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GENERAL ORDINANCES
<br />OF
<br />The City of Charlottesville.
<br />CHAPTER I.
<br />THn COUNCIL—ITS POWERS, DUTIES AND - PROC41)URt.
<br />Sec. 1. The council—term and compensation.
<br />(a) The Council of the City of Charlottesville shall be composed
<br />of twelve members, three from each of the four Wards of the
<br />city, who shall be residents of their respective Wards and qual-
<br />ified voters therein, and shall be elected by the qualified voters
<br />of such Wards, and their term of office shall be for four years;
<br />except that all elections to fill vacancies shall be for the unex-
<br />pired term. (Code, Sec. 1015a.)
<br />(b) Each member recorded in the minutes as present at the
<br />roll call shall receive $2.50 for each session; payment to be made
<br />by a warrant drawn quarterly on the treasurer of the city by
<br />the auditor, upon a certificate by the clerk of the Council.* The
<br />clerk shall note all cases in which a member absents himself
<br />before adjournment and no payment for attendance shall be
<br />made in such cases unless the member has been duly excused
<br />as provided in § 29, clause 5. And provided, further, that in
<br />no case shall a member be allowed pay for more than two meet-
<br />ings in any one month.
<br />Sec. 2. Oath of office—when taken.
<br />Every Councilman shall, within thirty days after his election,
<br />qualify before the corporation court or the judge thereof in
<br />vacation, by taking the oath as prescribed for all other officers
<br />*Clause (b) of § 1 was vetoed by the Mayor and passed over his
<br />veto at a meeting of the Council on August 12, 1909, and amended to
<br />conform to the suggestion contained in said veto as to limit of com-
<br />pensation of councilmen.
<br />as may be agreed upon, provided said day shall not be a legal
<br />holiday, in which event said meeting shall be held on the day
<br />following. Special meetings may be called by the president at
<br />any time, and in the case of his absence, sickness, disability or
<br />refusal to do so, the Council may be convened by the order in
<br />writing of the vice-president; and in case of his absence, dis-
<br />ability or refusal, the Council may be convened by the order
<br />in writing of any three members thereof addressed to the clerk.
<br />Sec. 8. Business at special meetings.
<br />Every summons fora special meeting of the Council shall
<br />contain an explicit notice of the object of such meeting and no
<br />other business shall be transacted at said special meeting.
<br />( Charter, Sec. 33.)
<br />Sec. 9. Quorum—reconsideration of votes.
<br />A majority of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the
<br />transaction of ordinary business, but no vote of a former meet-
<br />ing shall be reconsidered or rescinded at a special meeting unless
<br />there be then present as many members as were present when
<br />such vote was taken, and two-thirds of all members present vote
<br />in favor thereof. ( Code, Sec. 1015h.)
<br />Sec. 10. Absence of quorum—how quorum secured.
<br />If a quorum fail to attend a meeting of the Council within a
<br />half hour after the appointed time for such meeting, those pres-
<br />ent may adjourn to such time as they deem proper, after the
<br />names of those present shall have been entered on the journal.
<br />At such meeting, five or more members shall have auto iority
<br />to compel the attendance of absent members by a process in
<br />writing signed by them and addressed to any, policeman, direct-
<br />ing him to summons such absent members to such time and place
<br />to which the meeting shall have been adjourned. Any member
<br />refusing to obey such summons may be fined by a two-thirds
<br />vote of the Council in a sum not less than five dollars nor more
<br />than ten dollars. (Code, Sec. 1015g.)
<br />Sec. 11. Election of president—vice-president—duties of.
<br />The Council shall at its first meeting in September after the
<br />regular biennial election of Councilmen, or as soon thereafter
<br />by the laws of Virginia, a certificate of which shall be filed with
<br />the clerk of the Council; and the clerk shall not enter the name
<br />of any person so elected on the rolls of the Council unless the
<br />provisions of this be complied with.
<br />Sec. 3. Punishment of members.
<br />The Council may, by a majority vote of its whole number,
<br />punish one of its own members for disorderly behavior by
<br />a fine not exceeding $300; and, by a two-thirds vote of its
<br />whole number, expel a member of its own body for malfeasance
<br />or misfeasance in office. Pines imposed under this section shall
<br />be collected in such manner as fines imposed by the Police jus-
<br />tice. (Code, Sec. 10158.)
<br />Sec. 4. Vacancies—how filled.
<br />When any vacancy shall occur in the Council by death, resig-
<br />nation, expulsion, removal from the Ward from which a member
<br />was elected, failure to qualify, or from any other cause, the
<br />Council shall elect a qualified person to supply the vacancy, but
<br />such election shall be for the unexpired term only. (Code,
<br />Sec. 1015e.)
<br />Sec. 5. Disqualification of members for certain offices.
<br />No member of the Council shall be eligible during his tenure
<br />of office, or for one year thereafter, to any office to be filled by
<br />the Council either by election or appointment. (Code, Sec.
<br />1015d.)
<br />Sec. 6. Time of meeting for organization.
<br />The Council shall meet for organization on the first day of
<br />September after their election (unless that day be Sunday, in
<br />in which case they shall meet on the following day) at 8 o'clock
<br />p. m. But in case of unavoidable absence from such meeting
<br />of any member elect, it shall be competent to adjourn said meet-
<br />ing from time to time, as they shall deem proper.
<br />Sec. 7. Monthly Meetings—how special meetings may be
<br />called.
<br />The Council shall hold its regular meeting in the Council
<br />chamber on the second Thursday of each month, at such hour
<br />as practicable, elect one of its members president—also one as
<br />vice-president—whose terms of office shall be for two years,
<br />except when elected to fill a vacancy, when it shall be for the
<br />unexpired time.
<br />The president shall preside at the meeting of the Council,
<br />and when from any cause he shall be absent, the vice-president
<br />shall preside—and in the absence of both, a president pro tem-
<br />pore may be elected.
<br />The president, vice-president or president pro tempore who
<br />shall preside when the proceedings of the previous meeting are
<br />read shall sign the same.
<br />He may call any member to the chair, who shall exercise its
<br />functions for the time; and during such substitution he may
<br />participate in the debates.
<br />The vice-president in the absence of t11e president and while
<br />acting as president, shall be vested with all the rights and duties
<br />of the president. (Code, Sec. 1015f.)
<br />Sec. 12. Standing committees—how appointed—expendi-
<br />tures of.
<br />The president of the Council shall, within ten days after the
<br />organization of the Council, appoint the following standing com-
<br />mittees, each to consist of three members and to continue for a
<br />term of two years. The president of the Council shall, however,
<br />have authority to change the composition of said committees
<br />during said term in filling vacancies or' otherwise as the neces-
<br />sity arises.
<br />1. A Committee on Finance and Claims—To whom shall be
<br />referred all matters relating to the finances, debts, revenues and
<br />assets of the city and all claims and unsettled demands against
<br />the city.
<br />2. A Committee on Streets and Sanitation—To whom shall
<br />be referred all matters concerning the streets and bridges, and
<br />improvements and expenditures connected therewith, and the
<br />laws and regulations effecting the same, and all matters relating
<br />to the sanitary affairs and condition of the city.
<br />*Section 12 was vetoed by the Mayor, and at a meeting of the
<br />Council on August 12, 1909, a motion to pass same over his veto was
<br />lost.
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