[Amend. No. 20, 11-6-1984]
The elective officers of the city shall be the mayor and eight
councilmen. The mayor and the councilmen at large shall be elected
by the vote of the electors of the entire city, and the councilmen
representing the wards of the city shall be elected by the vote of
their respective wards.
The appointive officers of the city shall be a city manager,
a city attorney, a city auditor, a clerk, a treasurer, an assessor,
a fire chief, a police chief, a city engineer, and a constable. Upon
the recommendation of the city manager, and to assure the proper administration
of city affairs, the council may create additional appointive offices
of the city, or may combine any administrative offices in any manner
not inconsistent with state law, and prescribe the duties thereof.
The creation of any additional administrative office or combination
thereof shall not directly or indirectly abolish or diminish the office
of city manager, or the responsibilities of that office, as set forth
in this Charter. The council shall set the compensation of the city
manager and the city attorney. The city manager shall set the compensation
of all other appointive officers, within and subject to budget appropriations.
All personnel employed by the city, who are not elected officers
or declared to be appointive officers by or under authority of this
Charter, shall be deemed to be employees of the city.
[Amend. No. 11, 4-7-1969]
Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, an elector of
the city shall be eligible to hold elective or appointive office,
if he shall be a resident of the city for two (2) years, and shall
not be in default to the city or to any school district located within
the city; provided, however, that no person shall be eligible for
reappointment to the board of public works, library board or the hospital
board if he is then serving his second consecutive full term on such
board. A councilman elected from a ward shall have been a resident
thereof not less than 20 days prior to his nomination for election
to such office. In the case of appointive officers, the council may,
by a 2/3 vote, waive the requirement of residence in the city at the
time, of appointment; provided, that any person, for whom such requirement
is waived, shall become a resident of the city within 90 days following
his appointment and shall remain a resident of the city during the
entire time that he shall hold office in the city government. Failure
so to become a resident of the city and thereafter to be a resident
of the city shall create a vacancy in the office to which any such
person was appointed.
Any city office shall become vacant before the expiration of
the term of such office for any one or more of the following reasons:
(a)
The occurrence of any event or the doing of any act specified by
state law to create a vacancy, or authorizing the governor to remove
from public office;
(b)
The absence from the city of any officer continuously for more than
60 days without permission of the council;
(c)
In the case of the mayor and the members of the council, absence
from four consecutive regular meetings of the council, or 25% of such
meetings in any fiscal year of the city, unless such absence shall
be excused by the council at the time it occurred and the reason therefor
entered in the proceedings of the council;
(d)
Assumption by the officer of any office which is incompatible with
the city office held by him.
The council may remove any elected officer of the city, or the
city attorney, for any one or more of the following reasons:
(a)
When, after a hearing thereon, it shall be satisfied from sufficient
evidence submitted to it that such officer has failed to perform the
duties of his office for 90 days because of physical or mental disability.
(b)
When it shall be satisfied from sufficient evidence submitted to
it that such officer has been guilty of official misconduct, wilful
neglect of, or gross inefficiency in the performance of his duties
as officer of the city. The council shall take no action under this
provision upon any charges against any officer of the city, until
certified copies of such charges and of all supporting affidavits
and exhibits have been personally served upon such officer and an
opportunity, after at least 15 days' notice, given him to be heard
in his defense. No officer who has been removed from office under
authority of this provision shall be eligible to election or appointment
to any city office for a period of three years from the date of such
removal.
Resignations of elective officers shall be made in writing and
filed with the clerk and shall be acted upon by the council at its
next regular meeting following receipt thereof by the clerk. Resignations
of appointive officers shall be made in writing to the city manager,
in the case of officers appointed by him, and shall be immediately
acted upon by the council or the city manager, as the case may be.
If a vacancy occurs in any elective office, or in any office
the appointment to which is made by the council, the council shall,
within 30 days after such vacancy occurs, except in the case of the
city manager, appoint a person who possesses the qualifications required
of holders of said office until the next city election, in the case
of elective officers, and for the balance of the term in the case
of the city attorney.
If a vacancy occurs in any appointive office other than that
of city manager, city attorney, or supervisor, the city manager shall,
within 30 days thereafter, appoint a qualified person to fill such
vacancy in the manner provided for making the original appointment.
Except by procedures provided in this Charter, the terms of
the elective officials of the city and of officers of the city appointed
for a definite term shall not be shortened. The terms of officers
of the city may not be extended beyond the period for which any such
officer was elected or appointed except that an elective officer of
the city shall, after his term has expired, continue to hold office
until his successor is elected or appointed, and has qualified.
The council shall not grant or authorize extra compensation
to any city officer, elective or appointive, to any employee, agent,
or contractor after the service has been rendered or the contract
entered into. Nor shall the salary of any officer, elective or appointive,
be increased or decreased after his election or appointment during
any fixed term of office for which he was elected or appointed.
Every officer, elected or appointed, before entering upon the
duties of his office, shall take the oath of office prescribed by
section 2 of article XVI of the constitution of the state and shall
file the same with the clerk, together with any bond which he may
be required by this Charter or by the council to give. In case of
failure to comply with the provisions of this section within 10 days
from the date of his election or appointment, such office shall thereupon
become vacant unless the council shall, by resolution, extend the
time in which such officer may qualify as above set forth.
Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the council may
require any officer or employee to give a bond, to be approved by
the council, conditioned upon the faithful and proper performance
of the duties of the office or employment concerned, in such sum as
the council shall determine. All such officers or employees who receive,
distribute, or are responsible for the city funds shall be bonded.
The resignation, removal, or discharge of any officer or employee,
or appointment of another person to such office or employment, shall
not exonerate such officer or employee or any sureties of such officer
or employee from any liability incurred by such officer, employee,
or sureties. All official bonds shall be corporate surety bonds and
the premiums thereon shall be paid by the city, except as otherwise
provided in this Charter. Unless otherwise determined by a 2/3 vote
of the council, bonds required by this section shall not be renewed
upon the expiration of the terms for which issued, but, in each case,
a new bond shall be furnished. No official bond shall be issued for
a term exceeding three years. The bonds of all officers and employees
shall be filed with the clerk, except that of the clerk himself, which
shall be filed with the treasurer.
An officer of the city, who intends to have business dealings
with the city, either directly or indirectly, whereby he may acquire
from the city any income or benefits other than that provided as remuneration
for his official duties, shall file with the city clerk a statement,
under oath, setting forth the nature of his interest therein and that
his participation therein is to the general welfare of the city; such
statement shall be transmitted to the council or the board of the
city having to do with such contract, and shall be spread upon the
proceedings of the council or such board and published in full therewith.
Confirmation of such contract shall be made by a 2/3 vote of the council
or the board having jurisdiction thereof. Any contract made with such
person other than as above provided shall be void.
No officer of the city shall give recognizance or give or become
surety. Any officer who shall violate the provisions of this section
shall be guilty of misconduct in office.
Whenever any officer or employee shall resign, or be removed
from office, or the term of office for which he has been elected or
appointed has expired, he shall, on demand, deliver to his successor
in the office or to his superior, all books, papers, moneys, and effects
in his custody which were necessary to or which were obtained as a
part of or were necessary to the performance of his duties as such
officer or employee. Any person violating this provision shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be prosecuted therefore in
the same manner as public officers generally for the like offense
under the general laws of the state. Every officer and employee of
the city shall be deemed an officer within the meaning and provisions
of such general laws of the state for the purpose of this section.
