MEMBERSHIP OF THE COUNCIL
[Amended 4-13-2006 by Res. No. 2006-01; 12-1-2014 by Charter Res. No. 2014-01; 3-14-2024 by Charter Res. No. 2024-01]
All legislative powers of the town are vested in a Council consisting of five members, including the Mayor, all of whom shall be elected as hereinafter provided and who, subject to the provisions of Section 609 of this Charter, shall hold office for a term of four years or until a successor takes office. Councilpersons holding office at the time this Charter takes effect shall continue to hold office for the term for which they were elected and until the succeeding Council takes office under the provisions of this Charter. The term "Council," as used in this Charter, shall mean and refer to the Mayor and the four Councilpersons and is synonymous with the term "the Mayor and Council." The terms "Councilmember" and "Councilperson," as used in this Charter, are synonymous and refer to the members of the Council other than the Mayor.
[Amended 4-13-2006 by Res. No. 2006-01; 4-8-2021 by Charter Res. No. 2021-01]
A. 
Councilpersons shall have been a bona fide resident of the town for at least two years immediately preceding their election, shall be at least 25 years of age at the time of their election, and shall be qualified voters of the town. To qualify to remain in office, a Councilperson must remain a bona fide resident of the town for the full duration of his or her term of office.
B. 
As used herein, the term "bona fide residence" means a primary, full-time residence and shall be established by the following documentation:
1. 
A sworn affidavit filed concurrently with a candidate' s certificate of nomination as set forth in Section 608A of this Charter providing the candidate's current address, which shall be the location at which he or she actually lives and resides and constitutes his or her primary, full-time residence; and
2. 
Documentation of his or her primary, full-time residence, including:
a. 
Maryland voter's registration;
b. 
Current driver's license or identification card issued by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration;
c. 
Real property tax receipt, copy of a lease agreement for the residence, or an affidavit from the property owner or landlord confirming, under oath, that the property is the candidate's primary, full-time residence; and
d. 
Two of the following (with any personal or financial information and social security numbers redacted): bank statement, utility bill, W-2 form, and/or a Form 1099 issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
C. 
If, after election, a Councilperson changes his or her bona fide residence, he or she shall provide the documentation required in Subsection (B)(1) and (2) above establishing his or her new bona fide residence within the town.
D. 
If a majority of the Council determines that there is a genuine question as to whether a Councilperson is a bona fide resident of the town, the Council shall convene a hearing, written notice of which shall be provided to the Councilperson whose residency is in question at least 30 days in advance, at which he or she shall have the opportunity to present evidence and testimony regarding his or her residency. If, following the hearing, a majority of the Council determines that the Councilperson is not a bona fide resident of the town, then he or she shall be deemed to have forfeited the office of Councilperson, effective immediately and without any right of further appeal.
E. 
The residency requirements for sitting Councilpersons set forth in this section shall only be deemed to apply to those Councilpersons elected in 2021 and continuing thereafter.
F. 
If any Councilperson fails to attend four consecutive meetings without being excused by a majority of the remainder of the Council, then he or she shall be deemed to have forfeited the office of Councilperson, effective immediately and without any right of appeal.
The Mayor shall serve as President of the Council. The Council shall elect a Vice President of the Council from among its members, who shall act as President of the Council in the absence of the President of the Council.
[Amended 4-26-1991 by Res. No. 91-4; 3-14-2024 by Charter Res. No. 2024-01]
No Councilmember elected on or after the first Saturday in March 2025 shall receive a salary or other compensation but may be entitled to reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred while traveling on town business pursuant to any town policy in effect at the time such Councilmember's term commenced.
The Council shall determine its own rules and order of business. It shall keep a journal of its proceedings and enter therein the yeas and nays upon final action on any question, resolution, or ordinance, or at any other time if required by one member. The journal shall be open to public inspection.
[Amended 9-25-1992 byRes. No. 92-6]
The newly elected Council shall meet the first Monday following its election for the purpose of organization, and election of one of its members to serve as Vice President of the Council (Vice Mayor), 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 Clerk-Treasurer upon the request of the Mayor or a majority of the members of the Council. All meetings of the Council shall be open to the public except in special and appropriate circumstances when meetings may be closed in accordance with Subtitle 5 of Title 10 of the State Government Article, Open Meetings Law, of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended from time to time. The rules of the Council shall provide that residents of the town shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any meeting in regard to any municipal question
A majority of the members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but no ordinance shall be approved nor any other action taken without the favorable votes of a majority of the whole number of members elected to the Council.
[Amended 4-26-1991 by Res. No. 91-4; 7-14-2022 by Res. No. 2022-01]
No ordinance shall be passed at the meeting at which it is introduced. At any regular or special meeting of the Council held not less than six nor more than 60 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 case of emergency, the provision that an ordinance may not be passed at the meeting at which it is introduced may be suspended by the affirmative votes of four members of the Council. Except as otherwise set forth herein, every ordinance shall become effective at the expiration of 20 calendar days following approval by the Council. An emergency ordinance and an ordinance, or part thereof, passed under the authority of this Charter pertaining to levying property taxes for the payment of indebtedness, adoption of the annual budget, authorizing the annual tax levy, or levying special assessment charges, where the proceeds of such special assessment charges have been or are to be pledged to the payment of any bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred or to be incurred by the town for public improvements to be financed in whole or in part by each special assessment charge, shall become effective on the date specified in the ordinance, and may become effective immediately upon passage. No ordinance shall become effective until approved by the Council. A brief but fair description of each ordinance passed to include emergency ordinances shall be published at least two weeks in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in the town within 20 days of passage.
If, before the expiration of 20 calendar days following approval of any ordinance, a petition is filed with the Clerk-Treasurer containing the signatures of not less than 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. An emergency ordinance, or the part thereof requested for referendum, shall continue in effect for 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 60 days following receipt of the petition, then the operation of the ordinance, or the part thereof requested for referendum, shall be suspended until approval 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, or part thereof, passed under the authority of the section of this Charter pertaining to levying property taxes for the payment of indebtedness, adoption of the annual budget, authorizing the annual tax levy, nor to any ordinance or part thereof levying special assessment charges under the provision of this Charter, where the proceeds of such special assessment charges have been or are to be pledged to the payment of any bonds, notes, or other indebtedness incurred or to be incurred by the town for public improvements to be financed in whole or in part by each special assessment charge. The provisions of this section shall be self-executing but the Council may adopt ordinances in furtherance of those provisions and not in conflict with them, and the Council may voluntarily submit to a referendum any ordinance enacted by it, except those specifically excluded hereby.