No person shall be an Alderman unless he/she be at least twenty-one
(21) years of age, a citizen of the United States, and an inhabitant
and resident of the City for one (1) year next preceding his/her election,
and a resident of the ward from which he/she is elected.
No person shall be Mayor unless he/she be at least twenty-five
(25) years of age, a citizen of the United States and a resident of
the City at the time of and for at least one (1) year next preceding
his/her election.
The Board shall elect one (1) of their own number who shall
be styled "Acting President of the Board of Aldermen" and who shall serve for a term of one (1) year.
When any vacancy shall happen in the office of Mayor by death,
resignation, removal from the City, removal from office, refusal to
qualify, or from any other cause whatever, the Acting President of
the Board of Aldermen shall, for the time being, perform the duties
of Mayor, with all the rights, privileges, powers and jurisdiction
of the Mayor, until such vacancy be filled or such disability be removed;
or, in case of temporary absence, until the Mayor's return.
The Mayor and Board of Aldermen of each City governed by this
Chapter shall have the care, management and control of the City and
its finances, and shall have power to enact and ordain any and all
ordinances not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of this State,
and such as they shall deem expedient for the good Government of the
City, the preservation of peace and good order, the benefit of trade
and commerce and the health of the inhabitants thereof, and such other
ordinances, rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary to carry
such powers into effect, and to alter, modify or repeal the same.
[Ord. No. A-479 §§1 —
2, 2-9-2016]
A. The compensation of the Mayor and members of the Board of Aldermen
shall be changed from five dollars ($5.00) per meeting to thirty dollars
($30.00) per meeting.
B. This Section shall become effective April 6, 2016, for officers elected
April 5, 2016, and on April 5, 2017, for officers elected on April
4, 2017.
The Mayor shall have a seat in and preside over the Board of
Aldermen, but shall not vote on any question except in case of a tie,
nor shall he/she preside or vote in cases when he/she is an interested
party. He/she shall exercise a general supervision over all the officers
and affairs of the City, and shall take care that the ordinances of
the City, and the State laws relating to such City, are complied with.
The style of the ordinances of the City shall be: "Be it ordained
by the Board of Aldermen of the City of Lockwood, as follows:" No
ordinance shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall become
an ordinance unless on its final passage a majority of the members
elected to the Board of Aldermen shall vote for it, and the "ayes"
and "nays" be entered on the journal. Every proposed ordinance shall
be introduced to the Board of Aldermen in writing and shall be read
by title or in full two (2) times prior to passage, both readings
may occur at a single meeting of the Board of Aldermen. If the proposed
ordinance is read by title only, copies of the proposed ordinance
shall be made available for public inspection prior to the time the
bill is under consideration by the Board of Aldermen. No bill shall
become an ordinance until it shall have been signed by the Mayor or
person exercising the duties of the Mayor's office, or shall have
been passed over the Mayor's veto, as herein provided.
Every bill duly passed by the Board of Aldermen and presented
to the Mayor and by him/her approved shall become an ordinance, and
every bill presented as aforesaid, but returned with the Mayor's objections
thereto, shall stand reconsidered. The Board of Aldermen shall cause
the objections of the Mayor to be entered at large upon the journal,
and proceed at its convenience to consider the question pending, which
shall be in this form: "Shall the bill pass, the objections of the
Mayor thereto notwithstanding?" The vote on this question shall be
taken by "ayes" and "nays" and the names entered upon the journal,
and if two-thirds (⅔) of all the members-elect shall vote in
the affirmative, the City Clerk shall certify the fact on the roll,
and the bill thus certified shall be deposited with the proper officer,
and shall become an ordinance in the same manner and with like effect
as if it had received the approval of the Mayor. The Mayor shall have
power to sign or veto any ordinance passed by the Board of Aldermen;
provided, that should he/she neglect or refuse to sign any ordinance
and return the same with his/her objections, in writing, at the next
regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen, the same shall become a
law without his/her signature.
The Board of Aldermen shall cause to be kept a journal of its
proceedings, and the "ayes" and "nays" shall be entered on any question
at the request of any two (2) members. The Board of Aldermen may prescribe
and enforce such rules as it may find necessary for the expeditious
transaction of its business.
The Board of Aldermen shall semi-annually each year, at times
to be set by the Board of Aldermen, make out and spread upon their
records a full and detailed account and statement of the receipts
and expenditures and indebtedness of the City for the half year ending
with the last day of the month immediately preceding the date of such
report, which account and statement shall be published in some newspaper
in the City.
In the event the financial statement of any Fourth Class City is not published as required by Section
110.100, the Treasurer of such City shall not pay out any money of the City on any warrant or order of the Board of Aldermen after the end of the month in which such financial statement should have been published until such time as such financial statement is published. Any Treasurer violating the provisions of this Section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
The Board of Aldermen shall have power to compel the attendance
of witnesses and the production of papers and records relating to
any subject under consideration in which the interest of the City
is involved, and shall have power to call on the proper officers of
the City, or of the County in which such City is located, to execute
such process. The officer making such service shall be allowed to
receive therefor such fees as are allowed by law in the Circuit Court
for similar services, to be paid by the City. The Mayor or Acting
President of the Board of Aldermen shall have power to administer
oaths to witnesses.
The Mayor shall sign the commissions and appointments of all
City Officers elected or appointed in the City, and shall approve
all official bonds unless otherwise prescribed by ordinance.
The Mayor shall be active and vigilant in enforcing all laws
and ordinances for the Government of the City, and he/she shall cause
all subordinate officers to be dealt with promptly for any neglect
or violation of duty; and he/she is hereby authorized to call on every
male inhabitant of the City over eighteen (18) years of age and under
fifty (50), to aid in enforcing the laws.
The Mayor shall, from time to time, communicate to the Board
of Aldermen such measures as may, in his/her opinion, tend to the
improvement of the finances, the Police, health, security, ornament,
comfort and general prosperity of the City.
The Mayor shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, and
to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses arising under the ordinances
of the City; but this Section shall not be so construed as to authorize
the Mayor to remit any costs which may have accrued to any officer
of said City by reason of any prosecution under the laws or ordinances
of such City.
The Board of Aldermen of the City of Lockwood, Missouri, shall
meet in regular session at least once a month, on the second (2nd)
Monday of each month.
Special meetings may be called by the Mayor or by any two (2)
members of the Board by written request filed with the City Clerk,
who shall thereupon prepare a notice of such special meeting in conformance
with Chapter 610, RSMo.
At the hour appointed, the Mayor, or in his/her absence the
Acting President of the Board of Aldermen, shall call the Board to
order, the Clerk shall call the roll of members and announce whether
or not a quorum is present. Three (3) of the Aldermen shall constitute
a quorum. If a quorum not be present, a smaller number may lawfully
adjourn the meeting from day to day until a quorum is present.
[Ord. No. A-557, 3-31-2020]
A. Policy
Statement. While it is legally permissible for members of the City’s
public governmental bodies to attend meetings and vote via video conference
transmission, a member’s use of video conference attendance
should occur only sparingly. Because it is good public policy for
citizens to have the opportunity to meet with their elected officials
face-to-face, elected members of a public governmental body should
endeavor to be physically present at all meetings unless attendance
is unavoidable after exercising due diligence to arrange for physical
presence at the meeting. The primary purpose of attendance by video
conference connection should be to accommodate the public governmental
body as a whole to allow meetings to occur when circumstances would
otherwise prevent the physical attendance of a quorum of the body’s
members. A secondary purpose of attendance by video conference should
be to ensure that all members may participate in business of the public
governmental body that is emergency or highly important in nature
and arose quickly so as to make attendance at a regular meeting practically
impossible. Except in emergency situations, all efforts should be
expended to ensure that a quorum of the members of the public governmental
body be physically present at the normal meeting place of the body.
B. Video
Conference Defined. For purposes of this Section “video conference”
or “video-conferencing” shall refer to a means of communication
where at least one (1) member of a public government body participates
in the public meeting via an electronic connection made up of three (3)
components: (1) a live video transmission of the member of the public
governmental body not in physical attendance; or (2) a live audio
transmission allowing the member of the public governmental body not
in physical attendance to be heard by those in physical attendance;
or (3) a live audio transmission allowing the member of the public
governmental body not in physical attendance to hear those in physical
attendance at a meeting. If at any time during a meeting one (1) or
more of the elements of a video conference becomes compromised (e.g.,
if any participants are unable to see, hear, or fully communicate),
then the video conference participant is deemed immediately absent
and this absence should be reflected in the minutes. A video conference
participant’s absence may compromise a quorum in which case
the applicable Missouri laws shall take effect regarding a broken
quorum.
C. Frequency Of Use Of Video Conference Attendance. A member of a public governmental body shall not attend more than two (2) meetings via video conference in a rolling twelve-month period, unless specifically waived and additional appearances be allowed by a majority of the Board of Aldermen. In keeping with the policy stated in Subsection
(A) above, attendance via video conference should only occur sparingly and for good cause. Such good cause shall be at the discretion of the member seeking to attend by video conference, but shall be for significant reasons, including, but not limited to, serious illness or injury of the member or a member of his or her immediate family, including father or mother, spouse, sibling, child, or grandchild and declared National or State of Missouri declaration of a State of Emergency.
D. Physical
Location. Members of the public may not participate in a public meeting
of a governmental body via video conference. The public wishing to
attend a meeting, and elected officials not participating via video-conferencing
of a meeting, shall participate at the physical location where meetings
of the public governmental body are typically held, or as provided
in a notice provided in accordance with the Sunshine Law.
E. Public
Access. If the governmental body chooses to have a meeting by telephone
or other electronic means and there exist no physical location of
the meeting. The public governmental body shall include in their meeting
notice, information on how the public may access that meeting via
telephone or other electronic means.
F. Quorum.
Members of the governmental body must be at the physical location
for the meeting or appearing by “video conference” to
be counted towards the quorum. Any member appearing solely by voice
or conference call is not counted as present for quorum.
G. Participation.
The public governmental body shall cause there to be provided at the
physical location communication equipment consisting of an audio and
visual display, and a camera and microphone so that the member(s)
of the public governmental body participating via video-conferencing,
the members of the public governmental body in physical attendance,
and the public in physical attendance may actively participate in
the meeting in accordance with rules of meeting decorum. The communication
equipment at the physical location of the meeting must allow for all
meeting attendees to see, hear, and fully communicate with the video-conferencing
participant. This requirement shall be subject to social interaction
limitations or restrictions as duly enacted by the Lockwood Board
of Aldermen, State of Missouri or United States of America.
H. Voting. Elected members of a public governmental body attending a public meeting of that governmental body via video conference are deemed present for purposes of participating in a roll call vote to the same effect elected members of a public governmental body in physical attendance at a public meeting of that governmental body are deemed present. As indicated in Subsection
(B) above, if any component of the video conference communication fails during the meeting, the member attending the meeting by video conference whose connection failed shall be deemed absent immediately upon such failure, and if the public governmental body was in the act of voting, the voting shall stop until all of the components of video conference attendance are again restored and the video conference participant’s presence is again noted in the minutes.
I. Closed
Meetings. In a meeting where a member of a public governmental body
is participating via video-conferencing and the meeting goes into
a closed session, all provisions of Missouri law and City ordinances
relating to closed sessions apply. Upon the public governmental body’s
vote to close the meeting, all members of the general public shall
not be present. Likewise, a member of a public governmental body participating
via video-conferencing must ensure there are no members of the public
present at their location to see, hear, or otherwise communicate during
the closed session. The member must also take all reasonable precautions
to guard against interception of communication by others. Failure
to ensure the requirements of this Subsection may result in corrective
action by the full public governmental body in accordance with the
City of Lockwood ordinances and regulations.
J. Minutes.
In the meeting, whether in open or in closed session, the minutes
taken should reflect the member, if any, participating via video conference;
the members in physical attendance; and members, if any, absent.
K. Emergency
Meetings. In the event that emergency circumstances create impossibility
for the members of a public governmental body to physically attend,
the body as a whole may meet, and if necessary, vote pursuant to Section
610.015, RSMo., by telephone, facsimile, internet or any other voice
or electronic means. Examples of such emergency circumstances, include,
but are not limited to, declaration of national emergency, war, riot,
terrorism, widespread fire, or natural disaster such as earthquake,
tornado, hurricane, flood, or blizzard. To the extent possible in
such circumstances, the public governmental body shall use reasonable
efforts to cause a physical location to be provided for public attendance
and participation.