dispensing
of special favors or privileges to anyone whether for remuneration
or not, and never accept for oneself or anyone else favors or benefits
under circumstances which may be construed by reasonable persons as
conflicting with the honest performance of County duties.
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ENGAGE in no business with the County, either
directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the honest performance
of official duties.
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NEVER use information obtained confidentially
in the performance of official duties as a means for making private
profit.
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EXPOSE corruption wherever discovered.
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UPHOLD these principles recognizing that County
office is a public trust.
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ENTER into no private agreements which could
in any way be construed to be adverse to the public interests.
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