This Charter shall become effective on the thirtieth calendar day following its adoption.
The Public Local Laws of Talbot County and all rules, regulations, resolutions, and ordinances of the County Commissioners in force at the time of the effective date of this Charter are repealed to the extent that they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter, but no further; and to the extent that they are not repealed because of inconsistency, all public local laws, rules, regulations, resolutions, and ordinances shall continue in full force and effect until repealed or amended.
All appointed officers and employees of the County government holding office at the effective date of this Charter shall continue to be employed at their existing compensation subject to the provisions of this Charter.
All reference in the Constitution and the laws of this State to the County Commissioners, at such time as the elected members of the first Council take office, shall be construed to refer to the Council if this construction is reasonable. The Council shall succeed to all powers vested heretofore in the County Commissioners by the Constitution and laws of this State.
Amendments to this Charter may be proposed by legislative act of the Council approved by not less than four-fifths of the members of the full Council. Amendments may also be proposed by petition filed with the Board of Supervisors of Elections of Talbot County and signed by not less than twenty percentum of the registered voters of the County, or 10,000 of the registered voters in case twenty per centum of the number of registered voters is greater than 10,000. When so proposed, whether by legislative act of the Council or by petition, the question shall be submitted to the voters of the County at the next general or Congressional election occurring after the passage of the act or the filing of the petition. If at the election the majority of votes cast on the question are in favor of the proposed amendment, the amendment stands enacted from and after the thirtieth calendar day following the election. Any amendments to this Charter shall be published by the Council in at least one newspaper of general circulation published in the County for five successive weeks prior to the election at which the question is considered by the voters of the County.