MEMBERSHIP OF THE COUNCIL
[Amended 4-13-2006 by Res. No. 2006-01; 12-1-2014 by Charter Res. No. 2014-01]
All legislative powers of the town are vested in a Council consisting
of five members, including the Mayor, all of whom shall be elected
as hereinafter provided and who shall hold office for a term of four
years or until a successor takes office. Councilpersons holding office
at the time this Charter takes effect shall continue to hold office
for the term for which they were elected and until the succeeding
Council takes office under the provisions of this Charter. The term
"Council," as used in this Charter, shall mean and refer to the Mayor
and the four Councilpersons and is synonymous with the term "the Mayor
and Council." The terms "Councilmember" and "Councilperson," as used
in this Charter, are synonymous and refer to the members of the Council
other than the Mayor.
[Amended 4-13-2006 by Res.
No. 2006-01; 4-8-2021 by Charter Res. No. 2021-01]
A.
Councilpersons
shall have been a bona fide resident of the town for at least two
years immediately preceding their election, shall be at least 25 years
of age at the time of their election, and shall be qualified voters
of the town. To qualify to remain in office, a Councilperson must
remain a bona fide resident of the town for the full duration of his
or her term of office.
B.
As used
herein, the term "bona fide residence" means a primary, full-time
residence and shall be established by the following documentation:
1.
A sworn
affidavit filed concurrently with a candidate' s certificate of nomination
as set forth in Section 608A of this Charter providing the candidate's
current address, which shall be the location at which he or she actually
lives and resides and constitutes his or her primary, full-time residence;
and
2.
Documentation
of his or her primary, full-time residence, including:
a.
Maryland
voter's registration;
b.
Current
driver's license or identification card issued by the Maryland Motor
Vehicle Administration;
c.
Real
property tax receipt, copy of a lease agreement for the residence,
or an affidavit from the property owner or landlord confirming, under
oath, that the property is the candidate's primary, full-time residence;
and
d.
Two
of the following (with any personal or financial information and social
security numbers redacted): bank statement, utility bill, W-2 form,
and/or a Form 1099 issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
C.
If, after
election, a Councilperson changes his or her bona fide residence,
he or she shall provide the documentation required in Subsection (B)(1)
and (2) above establishing his or her new bona fide residence within
the town.
D.
If a majority
of the Council determines that there is a genuine question as to whether
a Councilperson is a bona fide resident of the town, the Council shall
convene a hearing, written notice of which shall be provided to the
Councilperson whose residency is in question at least 30 days in advance,
at which he or she shall have the opportunity to present evidence
and testimony regarding his or her residency. If, following the hearing,
a majority of the Council determines that the Councilperson is not
a bona fide resident of the town, then he or she shall be deemed to
have forfeited the office of Councilperson, effective immediately
and without any right of further appeal.
E.
The residency
requirements for sitting Councilpersons set forth in this section
shall only be deemed to apply to those Councilpersons elected in 2021
and continuing thereafter.
F.
If any
Councilperson fails to attend four consecutive meetings without being
excused by a majority of the remainder of the Council, then he or
she shall be deemed to have forfeited the office of Councilperson,
effective immediately and without any right of appeal.
The Council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications
of its members.
The Mayor shall serve as President of the Council. 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.
[Amended 4-26-1991 by Res.
No. 91-4]
Each Councilmember shall receive an annual salary the amount
of which shall be specified from time to time by an ordinance passed
by the Council in the regular course of its business. The salary for
each Councilmember shall be equal except that the salary specified
at the time any Councilmember takes office shall not be changed during
the period for which the Councilmember was elected.
Vacancies in the Council shall be filled as provided in Section
614 of this Charter.
PROCEDURE OF 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 on any question, resolution, or ordinance,
or at any other time if required by one member. The journal shall
be open to public inspection.
[Amended 9-25-1992 byRes. No. 92-6]
The newly elected Council shall meet the first Monday following
its election for the purpose of organization, and election of one
of its members to serve as Vice President of the Council (Vice Mayor),
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 in
special and appropriate circumstances when meetings may be closed
in accordance with Subtitle 5 of Title 10 of the State Government
Article, Open Meetings Law, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as
amended from time to time. The rules of the Council shall provide
that residents of the town shall have a reasonable opportunity to
be heard at any meeting in regard to any municipal question
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.
[Amended 4-26-1991 by Res. No. 91-4; 7-14-2022 by Res. No. 2022-01]
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 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 case
of emergency, the provision that an ordinance may not be passed at
the meeting at which it is introduced may be suspended by the affirmative
votes of four members of the Council. Except as otherwise set forth
herein, every ordinance shall become effective at the expiration of
20 calendar days following approval by the Council. An emergency ordinance
and an ordinance, or part thereof, passed under the authority of this
Charter pertaining to levying property taxes for the payment of indebtedness,
adoption of the annual budget, authorizing the annual tax levy, or
levying special assessment charges, where the proceeds of such special
assessment charges have been or are to be pledged to the payment of
any bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred or to be incurred
by the town for public improvements to be financed in whole or in
part by each special assessment charge, shall become effective on
the date specified in the ordinance, and may become effective immediately
upon passage. No ordinance shall become effective until approved by
the Council. A brief but fair description of each ordinance passed
to include emergency ordinances shall be published at least two weeks
in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in the town
within 20 days of passage.
If, before the expiration of 20 calendar days following approval
of any ordinance, a petition is filed with the Clerk-Treasurer 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 Council 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 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 approval
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 the
section of this Charter pertaining to levying property taxes for the
payment of indebtedness, adoption of the annual budget, authorizing
the annual tax levy, nor to any ordinance or part thereof levying
special assessment charges under the provision of this Charter, where
the proceeds of such special assessment charges have been or are to
be pledged to the payment of any bonds, notes, or other indebtedness
incurred or to be incurred by the town for public improvements to
be financed in whole or in part by each special assessment charge.
The provisions of this section shall be self-executing but the Council
may adopt ordinances in furtherance of those provisions and not in
conflict with them, and the Council may voluntarily submit to a referendum
any ordinance enacted by it, except those specifically excluded hereby.
Ordinances shall be permanently filed by the Clerk-Treasurer
and shall be kept available for public inspection.
