An amendment of a Municipal Charter may be initiated
by the Commission or by a petition of qualified voters of the town.
A.
Initiation of amendment by resolution. The Board of
Commissioners may initiate a proposed amendment or amendments to the
Municipal Charter by a resolution which, except as otherwise specified
in this Charter, is ordained or passed as in the usual course of considering
resolutions in the government of the municipal corporation by a majority
of all the persons elected to the Board of Commissioners.
B.
Contents of resolution. In conformity with a requirement
imposed upon the General Assembly by Article 3, Section 29, of the
Constitution of Maryland, the resolution shall contain the complete
and exact wording of the proposed amendment or amendments, prepared
so that the section or sections are set forth as they would read when
amended or enacted. No Charter and no section of a Charter may be
revised or amended by reference to its title or section only.
C.
Amendment to embrace only one (1) subject. In conformity
with a requirement imposed upon the General Assembly by Article 3,
Section 29, of the Constitution of Maryland, every Charter amendment
adopted by the municipal corporation shall embrace but one (1) subject,
and that shall be described in its title.
D.
Posting resolution. The Town Manager shall give notice
by posting and publication of any resolution which proposes an amendment
or amendments to the Municipal Charter. A complete and exact copy
of the resolution containing the proposed amendment or amendments
shall be posted at the town office or other public place for a period
of at least forty (40) days following its adoption.
E.
Publication of summary. A fair summary of the proposed
amendment or amendments shall be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the municipal corporation not less than four (4) times,
at weekly intervals within a period of at least forty (40) days after
the adoption of the resolution containing the proposed amendment or
amendments.
F.
Effective date of amendment. The amendment or amendments
so proposed by the Commission shall become and be considered a part
of the Municipal Charter, according to the terms of the amendment
or amendments, in all respects to be effective and observed as such,
upon the 50th day after being so ordained or passed, unless on or
before the 40th day after being so ordained or passed there shall
be presented to the Commission, or mailed to it by registered mail,
a petition meeting the requirements of this section.
G.
Petition for referendum. The petition shall be signed
by twenty per centum (20%) or more of the persons who are registered
to vote in municipal general elections and shall request that the
proposed amendment or amendments be submitted on referendum to the
voters of the town. Each person signing the petition shall indicate
thereon both his name and residence address. Upon receiving the petition
for a referendum, the Commission shall verify that any person who
signed it is qualified to vote in the town's general elections and
shall consider the petition as of no effect if it is signed by fewer
than twenty per centum (20%) of the persons who are qualified to vote
in municipal general elections.
H.
Referendum election. If the petition for a referendum
complies with the requirements of this section, the Commission shall
by resolution, passed as in its normal legislative procedure, specify
the day and the hours for the election at which the question shall
be submitted to the voters of the town. This may be at either the
next regular municipal general election or at a special election,
in the discretion of the Commission. In the event a special election
is designated, it shall be held within a period of not less than forty
(40) days nor more than sixty (60) days after the final passage of
the resolution providing for the referendum. The resolution providing
for the referendum shall specify the exact wording which is to be
placed on the ballots or voting machines when the question is submitted
to the voters of the town.
A.
Petition; resolution of legislative body setting time
for referendum. Twenty per centum (20%) or more of the persons who
are qualified to vote in municipal general elections may initiate
a proposed amendment or amendments to the Municipal Charter, by a
petition presented to the Commission. The petition shall contain the
complete and exact wording of the proposed amendment or amendments,
and the proposed amendment or amendments shall be prepared in conformity
with the several requirements contained in § DC13-2B and
C of this Charter. Each person signing it shall indicate thereon both
his name and residence address. Upon receiving the petition, the Commission
is directed to verify that any person who signed it is qualified to
vote in municipal general elections and shall consider the petition
as of no effect if it is signed by fewer than twenty per centum (20%)
of the persons who are qualified to vote in municipal general elections.
If the petition complies with the requirements of this section, the
Commission shall by resolution, passed as in its normal legislative
procedure, and not later than sixty (60) days after the petition shall
have been presented to it, specify the day and the hours for the election
at which the question shall be submitted to the voters of the town.
This may be at either the next regular municipal general election
or at a special election, in the discretion of the legislative body.
In the event a special election is designated, it shall be within
a period of not less than forty (40) days nor more than sixty (60)
days after the final passage of the resolution. In the resolution,
the exact wording shall be specified which is to be placed on the
ballots or voting machines when the question is submitted to the voters
of the town.
B.
Adoption of amendment by resolution. Provided, however, that if the Commission shall approve of the amendment or amendments provided for in the petition presented to it under Subsection A above, it shall have the right by resolution to adopt the amendment or amendments thereby proposed and to proceed thereafter in the same manner as if the amendment or amendments had been initiated by such legislative body and in compliance with the provisions of § DC13-2 of this Charter.
The Town Manager shall give notice by posting
and publication of any submission of a proposed Charter amendment
to the voters thereof. For not less than the four (4) weeks immediately
preceding the election at which the question is to be submitted, a
complete and exact copy of the wording of the proposed amendment or
amendments shall be posted at the town office or other main municipal
building or in a public place. On the day of the election, a similar
copy shall be posted at the place or places for voting. Notice of
the election, together with a fair summary of the proposed amendment
or amendments, shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation
in the town, not less than once in each of the four (4) weeks immediately
preceding the election.
A.
Conduct of election; ballots; expenses. On the day
and during the hours specified for any referendum, the proposed Charter
amendment or amendments shall be submitted to the qualified voters
of the town. The Board of Supervisors of Elections shall arrange for
and conduct the referendum election on the proposed Charter amendment
or amendments. The wording specified by the Commission in the resolution
providing for a referendum on the Charter amendment or amendments
shall be placed on the ballots or voting machines used at the referendum
election. The expenses of the referendum election shall be defrayed
by the town.
B.
Officials to tally and certify result. Promptly following
the closing of the polls, the Board of Supervisors of Elections shall
tally the results and shall forthwith certify the results of the referendum
to the Mayor.
C.
Proclamation of result; effective date of amendment.
If a majority of those who vote on any question so submitted to the
voters of the town shall cast their votes in favor of the proposed
Charter amendment or amendments, the Mayor of the Commission shall
so proclaim publicly within ten (10) days after receiving a certification
of the votes from the Board of Supervisors of Elections; and on the
30th day following the public proclamation the proposed Charter amendment
or amendments shall become a part of the Charter of the municipal
corporation, according to its terms, in all respects to be effective
and observed as such. If less than a majority of those who vote on
any such question shall cast their votes in favor of the proposed
Charter amendment or amendments, the Mayor of the Commission likewise
shall so proclaim, adding to his proclamation the statement that the
proposed Charter amendment or amendments contained in said question
are null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
A.
Form. In any proposal to amend an existing Charter
of a municipal corporation, the new matter, if any, to be added to
the Charter shall be indicated by being underscored or in italics
or typed or printed completely in capital letters, and all matter
to be eliminated from the existing Charter, if any, shall be indicated
in its proper place by enclosing such matter in double parentheses
or in boldfaced brackets. Where the subject matter consists of an
entirely new section or sections, the words of such new section or
sections shall also be underscored or in italics or typed or printed
completely in capital letters or contain some marginal or other notation
to that effect. When the purpose of any proposal is to repeal in entirety
any section or sections of the existing Charter, the matter intended
to be repealed need not be written out in full and enclosed in either
double parentheses or boldfaced brackets.
B.
Citation of original section. The resolution to amend
a Charter shall identify the source of the existing section or sections,
citing the code or other publication or amendment in which appears
the most recent text of the section or sections to be amended.
C.
Consecutive numbering. Amendments to the Charter of
any municipal corporation shall be in a consecutively numbered series.
D.
Repeal of other sections. The resolution to amend
a Charter shall provide specifically (and not simply by implication)
for the repeal of any section or sections of the existing Charter
which are inconsistent with the amended section or sections.
E.
Rescission. A proposal to amend a Charter, whether
initiated by the Commission or by a petition of qualified voters,
may not be rescinded after its adoption by the Commission or after
its formal submission in a petition, in any manner other than that
of another Charter amendment.
F.
Registration. At the time a Charter amendment or amendments
become effective by reason of having been ordained or passed by the
Commission, or at the time of making public proclamation as to the
vote on any question containing a proposed Charter amendment or amendments
which have been adopted, the Town Manager shall send separately by
registered mail to the Secretary of State of Maryland and to the Department
of Legislative Reference[1] the following information concerning the Charter amendment
or amendments:
(1)
The complete text thereof.
(2)
The date of the referendum election, if any.
(3)
The number of votes cast for and against each question
containing the Charter amendment or amendments, whether in the Commission
or in a referendum.
(4)
The effective date of the Charter amendment or amendments.
[1]
Editor's Note: Now the Department of Legislative
Services.
A.
Generally. At the end of each calendar year, the Town
Manager shall prepare a convenient and legible compilation of the
measures dealt with during that year which enact, amend or repeal
sections in the Municipal Charter. The measures in the compilation
shall be in a numerical sequence, beginning with No. 1 and in a separate
series for each year.
B.
Distribution of copies. Copies of this compilation
shall be made available for inspection at the town office during normal
business hours, and copies shall be kept on permanent record in the
same office. Copies also shall be furnished, without charge, to the
Hall of Records Commission and to the state library. Not later than
March 1 of the next succeeding year, the Town Manager shall furnish,
without charge, five (5) copies of the compilation to the State Department
of Legislative Reference.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Now the Department of Legislative
Services.
C.
Statement as to referendum. In addition to furnishing
copies of the compilation to the State Department of Legislative Reference,[2] the Town Manager shall provide to the Department a statement
concerning any referendum on any proposed Charter amendment. The statement
shall include information on the results of any referendum held during
the year, and it shall include information as to any referendum pending,
actually or potentially, but not yet held, at the end of the year.
[2]
Editor's Note: Now the Department of Legislative
Services.
The exact text of any amendment or amendments
to the Charter, adopted as in this Article specified, shall thereafter
be included in any subsequent edition or codification of the Charter,
until altered, modified or repealed by a subsequent amendment or amendments
to the Charter.
The Commissioners of Delmar shall have the power
to make administrative or clerical changes in its Charter, ordinances,
resolutions and all other town documents as to form only, in no way
changing the substance thereof, to correct typographical, clerical
or other errors in form only, without the necessity of the formal
procedures normally required for Charter amendments, the enactment
of ordinances or resolutions or the passage or ratification of other
documents, and said changes may be made by motion properly made and
passed at a duly called meeting of the Commissioners, the adoption
of said motion to be duly recorded in the minutes of said meeting.
