[Amended 4-14-87 by Res. No. 205; 1-10-2001 by Res. No. 299;[1] 11-10-2010 by Res. No. 380]
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 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.
[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.
[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.