[Home Rule Charter, Section 401]
The elected officers of the Municipality shall be the Mayor
and the Council, which shall consist of seven members. All elected
officers shall, at the time of their election and during their tenure
as such officers, be qualified and registered voters of the Municipality.
[Home Rule Charter, Sections 402 and 1002]
All elected officers shall be elected at large by the qualified
voters of the Municipality for four-year terms of office, commencing
on the first day of January of the year following the municipal election
at which they shall be elected. The Mayor shall be elected in the
year 1977 and at four-year intervals thereafter. Four of the members
of Council shall be elected in the year 1975 and at four-year intervals
thereafter, and three of the members of Council shall be elected in
the year 1977 and at four-year intervals thereafter.{15}
Officers of the Municipality elected by vote of the electors,
or appointed to fill a vacancy in such elected office, shall hold
such office until their respective terms shall expire but their power
and duties shall be those prescribed in this charter or those to be
exercised pursuant to this charter. Vacancies thereafter occurring
in any such office shall be provided for in this charter and shall
be filled in the manner and for the time provided by this charter.
Vacancies thereafter occurring in any office that is not provided
for as an elective office by this charter shall not be filled.
[Home Rule Charter, Section 406]
Every elected officer, prior to assuming office, shall take
and sign an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the
United States of America and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
to perform the duties of his office with fidelity. The oath, or affirmation,
may be taken and signed before any Judge or District Justice of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. No person shall be permitted to assume
such office until the oath, in written form, has been filed with the
Municipal Secretary.
[Home Rule Charter, Section 405]
Elected officers may receive compensation as shall be fixed
by Council from time to time, but such compensation or any change
therein shall not become applicable to any incumbent officer until
the commencement of a new term of office.
[Home Rule Charter, Section 403]
Vacancies in any elected office shall be filled by vote of Council
within 45 days after the occurrence of such vacancy. Every person
so appointed shall possess the same qualifications as herein set out
for persons elected to such office.
Every person appointed to fill any such vacancy shall be entitled
to hold such office for the balance of the unexpired term, so long
as he shall continue to possess the qualifications to the office,
except when the vacancy shall occur within 18 months after the commencement
of the elective term, in which case the person appointed to fill such
vacancy shall serve only until the first day of January of the first
even-numbered year following his appointment. The balance of such
unexpired term shall be filled by a person elected by the qualified
voters of the Municipality at the municipal election in the year preceding
such first day of January.
In any case, where Council shall refuse, fail or neglect or
be unable, for any reason whatsoever, to fill such vacancy within
the forty-five-day period aforesaid, the Court of Common Pleas shall
then, upon petition of Council or of any five citizens of the Municipality,
fill the vacancy by the appointment of a qualified voter of the Municipality,
who shall hold such office for the same period as if he had been appointed
by Council.
[Home Rule Charter, Section 404]
A Councilman or Mayor shall be subject to removal from office
by vote of Council if he violates any express provision of this charter;
is convicted of a crime more serious than a summary offense as defined
in Pennsylvania law; or fails to attend three consecutive regular
meetings of Council without having been excused by the Council.
