Vacancy, how filled. Qualifica tion. Qualification. Qualifica tion. Rules of hundred dollars a month; shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations, and to certify and authenticate all records, documents, and papers in his official custody. He shall perform any other service required of him by the House. SEC. 45. Any vacancy occurring in either Board shall be filled by the Mayor; and the person appointed to fill such vacancy shall hold office till the next election by the people, and until his successor is qualified. SEC. 46. Every member of the Board of Aldermen shall be a qualified voter, at least twenty-five years of age, and shall have been a citizen of the United States and of this State, and a resident of such city, or city and county, for three years next before his election or appointment. SEC. 47. Every member of the House of Assistant Aldermen shall be a qualified voter, at least twenty-five years of age, shall have been a citizen of the United States and of this State, and a resident of such city, or city and county, at least two years, and of the ward from which he is elected or appointed at least one year next before his election or appointment. SEC. 48. Every member of either branch of the Municipal Council shall, at all times during his incumbency of said office, possess the following qualifications: He shall not be directly or indirectly interested in any contract with such city, or city and county, or any department or institution thereof. He shall not have been convicted of malfeasance in office, bribery, or other corrupt practices or crimes. Any member who fails to possess, or who shall at any time during his term of office cease to possess, any of the qualifications mentioned in this Act as a qualification, shall thereby forfeit his seat in the Board or House to which he belongs, and the vacancy shall be filled as in other cases. If any member of either branch absent himself from the State, or neglect to attend the meeting of the Board or House to which he belongs, for a period of thirty days, his office shall be declared vacant by said Board, and a successor must be appointed, to hold till the next election by the people, as provided in other cases. SEC. 49. Each Board or House shall elect its own officers, Aldermen. except as to the presiding officer of the Board of Aldermen. The Mayor shall preside at all the sessions of the Board of Aldermen without the right to vote. In his absence, during any session, the Board shall appoint one of its members as President pro tempore, who shall, however, have the same right to vote as other members. Each House shall be the judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members, and may determine the rules of its own proceedings, except as herein provided. Each House shall keep a record of its acts, and allow the same to be published, and the yeas and nays on any question shall, at the request of any member, be entered on the Journal of the House; may arrest and punish by fine, not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisonment as provided by ordinance, not exceeding thirty days, or both, any person not a member who shall be guilty of disrespect to the Board or House by disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence during its session; may punish its members for disorderly conduct, and, with the concurrence of two thirds of all the members elect, may expel a member. SEC. 50. The House of Assistant Aldermen shall elect Quorum. one of their own number presiding officer of said House, who shall be designated as the "Chairman" thereof. A majority of the members of either House shall constitute a quorum to do business; and no regulation, resolution, ordinance, or order of either House can pass without the concurrence of a majority of all the members elected or appointed to such House; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as the House or Board may provide. shall be SEC. 51. All sessions, acts, and resolutions of each House Sessions shall be public. Neither House shall, without the consent public. of the other, adjourn for more than seven days at any one time, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses may be sitting. to any other on contracts. SEC. 52. No member of the Municipal Council shall, during Not eligible the time for which he is elected, be eligible or appointed to office. any other office under the city, or city and county, except such offices as may be filled by election by the people; nor shall any member, while such, be an employé of such city, or city and county, or any Board or department thereof, or of either branch of the Municipal Council, in any capacity whatever; and no compensation shall be audited or paid for services as such officer or employé; and no act, ordinance, or resolutions shall ever be passed whereby any member of either House shall become the disbursing officer of such city, or city and county, or any Board or department thereof, or pay out any of its money upon any pretense whatever. SEC. 53. No member of the Municipal Council, or of the Limitations Board of Education, or any officer of such city, or city and county, or of any ward thereof, shall have any power to contract any debt or liability whatsoever against such city, or city and county, nor shall the people, or taxpayers, or any property therein, ever be liable to be assessed for, or on account of any debt or liability hereafter contracted, or attempted to be contracted, in contravention of this chapter. SEC. 54. The Municipal Council shall appoint a joint com- Finance mittee of five, three from the Board of Aldermen, and two from the House of Assistant Aldermen, to be denominated the "Finance Committee," which committee may, at any time, and shall, whenever required by the Municipal Council, or either branch thereof, investigate the transactions and accounts of any and all officers appertaining to the government of such city, or city and county, having the collection, custody, or disbursement of public money, or having the power to approve, allow, or audit demands on the Treasurer, and report thereon to the Municipal Council. Said committee shall have full power to send for all persons and papers, and enter into, examine, inquire, and investigate all offices Committee. and places, to administer oaths and affirmations, to examine witnesses, and compel their attendance by subpoena and attachment for contempt, and the production of records, books, and papers, and may imprison in the city or county jail any person refusing to appear or testify, as well as any officer or person failing or refusing obedience to the orders to show records, papers, or books, or to testify when required so to do. The Sheriff or any policeman of such city, or city and county, shall enforce all orders of said committee, and attend upon it in like manner as upon Courts of record. The Mayor may be present and participate in such investigations. SEC. 55. The Municipal Council shall meet on the first Monday after the first day of January, and on the first Monshall meet. days of April, July, and October, of each year, and at such other times as required by law, and may be specially convoked by the Mayor as herein provided. When Council Passage of ordinances. Amend ments, how SEC. 56. No ordinance shall be passed except by bill, and no bill shall be so amended in its passage as to change its original object. No bill shall contain more than one subject, which shall be expressed by its title. On the final passage of all bills the vote shall be by "yeas" and "nays" upon each bill, separately, and the names of the members voting for and against the same shall be entered on the Journal. Bills may originate in either House, and no bill shall be passed by either House except by a majority vote of all the members elected or appointed to either House. SEC. 57. No amendments to bills by either House shall be concurred in concurred in by the other except by a vote of a majority of all the members elected or appointed thereto, taken by yeas and nays, and the names of those voting for and against recorded upon the Journal thereof; and reports of committees of conference shall be adopted by either House only by the vote of a majority of all the members elected thereto, taken by "yeas" and "nays," and the names of those voting recorded upon the Journals. Reenacting ordinances. Reconsideration. Signing bills. SEC. 58. No ordinance shall be revived, reenacted, or amended, by mere reference to its title, but such ordinance or section shall set forth at length, as if it revived, reënacted, or amended. SEC. 59. When a bill is put upon its final passage in either House, and failing to pass, a motion is made to reconsider the vote by which it was defeated, the vote upon such motion to reconsider shall be taken up, and the subject finally disposed of at the next meeting of the Council, unless such House, by a two-third vote, decides to act upon such reconsideration at the same meeting. SEC. 60. No bill shall become an ordinance until the same shall have been signed by the presiding officer of each of the two Houses in open session, in authentication of its adoption by such House. In signing such bill for authentication, the presiding officer shall call the attention of the House to the bill, and that he is about to sign it, and if any member request, the bill shall be read at length for information as to its correctness as enrolled. If any member object that the bill is not the same in substance and form as when consid ered and passed by the House, such objection shall be passed upon, and, if sustained, the presiding officer shall withhold his signature, and the bill shall then be corrected, and finally disposed of, and signed, before the House proceeds to any other business. tion bills. SEC. 61. No general appropriation Act, or authorization, Appropriashall ever be passed, but all appropriations shall be for the specific amount of the claim to be paid, and no more; and each ordinance or resolution, authorizing the payment of money, shall contain one claim only, which shall be expressed in the title. Every ordinance or resolution of the Municipal Council providing for any specific improvement, the granting of any privilege, or involving the lease or appropriation of public property, or the expenditures of public moneys, except for sums less than five hundred dollars, or levying tax, or assessment, and every ordinance or resolution imposing a new duty or penalty, shall, after its introduction in either House, be published, with the "yeas" and "nays," in Publication. the newspaper doing the city and county printing, at least five successive days before final action upon the same by the House in which it was introduced; and in case such ordinance or resolution shall be amended before final passage in said House, then the bill, as amended, shall be so published, in the same manner, before final action by such House thereon; and every such ordinance, after the same shall have passed both Houses, shall, before it takes effect, be presented to the Mayor for his approval. If he approves, he shall sign it; if Approval. not, he shall return it within ten days to the House in which the same originated, with his objections in writing. Said House shall then enter the objections on the journal, and publish them in the newspaper doing the city printing. At the next stated meeting thereafter said House shall proceed to reconsider such bill. If, after such reconsideration, it again passes both Houses by the votes of nine of the members elected or appointed to each House voting therefor, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the Mayor's objections. Should any such ordinance or resolution not be returned by the Mayor within ten days after he receives it, it shall become valid, the same as if it had received his signature. Where a claim against the treasury amounts to more than five hundred dollars, it shall not be lawful to divide or break up the same into several sums of less than that amount so as to evade the provisions of this section concerning claims; and any effort or attempt to accomplish such unlawful division, or breaking up a claim, shall be deemed, as to every member of the Municipal Council or other officer consenting thereto, or aiding the same, a misdemeanor in office, and be cause for his removal. All ordinances authorizing the Reference to payment of any money out of the treasury, or any claim thereon, shall be referred to the appropriate standing committee of the House where the bill is introduced, who shall present the same to the Auditor, in order that he may certify that there is sufficient money in the proper fund out of which such claim can lawfully be paid, and that such appropriation can be made without violating the provisions committee. Powers. Enacting clause. Further powers. Selling and leasing property. Opening streets. Lighting streets. To provide water. of this chapter; and until the Auditor certifies in writing, signed by his name, that there is sufficient money in the proper fund, and that the authorization can be made without violating the provisions of this chapter, no further proceedings shall be had with such bill. It shall be the duty of the Auditor, with reasonable promptness, to ascertain the facts, and to give the certificate when the facts warrant him in doing so, and not otherwise. SEC. 62. The powers of the Municipal Council, and all other Boards, Commissioners, and officers, are those specially named in this chapter, and they are prohibited from exercising any other. SEC. 63. The enacting clause of ordinances shall be in the following terms: "The Municipal Council of the City and County of or City of -, (as the case may be), hereby ordains as follows." SEC. 64. The Municipal Council shall further have power by regulation or ordinance: First-To provide for the security, custody, and administration of all property of such city, or city and county, and to purchase land required for municipal purposes without any power to sell or incumber the same, or lease any part thereof for more than three years; except, however, that such personal property belonging to the fire, street, or other departments, as they deem unsuited to the uses and purposes for which the same was designed, or so much worn and dilapidated as not to be worth repairing, may be sold or exchanged. Second-To provide for cases omitted in this chapter, and in conformity with the principles adopted in it, for opening, altering, extending, constructing, repairing, or otherwise improving public streets and highways at the expense of the property benefited thereby, without any recourse in any event upon such city, or city and county, or the public treasury, for any portion of the expense of such work, or any delinquency of the property holders or owners. Third-To provide for lighting the streets. But no contract for lighting streets or public buildings shall ever be made for more than one year in duration; nor shall any contract to pay more for gas or other illuminating material than is legally charged to ordinary consumers, or than the usual market rates, be valid. Fourth-To provide water for all municipal purposes, and to pay for the same where lawful and necessary. In case water is supplied to such city, or city and county, for municipal purposes, any person, corporation, or association holding a valid franchise under the laws of this State to collect water rates for the use of water, then such city, or city and county, when it is lawful and necessary, shall pay the lawful rates, and no more, as established each year for water supplied for other than municipal purposes; and it shall not be lawful to make any special contract with such person, corporation, or association for water so as to vary from the rates fixed by law. |