[Amended 9-13-2004 by Res. No. 2004-10]
A. 
Number; term. All legislative powers of the town shall be vested in a Commission consisting of five Commissioners, who shall be elected or appointed as provided in Section 305 of this Charter, and who shall hold office for a term not to exceed four years or until the succeeding Commissioners take office. The term of all elected Commissioners shall commence on the third Tuesday in June.
[Amended 8-6-2012 by Res. No. 2013-03]
B. 
Oath of office.
(1) 
On the third Tuesday in June, the candidates who have been elected as herein provided under the provision of Section 305 shall present themselves at the town office and shall take the oath of office as Commissioners as hereinafter provided by Section 1401.
[Amended 10-12-2010 by Res. No. 2011-04]
(2) 
In the event that any one of said newly elected Commissioners is unable to be present for the administration of the oath as hereinafter provided in Section 1401 then that person shall take the oath as soon thereafter as is practical, but in no case later than 12:00 midnight July 31 next following said election.
(3) 
Any person who is appointed to the office of Town Commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this Charter shall be required to take the oath of office set forth in Section 1401 before entering upon any official duties.
[Amended 12-17-2017 by Res. No. 2018-04]
Commissioners shall have resided within the corporate limits of the town for at least 365 days immediately preceding their election and shall reside within the town limits of Princess Anne during their entire term of office. Commissioners shall be qualified voters of the town as provided in Section 301 of this Charter.
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 Commissioners in the regular course of their business; provided, however, that the salary specified at the time any Commissioner or group of Commissioners takes office shall not be changed during the period for which that Commissioner or that group of Commissioners were elected or appointed. The ordinance making any change in the salary paid to the several Commissioners, either by way of increase or decrease, shall be adopted prior to the municipal election for the members of the next succeeding Commissioners and shall take effect only as to the members of the next succeeding Commission.
[Amended 9-13-2004 by Res. No. 2004-10; 12-13-2004 by Res. No. 2004-11; 10-12-2010 by Res. No. 2011-04]
The newly elected Commissioners shall meet at a time specified by the Commissioners on the third Tuesday in June following the election for the purpose of organization. The Commissioners shall meet thereafter frequently at such times as may be prescribed by their rules, but not less frequently than once each month. Special meetings shall be called by the Town Manager upon request of the President of the Commissioners or upon request of a majority of the Commissioners. The rules of the Commissioners shall provide that residents of the town shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any regular meeting in regard to any municipal question.
A. 
The Commissioners shall elect, by majority vote at their organizational meeting, one of their members as President of the Commissioners, and said President shall preside at all meetings of the Commission in accordance with parliamentary procedure.
B. 
The Commissioners shall elect, by majority vote at their organizational meeting, one of their members as Vice President of the Commissioners, and said Vice President shall preside, in accordance with parliamentary procedure, at all meetings at which the President is absent.
C. 
Should a vacancy in the office of President occur, the Vice President shall assume the office of President. The Commission shall then hold an organizational meeting to elect a new Vice President. If the vacancy in the office of President causes a vacancy among the Commissioners, the organizational meeting shall be held after that vacancy if filled.
Any three Commissioners shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of municipal business except as provided for in cases of emergency ordinances as set forth in Section 410 of this Charter.
The Commissioners shall determine their own rules and order of business. They shall keep a journal of their proceedings and enter therein the affirmative and negative votes upon final action in any question, resolution or ordinance or at any time as required by any one member. The journal shall be open to public inspection.
A. 
Authority. Vacancies on the Commission shall be filled as provided in Subsection B below. No person shall be elected or appointed to fill a vacancy in accordance with Subsection B below unless said person, at the time of election or appointment, could have qualified as a Commissioner under the provisions of Section 402 of this article.
B. 
Procedure.
(1) 
Appointment by Commissioners. In case of a vacancy among the Commissioners for any reason, the remaining Commissioners shall appoint within 45 days at a town meeting some qualified person to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term. In the event of a failure of the remaining Commissioners to agree on a qualified person to fill the vacancy, and if there is a period of not less than 120 days remaining of the unexpired term, the Board of Election Supervisors shall call a special election to fill the vacancy.
(2) 
Appointment by Governor. In any case in which there may be only two Commissioners eligible to transact the necessary business of the town, the Governor of the State of Maryland shall be requested by said remaining Commissioners to make an interim appointment of a qualified citizen to serve as Town Commissioner until such time as the Board of Supervisors of Elections can call and conduct a special election.
(3) 
Powers vested in remaining Commissioners. Until such time as the Governor shall appoint a qualified citizen as set forth above and/or until such time as a special election has been held, the remaining Commissioners shall be vested with all powers vested in the full Board of Commissioners by the Town Charter.
No ordinance shall be passed at the meeting at which it is introduced. At any regular or special meeting of the Commissioners held not less than six nor more than 60 days after the meeting at which the ordinance was introduced, it shall be passed or passed as amended or rejected or its consideration deferred to some specified future date. In case of emergency, the above requirement may be suspended by an unanimous vote when three or more Commissioners are present. An emergency is hereby defined as a situation affecting the general health, safety or welfare of the inhabitants of the town. Every ordinance, unless it shall be passed as an emergency ordinance, shall be effective at the expiration of 20 calendar days following approval. Every ordinance shall be published in substance at least twice in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in the Town of Princess Anne. A true and full copy thereof shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the office of the Commissioners for a period of 20 calendar days following approval. An emergency ordinance shall be effective on the date specified in the ordinance and shall be given the same public notices specified for other ordinances.
Neither the President nor any of the other Commissioners shall have the authority to veto or countermand any ordinance, resolution, rule or other legislative action. Each Commissioner shall be entitled to one vote.
If, before the expiration of 20 calendar days following approval of any ordinance, a petition is filed with the Town Manager containing the signatures of not less than 20% of the 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 Commissioners 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 Commissioners' 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 Section 817 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 Sections 1101 and 1102 of this Charter. The provisions of this section shall be self-executing, but the Commissioners may adopt ordinances in furtherance of these provisions and not in conflict with them.
A. 
Ordinances. Ordinances shall be permanently filed by the Town Manager and shall be kept available for public inspection. The original ordinances shall be kept in a suitable fireproof safe, and an exact copy shall be placed in a book or file to be known as the "ordinance book," which said book shall be properly indexed and open to public inspection at all reasonable hours. Other copies of ordinances may, at the discretion of the Commissioners, be placed elsewhere for safe keeping.
B. 
Town Manager's records. All books, documents and papers pertaining to the office of Town Manager of Princess Anne shall be the property and records of the Town of Princess Anne and shall be kept in the town office or other place of safety from fire and burglary and other hazards and shall at all reasonable time be subject to reasonable examination by the Commissioners of Princess Anne, the Grand Jury of Somerset County or of any other court of competent jurisdiction and/or taxpayers of Princess Anne, and all said books, documents and papers, accounts, credits and deposits belonging to said office of the Town Manager of Princess Anne or which are in the Town Manager's custody shall be delivered up and transferred to the Commissioners upon request and/or to any successor in the Town Manager's office when such successor is duly appointed and qualified.