[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 1-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
The legislative powers of the town shall be vested in a council, consisting of five council members who shall be elected at large as hereinafter provided, and who shall hold office for a term of two (2) years or until their successors take office. The regular term of council members shall commence on the first Monday following their election. Council members shall receive no salary for their services. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-3.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 2-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
Council members shall (1) be citizens of the United States, (2) have resided in the town for at least eighteen months immediately preceding their election, and (3) be qualified voters of the Town of Somerset and of the State of Maryland. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-4, Res. R-5-79, 7-24-1979.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 3-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
The council shall meet on the first Monday following the election of new members, or on such other date as the council may determine, for the purpose of organization, 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 town manager upon the request of the mayor or a majority of the members elected to the council. All meetings, regular and special, of the council shall be public meetings and open to the public at all times, and residents of the town shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at such meeting in regard to any town matter, except that the council may hold work sessions at which comments may be prohibited and special purpose meetings at which comments may be restricted to subjects on the meeting agenda. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent the holding of an executive session, but no ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation shall be finally adopted at such an executive session. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-5.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 4-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
(a) 
The mayor shall serve as chair of the council. The mayor may take part in all discussions, but the mayor shall have no vote except in case of a tie.
(b) 
The council shall each year, at its regular meeting following the election of new members, elect a president of the council from among its members, who shall act as chair of the council in the absence of the mayor.
(Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-6.)
A majority of the members elected to the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but no ordinance shall be approved without the favorable votes of at least three members of the council. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-7.)
The council shall by resolution determine its own rules and order of business. It shall keep a record of its proceedings and enter therein the yeas and nays upon final action on any ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation, and if required by any one member, on any other subject. The record shall be reasonably available for public inspection. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-8.)
No ordinance shall be passed at the meeting at which it is introduced, nor shall it be acted upon until notice of its introduction and title has been published as provided in section 83-87 of this Charter. At any regular or special meeting of the council held not less than six nor more than sixty 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 cases of emergency, all the above requirements in this section may be suspended by the affirmative votes of at least four members of the council. Every ordinance, unless it be passed as an emergency ordinance, or unless it is an ordinance adopting a budget, making appropriations, or levying property taxes or special benefit assessments, shall become effective at the expiration of thirty-six calendar days following approval by the mayor or passage by the council over his veto. An emergency ordinance, or an ordinance adopting a budget, making appropriations, or levying property taxes or special benefit assessments, shall become effective on the date specified in the ordinance, but no ordinance shall become effective until approved by the mayor or passed over his veto by the council. Each ordinance or a summary thereof shall be published as provided in section 83-87 of this Charter within twenty days after its approval by the mayor or passage over his veto. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-9; Res. R-4-95, 12-26-1995.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 5-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
All ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations passed by the council shall be delivered within three (3) days by the town manager to the mayor for his or her approval or disapproval. If the mayor approves any ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation, the mayor shall sign it; if the mayor disapproves it, the mayor shall not sign it. The mayor shall return all ordinances, resolutions, rules and regulations to the town manager within six (6) days after delivery to the mayor (including the days of delivery and return and excluding Sunday) with the mayor's approval or disapproval. Any ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation disapproved by the mayor shall be returned with a message stating the reasons for the mayor's disapproval. Any disapproved ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation shall not become a law unless subsequently passed by a favorable vote of at least four (4) members of the council within thirty-five (35) calendar days from the time of its return. If the mayor fails to return any ordinance, resolution, rule, or regulation within six (6) days of its delivery as aforesaid, it shall be deemed to be approved by the mayor and shall become law in the same manner as if signed by the mayor. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-10; Res. R-4-95, 12-26-1995.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 6-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
If, before the expiration of thirty-six (36) calendar days following approval of any ordinance by the mayor or passage of any ordinance over the mayor's veto, a petition is filed with the town manager containing the signatures of not less than twenty per centum (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, except that an emergency ordinance or the part thereof requested for referendum, shall continue in effect for sixty (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 sixty (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 adopting a budget, making appropriations, or levying property taxes or special benefit assessments. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-11; Res. R-4-95, 12-26-1995.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 7-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
The mayor or any council member may be dismissed from office by the qualified voters of the town in accordance with the procedure set forth in the following subsections.
(a) 
A petition seeking the recall of the mayor or any town council member shall state the reasons for the recall and must be signed by not less than twenty percent (20%) of the registered voters of the town. The petition shall be addressed to the town council and filed with the town manager.
(b) 
The town manager shall immediately notify the chair of the board of supervisors of elections of the filing of a petition for recall, and shall deliver the petition to the board. The board shall, within fourteen (14) days of the filing of the petition, ascertain whether the petition is signed by the requisite number of voters, and shall attach to the petition a certificate showing the results of its examination. If the board finds the petition to be sufficient, the town manager shall submit the petition to the council for action at its next regularly-scheduled meeting, if such meeting is scheduled within fifteen (15) days of the date of certification. If the next regularly-scheduled council meeting is scheduled for sixteen (16) or more days from the date of certification, the town manager shall schedule a special town council meeting to be held within fifteen (15) days of the date of certification.
(c) 
Upon receipt of a properly-certified petition, the council shall order a special election to be held on a date not more than sixty (60) days from the date of the certification by the board of supervisors of elections; provided, however, that if any town election is scheduled within ninety (90) days of the date of the board's certification, the council, at its option, may order that the recall vote be included on the general election ballot; provided, further, that if the term of the elected official who is the subject of a recall petition expires within ninety (90) days of the date of the certification by the board, no recall election shall be held.
(d) 
In its discretion, the council may hold a hearing on the recall petition, such hearing to take place not less than fifteen (15) days before the election.
(e) 
The recall election ballot shall read: "Shall (name of official) be continued in the office of (title)?" Following this question shall be the words "Yes" and "No" on separate lines, with a space to the right of each, in which the voter shall indicate a vote for or against recall. The question of recall shall be decided by a simple majority of votes cast.
(f) 
Within not more than twenty-four (24) hours after the closing of the polls, the board of supervisors of elections shall determine the vote cast on the recall question and shall certify the results of the election to the town manager who shall record the results in the minutes of the council.
(g) 
Any person whose recall is sought shall continue in office pending certification of the election results by the board of supervisors of elections to the town manager. The official's term of office shall terminate upon receipt by the town manager of the board's certifications that the official has been recalled.
(h) 
No recall petition shall be filed against any person until that person shall have been in office for at least three (3) months, nor shall any recall petition deal with more than one (1) public official.
(i) 
Any vacancy created by the recall of an elected official shall be filled in the manner prescribed in section 83-34 of this Charter.
(Res. R-7-88, 12-27-1988.)
[Amended 10-2-2017 by Res. No. 8-17, eff. 11-21-2017]
Ordinances shall be permanently filed by the town manager and shall be reasonably available for public inspection. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 59-12.)