Except as is otherwise expressly provided by law or by this
Charter, all powers of the Town shall be vested in Town Council ("Council").
Council shall consist of seven (7) members, elected from the
seven (7) respective Councilmanic Districts of the Town.
The terms of office of all members of Council shall be four
(4) years, beginning on the first Monday of January in the year following
their election. A member of Council who is appointed to fill a vacancy
shall serve the unexpired term of that vacancy.
The members of Council representing odd numbered Councilmanic
Districts shall be elected at the municipal election in November of
1975 and at the municipal election in November of each fourth year
thereafter. The members of Council representing even numbered Councilmanic
Districts shall be elected at the municipal election in November of
1977 and at the municipal election in November of each fourth year
thereafter.
Each member of Council must be a qualified voter of the Town
and resident of the Councilmanic District to be represented by him
or her at the time of election and continuously while serving in that
capacity.
(a)
Creation of Vacancies. A vacancy in the office of a member of Council
shall occur under the following circumstances:
(b)
Filling of Vacancies. If a vacancy shall occur on Council, Council
promptly shall fill such vacancy by appointing a qualified person
of the same political party as the person being replaced. Such vacancy
shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of Council,
regardless of number. If Council shall refuse, fail, neglect or be
unable for any reason whatsoever, to fill such vacancy within forty-five
(45) days after the vacancy occurs, then the Court of Common Pleas
shall be authorized, upon a petition of Council or of any ten (10)
electors of the Town, to fill the vacancy by the appointment of a
qualified person of the same political party as the person being replaced.
No member of Council shall hold any other compensated Town office
or Town employment while serving as a member of Council.
Each member of Council shall receive compensation at a rate
specified by ordinance from time to time, subject to the provisions
of this Section 308 and the applicable restrictions under the Constitution
and laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Unless and until changed
by an ordinance adopted after the effective date of this Charter,
the rate payable to all members of Council will be the highest rate
established for members of the Board of Township Commissioners of
McCandless Township (within the limitations imposed on the compensation
of members of that Board under the First Class Township Code) in an
ordinance duly adopted by that Board prior to December 31, 1974. The
rate of compensation of a member of Council shall not be increased
thereafter by more than ten percent (10%) at any one time, and it
shall not be increased more than once every four (4) years. Any such
increase in the rate of compensation to be paid to a member of Council
during a specific four (4) year term must be enacted by ordinance
on or before January 1, of the year in which that member of Council
is to be elected for the particular term.
Members of Council shall receive no other compensation, directly
or indirectly, for the performance of their duties as such. They shall
receive no pension, insurance or other form of fringe benefits, except
that nothing in this Section 308 shall preclude the Town from providing
accident and health insurance and liability insurance coverage for
members of Council in the performance of their official duties. Members
of Council shall be reimbursed for the reasonable expenses incurred
by them in the performance of their duties, provided that all such
expenses are fully disclosed and are recorded in appropriate public
records.
