Section 6. Where Powers Vested. Except as this charter
provides otherwise, all powers of the city shall be vested in the
commission.
Section 7. Commission. In addition to the Mayor, the
commission shall be composed of four commissioners elected
from the city at large for terms of four years each. The term of
office of each member in office at the date of amendments to
this charter in May, 1990 shall continue until expiration;
provided, however, that the term of city commission position
number 5 shall cease as of January 2, 1991. At the 1990
general biennial election, two members shall be elected, and at
the 1992 general biennial election, two members shall be
elected, and in each case on each fourth year thereafter, a like
number shall be elected. The term of office of each
commissioner shall commence on the 2nd day of January after
the election of that commissioner in the preceding November,
unless such date shall fall on a legal holiday, in which case
such term shall commence on the following day. No person
shall be elected to the office of commissioner for more than
two terms of four years in any ten year period. (Adopted by
voters at the City election held May 15, 1990)
Section 8. Commissioners. Each office of commissioner shall
be designated by number. The city recorder shall assign a
number to each of the four commission positions. The numbers
so assigned shall be certified by the city recorder to the
commissioner in office holding that position. One copy of the
certification shall be sent to the county elections officer. In all
proceedings for the nomination and election of candidates for
or to the office of commissioner, every petition for nomination,
declaration of candidacy, certificate of nomination or election,
shall state the position number of the office to which the
candidate aspires, and the candidate's name shall appear on
the ballot only for the designated position. Each voter shall
have the right to vote for only one candidate for each position
on the commission, and the candidate for each position
receiving the highest number of votes for such position shall be
considered elected. No person may file for more than one
position at any single election. (Adopted by voters at the City
election held May 15, 1990)
Section 9. Mayor. At the 1990 general biennial election, and at
every general election each four years thereafter, a mayor shall
be elected from the city at large for a four year term. The
mayor in office at the time this charter is amended in May,
1990, shall continue in office until January 2, 1991. The mayor
shall have been a resident of the city for at least twelve months
preceding election to that office and shall remain a resident of
the city as a condition of holding such office. No person may
file for the position of mayor and city commissioner at any
single election. The term of office of the mayor shall
commence on the 2nd day of January after the election of that
position the preceding November, unless such date shall fall on
a legal holiday, in which case such term shall commence the
following day.
Notwithstanding section 32 of this charter, if at any time after
January 2, 1991, the office of Mayor shall become vacant
before the normal expiration of that term, a special election
shall be held at the next available date to fill that office for the
unexpired term; provided, however, if one hundred eighty (180)
days or fewer remain in such term vacated, the commission
shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy for the remainder of
the unexpired term. (Adopted by voters at the City election
held May 15, 1990)
Section 9A. Commission President. The commission shall
meet at 8 o'clock P.M. on the first Wednesday in January after
the first general election under this charter and shall be called
to order by the mayor. The commission, including the mayor,
shall then proceed to elect a commission president by ballot
from their number who shall hold office for the term of one year
and until a successor shall be elected and qualified. The
commission president shall perform the duties of mayor in the
absence of that officer. In the absence of the mayor from the
city or the inability of the mayor to act, the president of the
commission shall have and exercise the power to perform all
duties of the mayor. (Adopted by voters at the City election
held May 15, 1990)
Section 10. Nominations. A qualified elector who has resided
in the city during the 12 months immediately preceding an
election may be nominated for an elective city office to be filled
at the election. The nomination shall be by a petition that
specifies the office sought and shall be in a form prescribed by
the commission. The petition shall be signed by not fewer than
50 electors. No elector shall sign more than one petition for
each office to be filled at the election. If he does so, his
signature shall be valid only on the first sufficient petition filed
for the office. The signatures to a nomination petition need not
all be appended to one paper, but to each separate paper of
the petition shall be attached an affidavit of the circulator
thereof, indicating the number of signers of the paper and
stating that each signature appended thereto was made in his
presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose
name it purports to be. Opposite each signature shall be
stated the signer's place of residence, identified by its street
and number or other sufficient designation. All nomination
papers comprising a petition shall be assembled and filed with
the recorder as one instrument not earlier than 120 nor later
than 61 days before the election. The recorder shall make a
record of the exact time at which each petition is filed and shall
take and preserve the name and address of the person by
whom it is filed. If the petition is not signed by the required
number of qualified electors, the recorder shall notify the
candidate and the person who filed the petition within five days
after the filing. If the petition is insufficient in any other
particular, the recorder shall return it immediately to the person
who filed it, certifying in writing wherein the petition is
insufficient. The deficient petition may be amended and filed
again as a new petition, or a substitute petition for the same
candidate may be filed, within the regular time for filing
nomination petitions. The recorder shall notify an eligible
person of his nomination, and that person shall file with the
recorder his written acceptance of nomination, in such form as
the commission may require, within five days of notification of
nomination. Upon receipt of the acceptance of nomination, the
recorder shall cause the nominee's name to be printed on the
ballots. The petition of nomination for a successful candidate at
an election shall be preserved in the office of the recorder until
the term of office for which the candidate is elected expires. In
lieu of nomination by petition, an elector may file for office by
payment of a $50 filing fee or such greater fee as the
commission may fix.
Section 11. Manager, Judge, and Other Officers. Additional
officers of the city shall be a city manager and municipal judge,
each of whom the commission shall appoint, and such other
officers as the commission deems necessary. The
commission may combine any two or more appointive offices,
except the office of city manager and municipal judge. In no
such combination shall the municipal judge be subject in his
judicial functions to supervision by any other office.
Section 12. Salaries. The compensation for the services of
each city officer and employee shall be the amount fixed by
the commission. A commissioner shall not receive a salary,
but may be reimbursed for expenses upon prior authorization of
the commission.
Section 13. Qualifications of Officers. No person shall be
eligible for an elective office of the city unless at the time of his
election he is a qualified elector within the meaning of the state
constitution and has resided in the city during the twelve
months immediately preceding the election. The commission
shall be the final judge of the foregoing qualifications and
election of its own members.
