HomeMy WebLinkAbout102-Resolution.pdfRESOLUTION NO. 10 –
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA
IMPLEMENTING A POLICY FOR ROTATION OF
MAYOR AND VICE-MAYOR
WHEREAS, California Government Code Section 36801 provides that the Mayor and
Mayor pro tempore (i.e., Vice-Mayor) of a general law city are chosen by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, said Government Code Section does not require nor provide for any particular
procedure for selecting the Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tempore; and
WHEREAS, the Saratoga Municipal Code does not provide a procedure for selecting the
Mayor and the Mayor Pro Tempore; and
WHEREAS, In the City of Saratoga, the Mayor Pro Tempore, by tradition, is known as the
Vice-Mayor; and
WHEREAS, on December 16, 2009, the Saratoga City Council considered samples of other
California general law cities’ policies regarding mayoral selection by rotation; and
WHEREAS, on December 16, 2009, the Saratoga City Council voted to implement a
mayoral rotation policy that would place the council candidates with the two highest votes in any one
election into a queue to rotate into the position of Mayor and Vice-Mayor. In each Saratoga City
Council election, the candidate with the most votes would be placed first in the rotation of that
group, the candidate with the second highest votes would be placed second; and
WHEREAS, on December 16, 2009, the Saratoga City Council directed staff to bring back a
resolution incorporating the Council’s newly implemented mayoral rotation policy into the City
Council Norms of Operation at the next scheduled regular Council meeting on January 20, 2010.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
The Council Norms of Operation adopted January 21, 2004 and last amended May 6, 2009 by
Resolution Number 09-24 is hereby amended to replace section 5.B with the text shown below:
B. City Council Reorganization – The City Council shall hold a special meeting on the
Tuesday immediately preceding the first regular meeting of December. In election years
the date of the special meeting may be changed by the City Clerk as necessary to ensure
compliance with State election laws. The special meeting shall be held to select a Mayor
and Vice-Mayor as follows:
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
2
1. The Mayor and Vice-Mayor shall be chosen by the City Council from among its
members by the affirmative vote of three or more of the Council Members to
serve a one-year term at the pleasure of the Council;
2. The initial nominee for Mayor shall be the Council member listed first in the
mayoral queue (described below) and the initial nominee for Vice-Mayor shall be
the Council member listed second in the mayoral queue;
3. The mayoral queue shall be maintained by the City Clerk and available for public
inspection and shall be administered as follows:
a. The mayoral queue shall consist of no more than four Council members at
any time and these shall be the two council candidates with the highest
number of votes from each of the two most recent general elections.
b. Immediately upon the Council’s declaration of the election returns, the
Council member with the highest number of votes shall be placed in the
second to last position in the queue and the Council member with the second-
highest number of votes shall be placed in the last position in the queue.
c. In the event that two or more Council members receive an equal number of
votes, their placement in the queue shall be determined by a coin toss
administered by the City Clerk.
d. Upon a Council member’s selection as Mayor, that person shall be removed
from the queue and the remaining queue members shall advance by one
position (e.g., the Council member previously in position two shall occupy
position one, the Council member previously in position three shall occupy
position two, etc.).
e. A Council member shall be withdrawn from the queue upon leaving office for
any reason or upon filing with the City Clerk a written request for
withdrawal. Upon withdrawal by request no Council member may be
reinstated in the queue during the term in which the request was made.
f. If a Council member is withdrawn from the queue, the remaining members of
the queue shall move up one position. The last position in the queue shall be
filled by the Council member who received the third-highest number of votes
when most recently elected or, if there is no such Council member, a Council
member elected in a special election.
g. Council members serving on the City Council by virtue of appointment to the
City Council are not eligible to be placed in the queue during the term of the
appointment.
4. The Mayor and Vice-Mayor shall assume the duties of their respective offices
immediately upon election.
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com
3
The above and foregoing resolution was passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Saratoga
City Council held on the 20th day of January 2010 by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Kathleen M. King, Mayor
ATTEST:
Ann Sullivan, City Clerk
P:\SARATOGA\City Documents\Mayoral Rotation 1a.v4.doc
PDF created with pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com