[Amended 6-10-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-2; 2-12-2007 by Res. No.
2007-1]
All legislative and executive powers of the
town shall be vested in a body designated as "The Council of Willards,"
consisting of five (5) commissioners who shall be elected as hereinafter
provided and who shall hold office as follows:
a) Two (2) shall be elected for an initial term of four
(4) years or until their successor takes office.
b) Three (3) shall be elected for an initial term of
two (2) years, which seats on the Council shall thereafter be for
terms of four (4) years or until their successor takes office.
The regular term of each commissioner shall
terminate and expire on the second Monday of July following the quadrennial
election of their successors. Commissioners holding office at the
time this Charter becomes effective shall continue to hold office
for the term for which they were elected and until the succeeding
Council takes office under the provisions of this Charter.
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Commissioners shall have resided in the town
for at least one (1) year immediately preceding their election and
shall be qualified voters of the town. The Council shall be the judge
of the election and qualification of its members.
There shall be elected by the Council after each election as provided in §
WC-4 above a President of the Council. The Council shall elect a Vice President of the Council from among its members, who shall act as President of the Council in the absence of the President of the Council.
Each Commissioner shall receive an annual salary
which shall be equal for all Commissioners and shall be as specified
from time to time by an ordinance passed by the Council in the regular
course of its business; provided, however, that the salary specified
at the time any Council takes office shall not be changed during the
period for which that Council was elected. The ordinance making any
change in the salary paid to the several Commissioners, either by
way of increase or decrease, shall be finally ordained prior to the
municipal election for the members of the next succeeding Council.
In case of a vacancy on the Council for any
reason, the Council shall elect some qualified person to fill such
vacancy until the next general election, at which time, if the seat
vacated has not expired, the unexpired term shall be filled by election.
Any vacancies on the Council shall be filled by the favorable votes
of a majority of the remaining members of the Council. The results
of any such vote shall be recorded in the minutes of the Council.
The Council shall determine its own rules and
order of business. It shall keep a journal of its proceedings and
enter therein the yeas and nays upon final action on any question,
resolution or ordinance, or at any other time if required by any one
(1) member. The journal shall be open to public inspection.
[Amended 6-10-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-2; 2-12-2007 by Res. No.
2007-1; 3-8-2010 by Res. No. 2010-1]
The newly elected Council shall be sworn in
at 7:00 p.m. on the second Monday of July following its election and
then meet for the purpose of organization, after which the Council
shall meet regularly at such times as may be prescribed by its rules
but not less frequently than once each month. Special meetings shall
be called by the Clerk-Treasurer upon the request of the President
or a majority of the members of the Council. All meetings of the Council
shall be open to the public, except in special and appropriate circumstances
when meetings may be closed in accordance with Subtitle 5 of Title
10 of the State Government Article, Open Meetings Law, of the Annotated
Code of Maryland, as amended from time to time. The rules of the Council
shall provide that residents of the town shall have a reasonable opportunity
to be heard at any meeting open to the public in regard to any municipal
question.
A majority of the members of the Council shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No ordinance
shall be approved nor any other action taken without the favorable
votes of a majority of the Council members.
No ordinance shall be passed at the meeting
at which it is introduced. At any regular or special meeting of the
Council held not less than six (6) nor more than sixty (60) days after
the meeting at which an ordinance was introduced, it shall be passed,
or passed as amended, or rejected, or its consideration deferred to
some specified future date. In cases of emergency, the above requirement
may be suspended by the affirmative unanimous votes of the Council.
Every ordinance, unless it be passed as an emergency ordinance, shall
become effective at the expiration of twenty (20) calendar days following
approval by the Council. An ordinance shall become effective on the
date specified in the ordinance.
If, before the expiration of twenty (20) calendar
days following the effective date specified in any ordinance, a petition
is filed with the Clerk-Treasurer containing the signatures of not
less than twenty per centum (20%) of a qualified voters of the town and requesting that the ordinance, or any part thereof, be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the town for their approval or disapproval, the Council shall have the ordinance, or the part thereof requested for referendum, submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the town at the next regular town election or, in the Council's discretion, at a special election occurring before the next regular election. No ordinance, or the part thereof requested for referendum, shall become effective following the receipt of such petition until and unless approved at the election by a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question. An emergency ordinance, or the part thereof requested for referendum, shall continue in effect for sixty (60) days following receipt of such petition. If the question of approval or disapproval of any emergency ordinance, or any part thereof, has not been submitted to the qualified voters within sixty (60) days following receipt of the petition, then the operation of the ordinance, or the part thereof requested for referendum, shall be suspended until approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting on the question at any election. Any ordinance, or part thereof, disapproved by the voters shall stand repealed. The provision of this section shall not apply to any ordinance, or part thereof, passed under the authority of §
WC-56 levying property taxes for the payment of indebtedness, but the provisions of this section shall apply to any ordinance, or any part thereof, levying special assessment charges under the provisions of §§
WC-62 and
WC-63. The provisions of this section shall be self-executing, but the Council may adopt ordinances in furtherance of these provisions and not in conflict with them.
Ordinances shall be permanently filed by the
Clerk-Treasurer and shall be kept available for public inspection.
An annual compilation of all public ordinances of general application
and continuing force that have been enacted during the year will be
supplemented to the most recent Code of Ordinances and filed with
the State Department of Legislative Reference.