ARTICLE III
COUNCIL
SECTION 1 NUMBER AND TERM.
The Council shall consist of seven members elected at large for terms of four years, except as herein provided, commencing on the first day of January next following their election.
During the year 1973, the Council shall consist of the six present members of Council and one member to be elected by Council in the manner provided in Section 6 of Article III for a term expiring at the end of 1973. During the years 1974 and 1975, the Council shall consist of the two persons elected to Council for four-year terms at the November 2, 1971, regular Municipal election and the five persons elected at the regular Municipal election in 1973. Of the five persons so elected in 1973, the four receiving the highest number of votes shall serve for four years and the one receiving the fifth highest number of votes shall serve for two years. Thereafter, three members shall be elected at the regular Municipal election in 1975 and every fourth year thereafter, and four shall be elected in 1977 and every fourth year thereafter.
SECTION 2 QUALIFICATIONS.
Each member of Council shall have been a resident and qualified elector of the Municipality for at least three continuous years prior to his or her election and shall continue to be a resident of the Municipality throughout his or her term of office. A member of Council shall not hold any other public office, except that of Notary Public or member of the State Militia or Reserve Corps of the United States, unless otherwise provided in this Charter or by ordinance of Council.
SECTION 3 ORGANIZATION.
In January of 1973, and in January of each year thereafter, the Council shall meet in the Council Chambers of the Town Hall to organize.
SECTION 4 PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL AND PRESIDENT PRO TEM.
The Mayor shall be President of Council and shall preside at all meetings of Council. The Council shall, at the time of its organization each year, choose one of its members as President pro tem, who shall preside at meetings of Council in the absence of the President of Council.
SECTION 5 REMOVAL.
The Council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications of its own members. It may remove any member for gross misconduct, or malfeasance in or disqualification for office, or for the conviction while in office of a crime involving moral turpitude, or if adjudicated legally incompetent, or for a violation of his or her oath of office, or for persistent failure to abide by the rules of the Council, provided, however, that such removal shall not take place without the affirmative vote of five members of Council nor until the accused shall have been notified in writing of the charge against him or her at least ten days in advance of a public hearing upon such charge, and he or she or his or her counsel has been given an opportunity to be heard, present evidence and examine any witness appearing in support of the charge. The accused shall not vote on the question of his or her removal.
SECTION 6 VACANCIES.
Any vacancy in the Council or an office thereof shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of Council for the unexpired term. If the vacancy is not filled within thirty days after it shall have occurred, the Mayor shall fill it by appointment.
SECTION 7 COUNCIL MEETINGS.
The Council shall hold at least one regular meeting in each calendar month. A majority of the members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting of the Council, but a lesser number may adjourn the meeting from time to time. At any meeting at which a quorum is present, any ordinance or resolution may be passed or adopted, or any other action may be taken, by the affirmative vote of four members of the Council unless a larger number be required by the provisions of this Charter. The Clerk of Council shall keep a record of its proceedings in a journal in which the yea or nay vote of each Councilperson voting on every ordinance or resolution, and the action of Council on other measures, shall be recorded. All meetings of the Council shall be open to the public, except as otherwise permitted by law, and its journal shall be available for public inspection at all reasonable times. (Amended Nov. 7, 1989.)
SECTION 8 POWERS AND DUTIES.
The legislative powers of the Municipality, except as otherwise provided by this Charter or by the Constitution of the State of Ohio, shall be vested in the Council.
- The Council shall by ordinance make provision for:
- The time and place of regular meetings of the Council;
- The method of calling special meetings of the Council;
- The method of giving public notice of the enactment of its ordinances and resolutions and of any other of its acts or proceedings which it deems proper to publish.
- The Council may by ordinance make provision for:
- The form and method of enactment of its ordinances and resolutions, provided that no ordinance or resolution shall contain more than one subject which shall be clearly expressed in its title, and provided further that no ordinance or resolution of a general or permanent nature, granting a franchise, creating a right, involving the expenditure of money or the levying of a tax (other than a resolution providing for an election on the question of issuing bonds or levying a tax) or for the purchase, lease, sale or transfer of property shall be passed unless it has been read (in full or by title) on three different days, unless the requirement for such reading be dispensed with by the affirmative vote of five members of Council;
- The procedure for making public improvements and levying assessments, including the procedure for combining two or more public improvements and the levying of assessments therefor in one proceeding, if the Council finds that it will be economical and practical to undertake such improvements jointly, and provided that, in the event the improvements and levying of assessments provide for the completion of the water utility service throughout substantially all of the Village, not heretofore so serviced, that such water improvements and assessments be provided for in a Master Plan which shall be passed by Council.
- The procedure for the awarding of contracts, including contracts for the purchase, lease, sale or transfer of real or personal property.
- Such other general regulations as the Council may deem necessary.
(Amended May 2, 1995.)
SECTION 9 EFFECTIVE DATE OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS; EMERGENCY LEGISLATION.
Each ordinance or resolution providing for:
- The appropriation of money;
- An annual tax levy;
- Improvements petitioned for by the owners of a majority of the foot frontage of the property benefited and to be specially assessed therefor; and
- Any emergency ordinance or resolution necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety,
shall take effect, unless a later time be specified therein, upon its signature by the Mayor approving the same, or upon the expiration of the time within which it may be vetoed by the Mayor, or upon its passage after it has been vetoed by the Mayor, as the case may be. All other ordinances and resolutions shall take effect and be operative in the manner provided by the general laws of the State of Ohio.
Each emergency measure shall contain a statement of the necessity for such emergency action and shall require the affirmative vote of five members of Council for its enactment. No ordinance or resolution relating to any change in the boundaries of the Municipality, providing for the surrender or joint exercise of any of its powers, enacting, amending or repealing any zoning ordinance, or granting any franchise, shall be enacted as an emergency measure.
Notwithstanding any other provision in this Charter to the contrary, in the event Council shall pass or has heretofore passed an ordinance or resolution as a water service Master Plan as herein provided in Article III, Section 8(b)(2), such ordinance or resolution shall not become effective until Council submits such water service Master Plan ordinance or resolution to the electorate at the next regular Municipal or general election, if one shall occur not less than sixty days nor more than one hundred twenty days after passage of the measure, or at a special election within the time aforesaid, and such ordinance or resolution is approved by a majority of the electorate voting thereon. In the event a majority of the electorate voting thereon shall approve such water service Master Plan ordinance or resolution, no subsequent ordinances or resolutions relating to the completion of the improvements referred to within such Master Plan shall be submitted for approval of the electorate. In the event Council has passed an ordinance or resolution as a water service Master Plan prior to the May 2, 1995, election, and Council shall have caused the Clerk to have delivered by regular mail a summary of such Master Plan to each elector of Gates Mills whose name appears on the poll or registration books at the last preceding general Municipal election no less than thirty days prior to the May 2, 1995, election, and if the within Charter Amendment shall have been approved by a majority of the electorate voting thereon at such election, such approval shall be deemed to be an approval by the electorate of such Master Plan as required by this section.
(Amended May 2, 1995.)
SECTION 10 EMPLOYEES OF COUNCIL.
Council may employ such persons as it deems necessary for the proper discharge of its legislative duties, which persons shall serve at the pleasure of Council, except as hereinafter set forth.
SECTION 11 SALARIES, COMPENSATION AND BONDS.
Council shall fix the compensation of its members and of each official, employee and member of any board or commission of the Municipality. Any such person may be required by Council to furnish a bond for the faithful performance of his or her duties, and Council may provide that the premium for any such bond shall be paid by the Municipality. The compensation of the Mayor, Clerk, Treasurer and each member of Council shall be fixed at least thirty days before the time for filing nominating petitions for the terms beginning on the next succeeding first day of January, and shall not thereafter be increased in respect of any such terms or any part thereof, nor decreased except with the consent of the official involved. The compensation of each other official, employee and member of a board or commission shall be fixed by Council, and, subject to the power of Council to provide otherwise by ordinance or resolution, may be changed at any time in its discretion. Council may authorize the payment or reimbursement for travel or other expenses incurred in the interests of the Municipality by any official employee, or by any member of any board or commission of the Municipality.
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