ARTICLE III
THE COUNCIL
SECTION 3.01. POWERS, NUMBER AND TERM.
All legislative powers of the Municipality under this Charter, together with all such powers conferred upon municipalities by the Constitution and laws of Ohio, shall be vested in a Council of nine (9) members.
Six (6) members shall be elected by the electors of each of the six (6) wards herein provided, one (1) from each ward, and three (3) members shall be elected at large by the electors of the Municipality.
The terms shall be staggered, shall be for a period of four (4) years, beginning on January 1st next following the member’s election, and the member shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified. (11-3-1992.)
SECTION 3.02. QUALIFICATIONS.
Each member of Council at the time of filing a petition for nomination for said office shall have been a bona fide resident, qualified elector and registered voter of this Municipality for one (1) year prior to that date, and shall so remain during such member’s term of office. Each member of Council representing a Ward of the City at the time of filing a petition for nomination for said office shall also have been a bona fide resident of that Ward for one (1) year prior to that date, and shall so remain during such member’s term of office.
No member of Council, while serving as a member of Council, shall hold any other elected public office, nor be otherwise employed by, nor hold any other office in, this Municipality. No member shall be interested in the profits or emoluments of any contract, job, work, or service for which monies of the Municipality are, or will be, expended. (11-7-2000.)
SECTION 3.03. VACANCIES.
Whenever the office of a member of Council becomes vacant for any reason it shall be filled by an appointment by the majority of the remaining members of Council. If the vacancy occurs before the expiration of two years of that Council member’s term, a successor shall then be elected to complete the unexpired term, at a special election on a date, set by Council, no later than 90 days (120 days if another election will occur within the City during that time) after the vacancy occurs; that date may, but need not be, also the date of any other election occurring in the City. The person appointed by Council may be a candidate for election.
Any vacancy in an office of a member representing a ward shall be filled from that ward.
If Council fails, within 30 days from the date of that vacancy, to fill that vacant office by appointment which it has the right to make under this section , the Mayor shall fill it by appointment. (11-7-2000; 11-2-2004.)
SECTION 3.04. REMOVAL.
The Council shall be the sole judge of the election and qualifications of its members. It may remove from office any member for gross misconduct, misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in or disqualification for office, or for the conviction while in office of a crime involving moral turpitude, or for the violation of the oath of office, or persistent failure to abide by the rules of Council, or absence without justifiable excuse, as determined by a majority of the other members of Council, from three consecutive regular meetings of Council, or three consecutive regular meetings of any one standing committee of Council to which the Council member is appointed. Such removal shall not take place without the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the other members of Council, nor until the individual shall have been notified in writing of the charge at least 15 days in advance of a public hearing upon such charge, and the individual or the individual’s counsel has been given an opportunity to be heard, present evidence or examine any witness appearing in support of, or against such charge. No individual so removed shall be eligible for appointment to the vacancy created thereby. (11-7-2000; 5-3-2005.)
SECTION 3.05. WARDS.
The City is divided into six wards.
Council shall have the power by ordinance to change ward boundaries at any time and shall, by ordinance passed within 120 days after the official report of the results of each decennial federal census, either change the ward boundaries or affirm the then existing ward boundaries in each case so as to practically comply with the one person one vote requirement.
Council shall hold a public hearing on any ordinance that changes or affirms ward boundaries, and shall give 30 days public notice of the time and place of that hearing once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City and by posting at the same locations as required for ordinances. That ordinance shall be certified by the Clerk of Council to the Board of Elections of Portage County within 10 days after its effective date. (5-3-2005.)
SECTION 3.06. ORGANIZATION AND MEETINGS.
The Council organizational meeting is to be held in the Council Chambers before January 7 of each year following a regular municipal election.
No gathering of persons newly elected as members of Council, prior to the start of their term, shall be considered a meeting of Council.
The Council shall adopt its own written rules and/or bylaws by the first meeting in March following the organizational meeting.
Council shall hold a regular meeting at least once during each calendar month, provided that it may recess during the month of either July or August.
The agenda for any regular meeting of Council shall be posted at least 72 hours prior to the time of that meeting at City Hall, the Post Office and the Public Library if permitted, and in no less than two other publicly available places in the City as determined by Council.
All meetings of the Council shall be open to the public, except when Council adjourns to an executive session. Council may adjourn to executive session only for the purposes and in the manner provided by Ohio law. (11-4-1997; 5-3-2005.)
SECTION 3.07. SPECIAL MEETINGS.
Special meetings of Council may be called by a vote of a majority of members of Council taken at any regular or special meeting, or by the Clerk of Council upon the written request of the Mayor, or of the President of Council, or of any three members of Council. Any such vote or request shall state the time and the subject or subjects to be considered at the meeting and no other subject or subjects may be there considered, except on the approval at that meeting by at least two-thirds of the members of Council. Unless an emergency exists requiring shorter notice, confirmed by at least two-thirds of the members of Council, twenty-four hours notice in writing of a special meeting shall be given to each member of Council and the Mayor, by personal service or by leaving it at their usual places of residence, except that the members of Council shall be held to have waived such notice by their attendance at the special meeting. (11-4-1997; 11-2-2004.)
SECTION 3.08. QUORUM.
A majority of the members of Council shall constitute a quorum to transact business, but a lesser number may adjourn from time to time and compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as may be prescribed by Council rules and regulations duly adopted. (11-3-1992.)
SECTION 3.09. COMPENSATION AND BONDS.
The Council shall have the power to fix the compensation of its own members, of each official and of members of any City board or commission. When appropriate, Council shall establish any required bond for the faithful discharge of the duties of each office, the premium on which shall be paid for by the City.
Council approval of the compensation of all City officials and employees is required in the following circumstances:
A. All salary ranges recommended by the Mayor for any position;
B. The salary recommended by the Mayor for any new hire or newly elected position;
C. Any employee salary, including all increases, proposed in the annual budget and approved by Council as part of the appropriation for that year; and
D. Any other employee increase not included in the annual budget proposed and approved for that year. (11-4-1997; 5-3-2005.)
SECTION 3.10. CLERK OF COUNCIL.
Council shall appoint a Clerk of Council and may appoint such deputies or assistants as it shall determine from time to time, all of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Council.
The Clerk of Council shall be the records administrator of the City, and shall keep an accurate and complete journal of all Council proceedings which shall be a public record, and shall perform such other duties as the Council may require from time to time.
In case of the temporary absence or disability of the Clerk of Council and any Deputy Clerk of Council, Council may appoint another person to perform temporarily all the duties of that office. (11-5-1985; 5-3-2005.)
SECTION 3.11. LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE.
All legislative action shall be by ordinance or resolution, except when otherwise required by Ohio laws, but departmental procedure and administrative matters may be transacted by motion.
On the passage of every ordinance, resolution, measure or other action, the votes shall be taken by yeas and nays and each Council member’s vote shall be entered upon the journal. No ordinance, resolution, measure or other action shall be passed without the concurrence of at least a majority of the members of Council, unless a different number is required by this Charter or applicable Ohio law.
Every resolution and ordinance shall contain one subject only, which subject shall be clearly expressed in its title.
Every resolution and ordinance shall reflect, somewhere on its first page, who initially sponsored it for Council’s consideration.
Every resolution and ordinance shall be fully and distinctly read by title only, on three different days, unless at least two-thirds of the members of Council vote to suspend this rule. If this rule is suspended, then the resolution or ordinance shall be so read by title at least once before passage.
All ordinances, resolutions, statements, orders, proclamations, notices and reports required by Ohio law or this Charter to be published, shall be posted at City Hall, the Public Library and the Post Office if permitted, and in no less than two other of the most publicly available places in the City, as determined by Council, for a period of not less than 15 days prior to their taking effect, except as may otherwise be provided in this Charter or applicable Ohio law. (11-4-1997; 5-3-2005.)