All legislative powers of the City shall be
vested in a Common Council except as otherwise provided by this Charter
or by law. The Common Council shall consist of the Mayor, who shall
be its presiding officer, and five Aldermen elected by wards as presently
constituted.
At the first Common Council meeting in each
calendar year, the Common Council shall designate one of its members
as Deputy Mayor to serve as presiding officer of the Council in the
event of the absence or incapacity of the Mayor and to serve as acting
Mayor as hereinafter provided by this Charter. In the event that both
the Mayor and the Deputy are absent or unable to perform the duties
of the Office of Mayor, the remaining members of the Common Council
shall designate one of their number as Deputy Mayor and acting Mayor.
Beginning on January 1, 1982, the Common Council
shall consist of the Mayor, who shall be its presiding officer, and
five Aldermen, each of whom shall have been elected at the General
Election held in November 1981, from one of five wards containing
as nearly as practicable an equal number of residents according to
the 1980 Federal Decennial Census.
Within three months following official publication
of the results of each federal decennial or quinquennial census, if
such has been conducted, the Common Council shall review the ward
boundaries in relationship to the census results and make such adjustments
by local law as may be necessary to assure that each ward contains,
as nearly as practicable, an equal number of residents.
The Common Council shall be the judge of the
qualifications of its members and of the facts constituting grounds
for forfeiture of office and for that purpose shall have power to
subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and require the production of
evidence. A member charged with conduct constituting grounds for forfeiture
of his office shall be entitled to a public hearing on demand and
may appear in person or with counsel and examine and cross-examine
witnesses and shall have authority to subpoena witnesses and documents
on his behalf. Written notice of such hearing shall be filed with
the City Clerk and published in the official newspaper of the City
at least one week in advance of the hearing.
A.
The Common Council shall meet regularly at least twice
each month at such time and place within the City as it may prescribe
by rule. Special meetings may be held on the call of the Mayor or
of two or more other Council members, upon such notice as the Common
Council may prescribe by rule, unless all members consent, in writing,
and waive notice. Any official action of the Common Council shall
be taken only at an open meeting.
B.
The Common Council shall adopt its own rules of procedure
and order of business, and the minutes of its proceedings, the taking
and keeping of which shall be a responsibility of the City Clerk,
shall be a public record.
C.
Voting shall be by voice vote except that any member
may request a vote by roll call and the ayes and nays shall be recorded
in the minutes. A majority of the authorized number of Aldermen shall
constitute a quorum of the Common Council, but a smaller number may
adjourn from time to time and may compel the attendance of absent
members, in the manner and subject to the penalties prescribed by
the rules of the Common Council. No action of the Common Council,
except as otherwise provided herein, shall be valid or binding unless
adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the authorized number
of Aldermen. No Alderman shall be excused from voting on any matter
except by unanimous consent of all other Aldermen present.
In addition to other powers and duties conferred
or imposed upon the Common Council by this Charter or by law, the
Council shall have but not be limited to the following powers:
A.
To establish, abolish or consolidate administrative
offices, departments, boards, commissions and other such agencies,
except those created by this Charter, and to prescribe the functions
of all such agencies subject to applicable provisions of this Charter
and other laws.
B.
To increase, decrease or delete any item in the annual
proposed City operating budget and to add new items and to adopt such
budget pursuant to applicable provisions of this Charter.
[Amended by L.L. No. 5-2004, ref. date 11-2-2004; 8-20-2013 by L.L. No.
3-2013]
C.
To enact necessary appropriations ordinances.
D.
To levy all taxes and fix all service charges and
fees except as otherwise provided in this Charter.
E.
To provide for the performance by a qualified certified
public accountant or firm of an annual independent audit of City fiscal
accounts, including those of the water department, and such other
audits as it may deem necessary.
F.
To award all public contracts, subject to applicable
law. All bids in response to requests for bid issued by the Common
Council shall be sent or delivered, prior to the bid deadline to the
Office of the City Clerk, duly filed and recorded and thereafter to
be publicly opened and read at the time and place specified.
[Amended 1-21-1986 by L.L. No. 1-1986,
ref. date]
G.
To authorize the acquisition, retention and disposition
of real and other property by the City.
H.
To conduct investigations of any department, board,
bureau, officer or other agency of the City; and pursuant to such
an investigation to have access to all records and papers kept in
the custody of any department, board, bureau, officer or other agency;
to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books,
papers or other evidence at any meeting of the Council or of a special
committee thereof, and for that purpose to issue subpoenas signed
by the Mayor. This provision shall not apply to papers, records and
books where the production of same is otherwise prohibited by state
and federal law.
I.
Should the Mayor fail to appoint any position required
by the City Charter within 90 days of a vacancy therein, then the
Common Council may directly appoint such position.
[Added by L.L. No. 6-2004, ref. date 11-2-2004]
The Common Council shall act by local law, ordinance
or resolution.
A.
Local laws shall be enacted pursuant to the Municipal
Home Rule Law.
B.
Every proposed ordinance shall be introduced in writing.
A proposed ordinance may be introduced by any Alderman or the Mayor
at any meeting of the Common Council. The Common Council shall fix
a time and place for a public hearing thereon and the City Clerk shall
publish in the official newspaper a notice of such hearing setting
out the time and place and describing in summary form the content
of the proposed ordinance. The notice shall be published at least
seven calendar days prior to the date set for such hearing. Following
the hearing the Common Council may act upon the proposed ordinance
with or without amendments, but amendments shall not be deemed to
require a rehearing.
C.
A proposed resolution may be introduced by any member
of the Common Council at any regular or special meeting thereof and
may be adopted thereupon or at a later meeting by the affirmative
vote of not less than a majority of the Aldermen present.
D.
If the Aldermen present shall agree unanimously that
an emergency exists, in respect to a proposed ordinance, the notice
and public hearing requirements of this section may be suspended and
the Council may proceed to act forthwith on such proposed ordinance.
The Common Council may adopt any standard code
of technical regulations by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance.
The procedure and requirements governing an adopting ordinance incorporating
a standard code by reference shall be the same as those prescribed
for ordinances generally except that:
A.
It shall not be necessary to publish a copy of such
code or to describe the content of such code in the notice of hearing
or notice of adoption.
B.
A copy of each adopting ordinance shall be authenticated
and filed by the City Clerk in the City Clerk's office. Copies of
any code so adopted shall be made available for public distribution
by the City Clerk.
A.
Except as may be otherwise provided by Charter or
by law, every local law, ordinance and resolution, except a resolution
relating to the government of the Common Council or to the appointment
of officers, shall, within three working days following enactment
of adoption by the Common Council be certified by the Clerk and presented
to the Mayor for approval or veto.
B.
The Mayor shall, within fifteen calendar days following
certification of a local law, ordinance or resolution enacted or adopted
by the Council, affix his signature of approval or veto upon enactment.
If the Mayor shall fail to act within fifteen calendar days, the enactment
shall be deemed to have been approved by the Mayor.
C.
If the Mayor shall veto an action of the Common Council,
he shall return the proposed enactment to the City Clerk for transmittal
to the Council together with a statement of reasons for Mayoral disapproval.
At any meeting of the Council within 15 days after receipt of the
Mayor's veto, the Council, by a majority plus one vote of the authorized
number of Alderman, may override the veto.
[Amended by L.L. No. 11-1989, ref. date 11-7-1989]
Within 10 days following completion of legislative
and mayoral action on a proposed ordinance, the Clerk shall cause
a notice of the adoption of such ordinance to be published in the
official newspaper describing the content of the ordinance in summary
form. Every adopted ordinance shall become effective immediately with
regard to any person upon whom a copy thereof is served together with
the certificate of the Clerk and shall become effective 10 days following
publication of the notice of adoption with regard to all persons.
Local laws shall become effective as provided in the Municipal Home
Rule Law. Resolutions shall be effective as the Council may provide.
[Amended 10-20-2009 by L.L. No. 4-2009]
Bond resolutions adopted by the Common Council
shall be effective when either approved by the Mayor, deemed approved
by the Mayor, or upon override of the Mayor's veto by the Common Council.
