The member of the City Council to be nominated from the City at large and to be known as the Mayor shall be the presiding officer of the City Council. The Mayor shall have a voice and vote in all its proceedings. He shall be the official head of the City for all ceremonial purposes and he shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter or as may be imposed by the City Council consistent with his office.
Neither the City Council nor any of its members shall order or request, directly or indirectly, the appointment of any person to an office or employment, or his removal therefrom, by the City Manager, or by any of the elective officers or other department heads in the administrative service of the City. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the City Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service under the City Manager solely through the City Manager, and neither the City Council nor any member shall give orders to any subordinates of the City Manager, either publicly or privately.
The City Council shall hold at least four regular meetings each month, at such times as it shall fix by ordinance or resolution and may adjourn or re-adjourn any regular meeting to a date certain which shall be specified in the order of adjournment and when so adjourned each adjourned meeting shall be a regular meeting for all purposes.
Special meetings may be called at any time by the Mayor, or by three members of the City Council in accordance with and pursuant to the procedures set forth in state law for the calling and conducting of special meetings.
Except to the extent otherwise permitted or required by this Charter, by ordinance of state law, all meetings of the City Council shall be held in the Council Chamber of the City Hall or in such place within the City to which any such meeting shall be adjourned and shall be open to the public. If by reason of fire, flood or other emergency it shall be unsafe to meet in the place designated, the meetings may be held for the duration of the emergency at such place as is designated by the Mayor or, if he should fail to act, by three members of the City Council.
Three members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time. In the absence of all the City Council from any regular meeting or adjourned regular meeting, the City Clerk may declare the same adjourned to a stated day and hour. Notice of such adjourned meeting shall be given or may be waived in the same manner as specified in this Charter for the giving or waiving of notice of special meeting of the City Council. The City Council shall judge the qualifications of its members as set forth by the Charter and shall judge all election returns. It may establish rules for the conduct of its proceeding to maintain the orderly conduct of meetings. Each member of the City Council shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations in any investigation or proceeding pending before the City Council. The City Council shall have the power and authority to compel the attendance of witnesses, to examine them under oath and to compel the production of evidence before it. Subpoenas may be issued in the name of the City and be attested by the City Clerk. Disobedience of such subpoenas, or the refusal to testify (upon other than constitutional grounds), shall constitute a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable in the same manner as violations of this Charter are punishable.
The City Council shall cause the City Clerk to keep a correct record of all its proceedings and at the demand of any member or upon the adoption of any ordinance, resolution, or order for the payment of money, the City Clerk shall call the roll and shall cause the ayes and noes taken on any question to be entered in the minutes of the meeting.
With the sole exception of ordinances which take effect upon adoption, hereinafter referred to, no ordinance shall be adopted by the City Council on the day of its introduction, nor within five days thereafter, nor at any time other than at a regular or adjourned regular meetings. At the time of adoption of an ordinance it shall be read in full, unless, after the reading of the title thereof, the further reading thereof is waived by motion of the City Council regularly made and approved by unanimous consent of the Councilmen present. At the time of adoption of a resolution it need be read in full only if, after reading of title thereof, the further reading thereof is requested. In the event that any ordinance is materially altered after its introduction, the same shall not be finally adopted except at a regular or adjourned regular meeting, held not less than five days after the date upon which such ordinance was so altered. The correction of typographical or clerical errors shall not constitute the making of an alteration within the meaning of the foregoing sentence.
No order for the payment of money shall be adopted or made at any other than a regular or adjourned regular meeting.
Unless a higher vote is required by other provisions of this Charter the affirmative votes of at least three members of the City Council shall be required for the enactment of any ordinance or resolution, or for the making or approving of any order for the payment of money.
Emergency Ordinance. Any ordinance declared by the City Council to be necessary as an emergency measure for preserving the public peace, health or safety, and containing a statement of the reasons for its urgency, may be introduced and adopted at one and the same meeting if passed by at least four affirmative votes.
In addition to such acts of the City Council as are required by this Charter to be by ordinance, every act of the City Council establishing a fine or other penalty, or granting franchise, shall be by ordinance.
The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be substantially as follows: "The City Council of the City of Compton does ordain as follows:"
The City Clerk shall cause each ordinance or a summary of the ordinance to be published at least once in the official newspaper within fifteen days after its adoption. A summary of the ordinance need include no more than a brief description of the subject matter of the ordinance, the names of the council members and how they voted on the ordinance, a statement that the full text of the ordinance is available at no charge from the office of the City Clerk, and the telephone number of the office of the City Clerk.
Any or all ordinance of the City which have been enacted and published in the manner required at the time of their adoption, and which have not been repealed, may be compiled, consolidated, revised, indexed and arranged as a comprehensive ordinance code and such code may be adopted by reference by the passage of an ordinance for such purpose. Such code need not be published in the manner required for other ordinances, but not less than three copies thereof shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the office of the City Clerk prior to the adoption thereof. Ordinances codified shall be repealed as of the effective date of the code. Subsequent amendments to sections of the code shall be enacted in the same manner as herein required for the amendment of ordinances generally.
Detailed regulations pertaining to any subject such as the construction of buildings, plumbing, wiring, or other subjects which require extensive regulations, after having been arranged as a comprehensive code, may likewise be adopted by reference in the manner hereinabove provided.
When Effective. No ordinance shall become effective until thirty days from and after the date of its adoption, except the following, which shall take effect upon adoption:
(a) 
An ordinance calling or other wise relating to an election;
(b) 
An improvement proceeding ordinance adopted under some law or procedural ordinance;
(c) 
An ordinance declaring the amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation, or fixing the rate of taxation; or
(d) 
An emergency ordinance adopted in the manner herein provided.
A violation of any ordinance of the City shall constitute a misdemeanor and may be prosecuted in the name of the People of the State of California or may be redressed by civil action or administrative action. The maximum fine or penalty for any violation of a city ordinance shall be the maximum fine or term of imprisonment, or both, authorized by state law.
The amendment of any section or sections of an ordinance may be accomplished solely by the re-enactment of such section or sections at length, as amended.
In the event that there is more than one newspaper of general circulation published in the City, the City Council shall annually, publish a notice inviting bids and contract for the publication of all legal notices or other matter required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the City during the ensuing fiscal year. In the event there is only one newspaper of general circulation published in the City, then the City Council shall have the power to contract with such newspaper for the printing and publication of such legal notices without being required to advertise for bids therefore. The newspaper with which any such contract is made shall be designated as the official newspaper for the publication of such notices or other matter for the period of such contract. In no case shall the contract price charged for such publication exceed the customary rates charged by such newspaper for the publication of legal notices of a private character.
Unless otherwise required by this Charter, or law, or ordinance, the City Council may employ other means of publication in lieu of newspaper advertising. In the event there is no official newspaper designated by the City Council, then, unless otherwise required by law, all legal notices or other matter may be published by posting copies thereof in at least three public places in the City designated by ordinance.
No defect or irregularity in proceedings taken under this section, or failure to designate an official newspaper, shall invalidate any publication where the same is otherwise in conformity with the Charter, or law, or ordinance.