The Mayor shall preside at all ceremonial occasions. He shall
have such authority and perform such duties as are assigned to him
under this Charter and shall have such further authority as may from
time to time be delegated to him by ordinance.
The Mayor shall be a citizen of the United States, shall have
been a resident of the Borough for at least one (1) year prior to
the date of the primary election in which he is a candidate, shall
be a registered elector of the Borough at the time of his candidacy
and during his term, and shall be at least twenty-five (25) years
of age when elected or appointed to office.
The Mayor shall not hold any other compensated Borough office
or be employed by the Borough or act as a paid consultant to the Borough,
either during his term of office or until after the expiration of
his term of office, if for any reason he does not complete said term.
The Mayor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the
Borough at large for a term of four (4) years, commencing at 8:00
p.m. on the first Monday of January following the year in which he
is elected and ending when his successor is certified and assumes
office, except that a Mayor appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve
only for the balance of the unexpired term.
A.
The election of a Mayor shall be held on the general municipal election
day as established from time to time by the laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. The procedure for nomination and election of the
Mayor shall be established by the general laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania for municipal elections.
B.
The first election of a Mayor under this Charter shall be held on
the date of the municipal election in the year 1977 for a term beginning
the first Monday of January, 1978. The Mayor elected in 1973 under
prior law shall remain in office for the full term for which he was
originally elected as provided in Section 1802 of this Charter.
A.
The office of Mayor shall become vacant upon his death, resignation,
removal from the Borough, removal from office in any manner authorized
by law or this Charter, or forfeiture of his office, or for failure
to assume such office after election thereto within forty-five (45)
days after the commencement of the term thereof. The Mayor shall forfeit
his office if he lacks at any time during his term of office any qualification
for the office prescribed by this Charter or by law or is convicted
of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude or is absent from
at least three (3) consecutive regular meetings of the Council without
reasonable cause.
B.
In the case of forfeiture of office, Council shall declare that office
vacant by a majority vote on a resolution duly made and seconded at
a public meeting. Passage of a Resolution of Forfeiture shall authorize
the President of Council to dispatch written notice of such resolution
to the Mayor at his Borough residence address. The Mayor may request
a public hearing by advising the President of Council in writing within
ten (10) days after receipt of written notice. A hearing shall be
held at the next regularly scheduled meeting and another vote taken
on the Resolution of Forfeiture immediately after the hearing at the
same meeting. After the hearing or upon failure of the Mayor to respond
within twenty (20) days from dispatch of written notice, the office
shall be declared vacant.
A.
If a vacancy shall occur in the office of the Mayor for any reason
as set forth in this Charter, the Council shall fill said vacancy
for the balance of the unexpired term by observing the following procedure:
(1)
Notice of the vacancy shall be read aloud at the next regularly scheduled
meeting of the Council following the occasion of the vacancy and within
ten (10) days of this meeting shall be:
(2)
Said notice shall contain a schedule of the times and place Council
will conduct public interviews of all qualified candidates and shall
include an invitation to any qualified Borough resident who desires
consideration to schedule a public interview with Council by informing
the Borough Secretary, or his representative, within ten (10) days
of publication of said notice. The Borough Secretary shall inform
the President of Council, or the acting President of Council, of all
candidates to be interviewed.
(3)
At a regularly scheduled meeting, held within sixty (60) days after
publication of said notice, Council shall fill the vacancy by appointing
from the candidates interviewed that candidate who receives the majority
of votes of the Council members present and voting. In the event of
a hopeless deadlock, the matter shall be presented to the Court of
Common Pleas within thirty (30) days after this meeting and the Court
shall fill the vacancy by appointing a qualified resident of the Borough.
The Mayor, prior to assuming office, shall take and shall sign
an oath of office as shall from time to time be prescribed by the
laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Such oath may be taken and
signed before any judge, district magistrate or notary public of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and no person shall be permitted to
assume such office until the oath, in written form, is filed with
the Borough.
A.
The Mayor shall have the following specific powers, duties and authority:
(1)
He shall attend regular meetings of the Borough Council and may attend
meetings of committees thereof and shall have an equal right with
members of Council to participate in their deliberations. He shall
have no right to vote except that he may, if he chooses, cast a tie-breaking
vote on any matter before Council at an official meeting.
(2)
He shall have the power to veto ordinances as hereinbefore set forth.
(3)
He shall have the duty to preserve order in the Borough.
(4)
He shall have the power to enforce those ordinances and regulations
in the Borough which are those of a criminal, quasi-criminal, nuisance
or traffic nature.
(5)
He shall have the duty to sign such papers, contracts, obligations,
and documents that are properly presented to him, as may be required
by law.
(6)
He may report to the Council from time to time regarding the state
of affairs of the Borough.
(7)
He shall have full charge and control of the Police Department and
all police activities both inside and outside the Borough.
(8)
He shall have the power to recommend for appointment, promotion or
discharge all police officers of the Borough as well as all auxiliary
police, special police, temporary police and school crossing guards.
(9)
He shall have the authority to suspend, for cause, any police officer
subject to Section 1304 of this Charter.
(10)
He shall have the authority to recommend for appointment the
Chief of Police, but Council shall have sole authority to appoint
the Chief of Police, who shall serve at the pleasure of Council.
(11)
He shall have the authority to appoint and dissolve voluntary
committees of interested citizens to assist and advise him on issues
and matters pertaining to his office. The committee members shall
serve without compensation.
(12)
The Borough shall provide the Mayor with a suitable office from
which to conduct the Borough affairs, together with supplies, forms,
utilities, and stenographic services. The Mayor shall have authority
to appoint, suspend and remove members of his own staff as may be
authorized in the budget.
(13)
He shall have any emergency powers that the Council may establish
by prior ordinance to suppress mobs, riots and tumultuous assemblies.
Moreover, the Mayor may appoint special police with full police powers
and jurisdiction for the duration of an emergency in which the safety
and welfare of the Borough are endangered, and auxiliary police may
be appointed as provided by general law. The compensation of the special
police and auxiliary police shall be fixed by Council.
(14)
He shall be one of the authorized signers of all Borough checking
accounts.
(15)
Council may, by resolution, appoint a temporary Mayor, who shall,
in the absence or disability of the Mayor, perform the duties and
exercise the powers of the Mayor.
(16)
He shall have the duty to administer oaths and affirmations
in all Borough business except as otherwise provided by this Charter
or by law.
[Amended 4-29-1991 by Ord. No. 1193]
A.
The Mayor may receive a salary at the rate of forty-two hundred dollars
($4,200.00) per annum, or such other sum as the Council shall from
time to time establish by ordinance, except that at no time shall
the salary of the Mayor be less than the salary received by the President
of Council. No ordinance increasing or decreasing salary shall become
effective for at least four (4) years after the effective date of
this Charter. Any ordinance increasing or decreasing salary shall
be adopted at least six (6) months prior to a municipal election and
shall not become effective before the commencement of terms of the
members of Council elected.
B.
The Mayor shall receive no other compensation, direct or indirect, for the performance of his duties; he shall receive no pensions, insurance or other forms of fringe benefits. However, he shall be entitled to the actual expenses incurred in the performance of his duties and shall be entitled to indemnification as provided in Section 1202 of Article XII of this Charter.
