The city shall not be liable for damages sustained by any person
either to his person or property by reason of negligence of the city,
its officers or employees, nor by reason of any defective highway,
street, bridge, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert, or by reason of any
obstruction, ice, snow, or other encumbrance upon such highway, street,
bridge, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert situated in the city, unless
such person shall serve or cause to be served upon the Clerk within
60 days after such damages shall have occurred a notice in writing
and a statement that the person sustaining such damages intends to
hold the city liable for such damages as may have been sustained by
him. Such notice shall set forth substantially the time and place
of the damages, the manner in which they occurred, the extent of such
damages as far as the same has become known, and the names and addresses
of the witnesses known at the time by the claimant. No person shall
bring any action against the city for any damages to person or property
arising out of any of the reasons or circumstances aforesaid unless
he shall have first presented to the Clerk his claim in writing and
under oath setting forth particularly the nature and extent of such
injury and the amount of damages claimed by reason thereof, which
claim shall be presented to the Commission by the Clerk and the Commission
given opportunity to act thereon either by allowing or refusing to
allow such claim.
It shall be a sufficient bar and answer in any court to any
action or proceeding for the collection or any demand or claim against
the city under this section that the notice of damages and the verified
proof of the claim as in this section required were not presented
and filed within the time and in the manner as herein provided.
No estoppel may be created against the city.
All process against the city shall run against the city in the
corporate name thereof and may be served by leaving a true copy with
the Mayor, Clerk or Attorney.
After the effective date of this charter, the city shall be
vested with all the property, monies, contracts, rights, credits,
effects and the records, files, books and papers belonging to the
city.
No right or liability, either in favor of or against the city,
existing at the time this charter becomes effective and no suit or
prosecution of any character shall in any manner be affected by any
change resulting from the adoption of this charter, but the same shall
stand or proceed as if no change had been made. All debts and liabilities
of the city shall be the debts and liabilities of the city, and all
fines and penalties imposed at the time of such change shall be collected.
All trusts established for any municipal purpose shall be used
and continued in accordance with the terms of such trust, subject
to the cy pres doctrine. The Commission may in its discretion receive
and hold any property in trust for any municipal purpose and shall
apply the same to the execution of such trust and for no other purposes
except in cases where the cy pres doctrine shall apply.
Except as provided otherwise in this charter, a quorum of any
board or commission created by or pursuant to this charter shall be
a majority of the members of such board or commission in office at
the time, but not less than two members.
All records of the city shall be public, shall be kept in city
offices except when required for official reasons or for purposes
of safekeeping, and shall be available for inspection at all reasonable
times.
The requirement contained in this charter for the publishing
or publication of notices, ordinances or proceedings shall be met
by publishing an appropriate insertion in a newspaper published in
the English language for the dissemination of news of a general character
which newspaper shall have a general circulation at regular intervals
in the city.
In any case in which this charter requires the mailing of notices,
the affidavit of the officer or employee responsible for such mailing
that such notice was mailed shall be prima facie evidence of such
mailing.
Whenever the date fixed by this charter for the doing or completion
of any act falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, such act shall be done
or completed on the next succeeding day which is not a Sunday or legal
holiday.
The chapter, section and subsection headings used in this charter
are for convenience only and shall not be considered as part of the
charter.
Except as otherwise specifically provided or indicated by the
context:
(a) All words used in this charter indicating the present tense shall
not be limited to the time of the adoption of this charter but shall
extend to and include the time of the happening of any event or requirement
for which provision is made herein.
(b) The singular number shall include the plural, the plural number shall
include the singular and the masculine gender shall extend to and
include the feminine gender and the neuter.
(c) The word "person" may extend and be applied to bodies politic and
corporate and to partnerships as well as to individuals.
(d) The words "printed" and "printing" shall include reproduction by
printing, engraving, stencil duplicating, lithographing or any similar
method.
(e) Except in reference to signatures, the words, "written" and "in writing"
shall include printing and typewriting.
(f) The word "officer" shall include the Mayor and other members of the
Commission, the administrative officers, members of city boards and
commissions created by or pursuant to this charter, and the Justices
of the Peace.
(g) The word "default" shall be defined to include being delinquent in
taxes among its meanings.
(h) The word "statute" shall denote the Public Acts of the State of Michigan
in effect at the time the provision of the charter containing the
word "statute" is to be applied.
(i) All references to specific Public Acts of the State of Michigan shall
be to such acts as are in effect at the time the reference to such
act is to be applied.
(j) The words "law" or "general laws of the state" shall denote the Constitution
and the Public Acts of the State of Michigan in effect at the time
the provision of the charter containing the words "law" or "general
laws of the state" is to be applied, and applicable common law.
(k) All references to section numbers shall refer to section numbers
of this charter.
Any officer of the city found guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction of any act declared by this charter to constitute misconduct in office may be punished by a fine of not to exceed $500 or imprisonment for not to exceed 90 days or both in the discretion of the court. The punishment provided in this section shall be in addition to that of having the office declared vacant as provided in §§
C-5.2 and 5.3.
This charter may be amended at any time in the manner provided
by statute. Should two or more amendments adopted at the same election
have conflicting provisions the one receiving the largest affirmative
vote shall prevail as to those provisions.
If any provision, section, article or clause of this charter
or the application thereof to any person or circumstances shall be
found to be invalid by a court, such invalidity shall not affect any
remaining portion or application of the charter which can be given
effect without the invalid portion or application, provided such remaining
portions or applications are not determined by the court to be inoperable
and to this end this charter is declared to be severable.