No person related within the second degree by affinity or within
the third degree by consanguinity, to the Mayor, or to any member
of the City Council or to the City Manager, shall be appointed to
any paid office, position, clerkship or service of the City.
The Council may by appropriate ordinance, provide for the indemnification
and defense of the officers and employees of the City, including members
of the Council, or any board, commission, or committee, including
volunteers, against any loss, cost, or expense, including court costs
and attorneys’ fees, to the extent allowed by law, arising out
of any claim, suit, or judgment, or settlement thereof, resulting
from any alleged negligent act or omission of such officer, employee,
member, or volunteer during the discharge of his or her duties and
within the scope of his or her office, employment, membership, or
assigned voluntary position with the City, or in any other case where
the City is directed or authorized by law to do so, provided however,
that such indemnification will not be provided for any act arising
out of the intentional or knowing violation of any penal statute or
ordinance arising out of any conduct determined by final judgment
to be an act of fraud or to have been taken with the intent to deceive
or defraud, or for any personal or private business of such officer,
employee, member or volunteer, or for the gross negligence or official
misconduct, or willful or wrongful act or omission of such officer,
employee, member or volunteer.
All contracts entered into by the City of Lake Worth or for
its benefit, prior to the taking effect of this Charter, shall continue
in full force and effect. All rights, immunities, powers, privileges
and franchises now possessed by said City shall also continue in full
force and effect.
If any section or part of section of this Charter shall be held
invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not
affect the remainder of this Charter nor the context in which such
section or part of section so held invalid may appear, except to the
extent that an entire section or part of section may be inseparably
connected in meaning and effect with the section or part of section
to which such holding shall directly apply.
The City Manager shall, at least once every five (5) years,
review the Charter and make recommendations to the City Council for
proposed Charter amendments, if any. Amendments to this Charter may
be framed and submitted to the voters of the City in the manner provided
by State law.
The use of the singular number includes the plural, and the
plural the singular, words used in the masculine gender include the
feminine also, and reference to the City Council or Councilmember
shall include the Mayor, unless by reasonable construction, it appears
that such was not the intention of the language of this Charter. All
references to State law, or the laws of the State of Texas, however
expressed, shall mean as presently enacted or hereinafter enacted
or amended.
All ordinances of the City of Lake Worth now in existence and
not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter shall remain
in full force and effect until altered, amended or repealed by the
City Council. If parts of ordinances now in existence are inconsistent
with the provisions of this Charter, then such parts are hereby repealed,
but the remaining parts of such ordinances shall remain in full force
and effect until altered, amended or repealed by the City Council.
Before the City shall be liable for a claim or suit for personal
injury or damage to property, the person who is injured or whose property
is damaged, or someone on the person’s behalf, shall give the
City Manager or the City Manager’s designee notice in writing
duly verified within thirty (30) days after the occurring of the alleged
injury or damage was sustained, and setting forth the extent of the
injury or damage as accurately as possible, and giving the names and
addresses of all witnesses and upon whose testimony such person is
relying to establish the injury or damage. No action at law shall
be brought against the City for personal injury or damage to property
prior to the expiration of sixty (60) days after the notice hereinbefore
described has been filed with the City Manager or the City Manager’s
designee.
The general laws of the State of Texas and ordinances of the
Council shall furnish the authority for the power and exercise thereof
and control all matters to the extent not specifically and completely
covered by this Charter. In the event that City Charter and State
Law conflict, State Law provisions shall supersede with the exception
of when there is a more restrictive timeline and/or guideline.