All legislative powers of the City shall be vested in the City
Council consisting of five persons who shall hold office for terms
of four years, or the balance of any term, which shall expire on the
next regular meeting of Council following the election of their successors
and when their successors have qualified by being sworn. Three shall
be elected simultaneous with the election of the Mayor, and two shall
be elected biennially thereafter.
[1]
Editor's Note: The resolution was approved at a referendum
held 6-19-2002.
[Amended 1-24-1979 by Res. No. 145]
Councilmen shall have resided in the City for at least two years
immediately preceding their election and must be qualified voters
of the City.
Each Councilman shall receive an annual salary, which shall
be equal for all Councilmen 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 Councilmen, either by way of increase
or decrease, shall be finally ordained prior to the municipal election
for the members of the next succeeding Council and shall take effect
only as to the members of the next succeeding Council.
[Amended 4-12-2006 by Res. No. 335; 11-10-2010 by Res. No. 381]
The newly elected Council shall meet at 6:00 p.m. on the next
regular meeting of Council following its election 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 Mayor or a majority of the members of the
Council. All meetings of the Council shall be open to the public,
except as authorized by Subtitle V, Article 10 of the State Government
Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, known as the "Open Meetings
Law," and the rules of Council shall provide the residents of the
City shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any open meeting
in regard to any municipal question.
The Council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications
of its members.
The Mayor shall serve as President of the Council. The Mayor
may take part in all discussions, but he shall have no vote. 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.
A majority of the members of the Council shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business, but no ordinance shall be
approved nor any other action taken without the favorable votes of
a majority of the whole number of members elected to 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 of any question, resolution or ordinance
or at any time if required by any one member. The journal shall be
open to public inspection.
Vacancies in the Council shall be filled as provided in § C5-14
of this Charter.
[Amended 6-9-1999 by Res. No. 287]
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 days nor more than 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
votes of two members of the Council. Every ordinance, unless it is
passed as an emergency ordinance, shall become effective at the expiration
of 20 calendar days following approval by the Mayor or passage by
the Council over his veto. A fair summary of each ordinance shall
be published at least twice in a newspaper or newspapers having general
circulation in the municipality, and a statement inviting interested
persons to view the complete text of the ordinance at City Hall during
regular business hours shall be appended to that published summary.
An emergency ordinance shall become effective on the date specified
in the ordinance, but no ordinance shall become effective until approved
by the Mayor or passed by the Council over his veto.
All ordinances passed by the Council shall be promptly delivered
by the Clerk-Treasurer to the Mayor for his approval or disapproval.
If the Mayor approves any ordinance, he shall sign it. The Mayor shall
return all ordinances to the Clerk-Treasurer within six days after
delivery to him, including the days of delivery and return and excluding
Sunday, with his approval or disapproval. Any ordinance approved by
the Mayor shall be law. Any ordinance disapproved by the Mayor shall
be returned with a message stating the reasons for his disapproval.
Any disapproved ordinance shall not become a law unless subsequently
passed by a unanimous vote of the Council within 35 calendar days
from the time of the return of the ordinance. If the Mayor fails to
return any ordinance within six days of its delivery as aforesaid,
it shall be deemed to be approved by the Mayor and shall become law
in the same manner as an ordinance signed by him.
If, before the expiration of 20 calendar days following approval of any ordinance by the Mayor or passage of any ordinance over the Mayor's veto, a petition is filed with the Clerk-Treasurer containing the signatures of not less than 20% of the qualified voters of the City and requesting that the ordinance or any part thereof be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the City 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 City at the next regular City 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 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 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 provisions of this section shall not apply to any ordinance or part thereof passed under the authority of §§ C6-6, C6-13 and C6-20 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 §§ C10-1 and C10-2. 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.
[Added 6-13-2012 by Res. No. 399]
All resolutions shall be passed by a majority of affirmative
votes of the Council members present and voting by roll call vote.
All resolutions shall be attested by the City Clerk.
