HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 203 -Establishing requirements for City CommissionersORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS AND
. PROCEDURES FOR CITY COMMISSIONS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SARATOGA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Findings.
A. The City of Saratoga has established a number of commissions to advise the City
Council in reviewing, establishing, and implementing City policy in a number of
areas. Commissioners provide an invaluable service to the City and their
participation in these civic affairs goes to the very heart of representative
democracy at the local level.
B. The City Council has from time to time adopted various rules of procedure
applicable to City Commissions or directed staff to document various eligibility
requirements for applicants wishing to serve as Commissioners.
C. In order to promote public awareness of the role and functions of Commissions in
City government and to ensure uniformity of procedures among all Commissions
this ordinance amends the Saratoga City Code to establish common requirements
regarding qualifications, attendance, removal, vacancies, meetings, and rules of
procedure for all City Commissions.
Section 2. Adoption.
A. Article 2 -12 of the Saratoga City Code is hereby adopted as set forth in Attachment A
to this Ordinance.
B. Article 2 -15 of the Saratoga City Code is hereby amended by adding the following
paragraph (e) at the end of section 2- 15.050:
"(e) Chairman. The Commission shall elect a elect a Chairman to serve a
twelve month term. No person shall serve as Chairman of the Planning
Commission more than one full term in any four year period."
Ordinance No.
Section 3. Publication.
This Ordinance shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation of the City
of Saratoga within fifteen days after its adoption.
The foregoing Ordinance was introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the
City of Saratoga held on the 20th day of February, 2002, and adopted by the following vote
following a second reading on the 6th day of March, 2002:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
CITY ATTORNEY
MAYOR, CITY OF SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA
2 Ordinance No.
Article 2 -12
City Commissions
2 -12.10 Commissions generally.
(a) Except as expressly stated otherwise, a "Commission" is any commission,
committee, group, or board established by the City Council pursuant to
ordinance or resolution whose members are appointed by the City Council, and
which is expected to exist or has existed for more than one year.
(b) A "Commissioner" is a member of a Commission.
(c) Commissions shall advise the City Council in reviewing, establishing, and
implementing City policy regarding the subject matters specified in the
ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission and any subsequent
amendments thereto.
(d) The number of Commissioners shall be as set forth in the ordinance or
resolution establishing the Commission and any subsequent amendments
thereto.
(e) All Commissions shall be governed by the terms of this Article 2 -12. Unless
expressly stated otherwise herein the terms of this Article 2 -12 shall prevail
over any contrary provision of any resolution adopted by the City Council.
(f) On or before December 31 of each year, the City Clerk shall prepare and the
City Council shall adopt a list of all Commissions containing the following
information:
1 A list of the qualifications necessary for each Commissioner position;
and
2. A list of all Commissioner terms which will expire during the next
calendar year, including the name of the incumbent Commissioner, the
date of appointment, the date the term expires, and the qualifications
necessary for the position.
This list shall be made available to the public and shall be posted in the office
of the City Clerk and at the Saratoga Library.
2 -12.11 Qualifications.
(a) Except as provided in section 2 -12.1 l (b), all Commissioners shall:
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1. Be a resident of the City of Saratoga;
2. Be a registered voter of the City of Saratoga;
3. Prior to being interviewed for appointment to a Commission, have attended
at least one meeting of the Commission to which appointment is being
sought;
4. Not hold any elected public office in any jurisdiction, any place or position
of employment with the City of Saratoga; and
5. Satisfy any additional eligibility requirements specified in the ordinance or
resolution establishing the Commission.
(b) One or more of the requirements set forth in section 2- 12.11(a) shall not apply
if the ordinance or resolution establishing a Commission directs that one or
more of the requirements specified are not be applied to one or more members
of the Commission.
(c) If a Commissioner ceases to satisfy the requirements set forth in section 2-
12.11(a), the Commissioner's office shall become automatically vacant. With
respect to appointment and tenure of replacements, and in all other matters, the
vacancy will be treated like any other on that Commission.
(d) No person shall serve as a Commissioner on more than one Commission at any
one time. For the purposes of this paragraph (d) only, the term "Commission"
shall include only those entities designated as a commission by resolution or
ordinance and shall not include any entity established as a committee, group, or
board.
(e) Each Commissioner shall inform the City Clerk of the Commissioner's
residence address at the time of appointment and promptly inform the City
Clerk of all subsequent changes of address.
2 -12.12 Term.
(a) Each Commissioner shall serve a term of four years unless an alternate term
is specified by the resolution or ordinance establishing the Commission.
(b) No Commissioner shall serve more than two full consecutive terms on a
single Commission. A partial term served as a result of an appointment to
fill an unexpired term is not considered a full term. A Commissioner who
has served two full consecutive terms on a Commission may not be
reappointed to that Commission for at least one year following the
expiration of his or her term. The limitations set forth in this paragraph (b)
shall not apply to the Youth Commission.
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2 -12.13 Attendance.
(a) Each Commissioner shall regularly attend meetings of the Commission of
which he or she is a member.
(b) If a Commissioner is absent without permission of the Chair (or, in the case of
the Chair, the Mayor) from three consecutive regular Commission meetings,
the Commissioner's office becomes vacant and shall be filled as any other
vacancy. If a Commissioner is absent without permission from two
consecutive regular Commission meetings, the secretary of the Commission
shall, mail to the Commissioner a courtesy notice of the requirements of this
section, provided, however, that such notice shall not operate as prerequisite to
the establishment of a vacancy pursuant to this paragraph (b) and that failure to
mail such notice shall not create any right of action in any Commissioner or
any other person.
2 -12.14 Removal. All Commissioners shall serve at the pleasure of the City
Council. The City Council may remove any Commissioner from office prior to the
expiration of the Commissioner's term by the affirmative vote of not less than three
members of the City Council.
2 -12.15 Vacancies.
(a) Vacancies shall be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the City
Council and shall be for the unexpired portion of the term of office vacated.
(b) Whenever an unscheduled vacancy occurs in any Commission a special
vacancy notice shall be posted in the office of the City Clerk and in the City
Library not earlier than 20 days before and not later than 20 days after the
vacancy occurs. Final appointment to the Commission shall not be made by
the City Council for at least 10 working days after the posting of the notice
required by this section except that in an emergency the City Council may fill
the unscheduled vacancy immediately such that the person appointed to fill the
vacancy may serve only on an acting basis until the final appointment is made
pursuant to this section.
2 -12.16 Meetings. The regular meetings of each Commission shall be as specified in
the ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission or, if no regular
meeting time is established by ordinance or resolution the regular meeting time
may be established by the Commission. Any regular meeting may be
cancelled by a Commission upon announcement of such cancellation at the
regular meeting preceding the meeting to be cancelled.
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2 -12.17 Rules of Procedure
(a) The following Sections of this Chapter pertaining to meetings conducted by
the City Council shall be applicable to all meetings conducted by
Commissions:
2- 10.020(b)
2- 10.030 through 2- 10.080
2- 10.110(c), (d), (f) and (g)
2- 10.120 through 2- 10.170
As so applied to a Commission, all references therein to City Council or
Council member shall be deemed to mean the Commission or Commissioner to
which the section is applied. All references therein to the Mayor shall be
deemed to mean the Chair of the Commission; and all references therein to the
City Clerk shall be deemed to mean the secretary of the Commission.
(b) The failure of passage of any motion before a Commission shall be deemed a
denial of the motion; provided, however, a motion failing by reason of an
evenly split vote by the Commission at a meeting where not all Commissioners
are present shall be agendized and voted upon at the next regular meeting of
the Commission at which a quorum is present.
(c) Each Commission shall elect a Chair to serve a twelve month term. No person
shall serve as Chair of the same Commission more than one full term in any
four year period.
(d) In addition to the rules made applicable to Commissions as specified in
paragraph (a) of this section, each Commission shall have authority to adopt
such other rules and procedures as it deems appropriate for the orderly and
efficient conduct of its business which are not inconsistent with the provisions
of this Code.
(e) The City Manager or his or her designee shall be the secretary of each
Commission unless otherwise specified by the ordinance or resolution
establishing the Commission.
(f) This section 2 -12.17 shall not apply to the Planning Commission which shall
follow the rules of procedure set forth in section 2- 15.050 of this Code.
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