Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, as used in Charter:
"Shall"
is mandatory and "may" is permissive.
"City"
is the City of Sunnyvale and "department," "board," "commission," "agency," "officer," or "employee," is a department, board, commission, agency, officer or employee, as the case may be, of the City of Sunnyvale.
All references to gender shall be to both the masculine and feminine gender; such objective may be accomplished through the use of a slash mark between the masculine and feminine pronouns such as "he/she" or "him/her." Any reference in this Charter to "man" as a suffix indicative of the masculine gender, shall be stricken out and be replaced by either "member" or "person."
The changes incorporated in the paragraph immediately above, shall be reflected throughout this Charter in the next official printing thereof.
(Amended effective December 31, 1975)
Unless otherwise provided in this Charter, violation of any of its provisions is a misdemeanor and the penalty therefor shall be the same as established for misdemeanors under general law.
(Amended effective December 21, 1976)
If any provisions of this Charter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Charter, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.
For the purpose of nominating and electing members of the City Council, this Charter shall take effect from the time of its approval by the Legislature. For all other purposes it shall take effect on the Tuesday next succeeding the date of election of the first City Council at eight p.m.
CERTIFICATE
WHEREAS, the City of Sunnyvale, for years last past, has been and now is a city containing more than three thousand five hundred inhabitants, as ascertained by the last preceding census taken under the authority of the Congress of the United States or of the Legislature of the State of California; and
WHEREAS, on the 13th day of April, 1948, at a municipal election duly and regularly held on that day in the City under and in accordance with the provisions of Section 8, Article XI of the Constitution of the State of California, the electors of said City did duly choose and elect
William B. Adair
Ellis F. Meinecke
Albert L. Armanini
Homer A. Pfeiffer
Frederick A. Boomer
W.K. Plummer
Howard G. Diesner
Albert L. Swanson
Wilbur G. Fleckner
Leo H. Vishoot
Hugo F. Fox
Eugene A. Wahl
Jack C. Geiger
H.G. Wanderer
Walter L. Jones
 
who are electors of said City and eligible as candidates under said section, a Board of fifteen Freeholders to prepare a Charter for the government of said City; and
WHEREAS, the result of said election of Freeholders was duly declared by the legislative body on the 20th day of April, 1948, and said electors thereafter duly qualified as such Freeholders in accordance with law;
BE IT KNOWN that in pursuance of the provisions of said Constitution and within the period of one year after the result of said election was so declared, the Board of Freeholders has prepared and does now propose the foregoing Charter for the government of the City of Sunnyvale; and
BE IT FURTHER KNOWN that said Board of Freeholders hereby requests said legislative body of the City of Sunnyvale to cause the publication of said proposed Charter as provided in said Constitution and does hereby fix and designate the 10th day of May, 1949, as the date for the election at which the proposed Charter shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the City of Sunnyvale for their ratification and adoption;
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we the duly elected, qualified, and undersigned Freeholders of the City of Sunnyvale, County of Santa Clara, have hereunto set our hands at the City of Sunnyvale, County of Santa Clara, State of California, this 21st day of February, 1949.
William B. Adair
Ellis F. Meinecke
Albert L. Armanini
Homer A. Pfeiffer
Frederick A. Boomer
W.K. Plummer
Howard G. Diesner
Albert L. Swanson
Wilbur G. Fleckner
Leo H. Vishoot
Hugo F. Fox
Eugene A. Wahl
Jack C. Geiger
H.G. Wanderer
Walter L. Jones
 
CERTIFICATE OF MAYOR AND CITY CLERK OF THE CITY OF SUNNYVALE, COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
)
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA .
) ss
CITY OF SUNNYVALE
)
We, the undersigned, Chris Webber, Mayor of the City of Sunnyvale, and Ida Trubschenck, the City Clerk of said City, do hereby certify and declare as follows:
That the City of Sunnyvale, a municipal corporation of the County of Santa Clara, State of California, now is and at all times herein mentioned was a city containing a population of more than three thousand, five hundred inhabitants and less than fifty thousand inhabitants.
That the Board of Freeholders whose names appear signed to the foregoing proposed Charter were on the 13th day of April, 1948 at a municipal election duly and regularly held in the said City of Sunnyvale on said day elected by the qualified electors of said city to prepare and propose a Charter for said city in accordance with the provisions of Section 8, Article XI of the Constitution of the State of California.
That each of said Freeholders had been a qualified elector in said city for more than five years immediately preceding his election.
That said Freeholders were duly and regularly elected under and in accordance with the provisions of Section 8, Article XI of the Constitution of the State of California.
That the foregoing is a true copy of the said Charter proposed by said Freeholders.
That said Board of Freeholders did, in accordance with law and the provisions of Section 8, Article XI of said Constitution and within one year after their said election, prepare and propose said Charter for the government of said City of Sunnyvale which Charter was signed by the majority of the members of said Board of Freeholders on the 21st day of February, 1949, and thereafter to wit: on the 21st day of February, 1949, said proposed Charter was duly returned and filed with the clerk of the City of Sunnyvale.
That said proposed Charter was thereafter to wit: on the 25th day of February, 1949, and within fifteen days after such filing duly and regularly published once in the Sunnyvale Standard, a newspaper of general circulation printed and published in said City of Sunnyvale, and each edition thereof, during the day of publication.
That said Board of Freeholders did before filing said Charter as aforesaid, fix Tuesday the 10th day of May, 1949, as the date for Special election at which said proposed Charter was to be submitted to the electors of said City of Sunnyvale which date was not less than sixty days from the completion of publication of said proposed Charter.
That said proposed Charter was submitted to the qualified electors of said City of Sunnyvale at a special municipal election duly and regularly held therein on the 10th day of May, 1949.
That at said special municipal election a majority of said qualified electors of said City of Sunnyvale voting thereon at said special municipal election voted in favor of the ratification of said Charter as proposed as a whole, ratifying the same.
That thereafter the Council of the City of Sunnyvale duly canvassed the returns of the said special election and found and declared that the majority of said qualified electors voting thereon at said special election had voted in favor of ratifying said Charter, and ratified the same.
That in all matters and in all things pertaining to said proposed Charter, all the provisions of Section 8, Article XI of the Constitution of the State of California and the laws of said State, have been fully complied with in each and every particular.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, We have hereunto set our signatures and caused the official seal of the City of Sunnyvale to be affixed this 18 day of May, 1949.
CHRIS WEBBER
Mayor of the City of Sunnyvale
(Seal)
IDA TRUBSCHENCK
City Clerk of the City of Sunnyvale