CHARTER OF GRANVILLE, OHIO
ARTICLE II THE COUNCIL
SECTION 2.01. NUMBER, TERM.
Council shall consist of seven members, elected at large. They shall serve for four-year terms beginning on the date of the first regular meeting in December following their election, as provided in this Article. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.02. ELECTION.
Candidates for Council shall file nominating petitions with the Licking County Board of Elections not later than four o’clock p.m., of the seventy-fifth day prior to the general election. Such petitions shall contain the signatures of not fewer than twenty-five qualified electors of the municipality.
The number of candidates receiving the highest number of votes for the number of vacancies on Council shall be elected. Except as otherwise provided in the Charter, such election shall be conducted in accordance with Title 35 of the Ohio Revised Code.
(Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.03. QUALIFICATIONS.
Any qualified elector who has resided in the municipality, or any area annexed thereto, for six months by the date of filing his or her nominating petition shall be qualified to serve as a member of Council. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.04. INCOMPATIBLE OFFICES.
No holder of an incompatible office under national, State, County, regional or local government shall be eligible for nomination or election to Council.
(Amended 11-5-91)
SECTION 2.05. VACANCIES.
Any Council member who ceases to be a qualified elector in the municipality, or who enters upon the performance of the duties of an incompatible office, shall automatically vacate his or her office as a Council member. The Council may, by resolution, declare vacant the seat of any Council member who is absent, without excuse acceptable to Council, from as many as one-third of the regular meetings of Council in any calendar quarter.
(Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.06. VACANCIES, HOW FILLED.
Any vacancy in the office of Council member shall be filled within thirty days by the selection of some qualified person, by vote of a majority of the remaining members of the Council. A Council member chosen to fill a vacancy shall serve until the next municipal election and until a successor is elected and has qualified, either for a full term or for a partial term.
SECTION 2.07. SALARY.
Council members shall serve without compensation, unless and until this rate is changed by ordinance. No such salary may be changed except by ordinance, passed by Council at least one hundred days before a municipal primary election, and no such ordinance shall become effective until after the reorganization of the Council following the next succeeding regular municipal election. (Amended 11-5-91)
SECTION 2.08. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.
All powers of the municipality not specifically vested in other offices by this Charter reside in Council, which shall determine all matters of general policy by ordinance or resolution, and may delegate the administration of municipal affairs to the Manager holding him or her responsible for his or her performance. The Manager shall be accountable to the Council and the Council to the citizens. Among other powers, Council may:
(1) Appoint and remove the Manager and establish his or her salary by ordinance and appoint an acting Manager when necessary.
(2) Adopt an Administrative Code to establish administrative departments and define their duties and procedures, and after consultation with the Manager to adopt a personnel classification and salary plan for all municipal employees.
(3) Adopt an annual appropriation ordinance based on the municipal budget and delegate its enforcement to the Manager.
(4) Authorize the levy of taxes and the issuance of municipal bonds, as provided in this Charter.
(5) Inquire into the conduct of any officer or employee in his or her public duties and make investigation of an office, department or agency of the municipality, and for these purposes Council may issue subpoenas and require the production of books and papers.
(6) Appoint and remove for cause the members of all boards and commissions created by this Charter.
(7) Create any additional board or commissions it considers necessary or desirable and appoint and remove for cause the members thereof.
(8) Adopt and modify a comprehensive plan for the municipality.
(9) Adopt and amend an official map of the municipality.
(10) Regulate the use of real estate in the municipality in the interests of the health, safety, morals, welfare and convenience of its inhabitants.
(11) Regulate subdivision platting and development.
(12) Employ a Certified Public Accountant to audit the municipal accounts or those of any officer, when such audit is considered necessary, except that a general audit of the municipal accounts shall be made at least annually. The audit made by the Auditor of State may be accepted as satisfying the audit requirement.
(13) Grant public utility franchises by ordinance passed by a vote of not less than five-sevenths of the members of the Council. No such ordinance shall be passed as an emergency ordinance.
(14) Promote moderately priced housing within the municipality.
(15) Authorize the rehabilitation of blighted areas, in cooperation with federal, state or municipal authorities, on recommendation of and according to plans prepared by the Municipal Planning Commission.
(16) Appropriate and expend public funds to pay the cost of providing information to the public in connection with elections on tax levies, bond issues, Charter amendments and other public questions.
(Amended 11-5-91; 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.09. MEETINGS OF COUNCIL.
Council shall hold its organizational meeting as its first order of business of the first meeting following each municipal election. At this meeting newly elected members shall take the oath of office, and Council shall elect one of its members as Mayor and another as Vice-Mayor to serve for terms of two years and select a Clerk of Council from outside its membership. It may transact such further business as it sees fit. At or before the organizational meeting, the Clerk shall provide new members with copies of this Charter and the current rules of Council adopted under Section 2.11. Regular meetings of Council shall be held, as prescribed in the rules of Council, but not less frequently than twice in each calendar month, except that Council may dispense with two regular meetings in each calendar year. All meetings of Council shall be open to the public except that executive sessions shall be permitted as set forth in Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code, and for discussion by Council of the negotiation of any contract.
A majority of the members elected constitutes a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time and may compel the attendance of absent members as provided in the rules of Council. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.10. SPECIAL MEETINGS.
Special meetings of Council may be called as provided by its rules, or by a vote of Council taken at any regular meeting, or by the Clerk of Council upon the written request of the Mayor or any three members of Council. Notice, in writing, of each such special meeting called at the request of the Mayor or three members of Council shall state the date and time, and subject or subjects to be considered, and no other subject or subjects shall be considered at the meeting. Such written notice shall be served upon each member of Council either personally or by leaving a copy at his or her usual place of residence not less than twelve hours preceding the time of the meeting. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.11. RULES, JOURNAL, COMMITTEES.
Council shall adopt its own rules, in conformity with the provisions of this Charter. At or before the first regular meeting in February immediately following an organizational meeting described in Section 2.09, Council shall review its rules and revise, amend or readopt, publish and make them available to the public at the municipal office. This requirement does not restrict Council from revising or amending its rules at other times. The rules may provide for the creation of ad hoc and standing committees and may prescribe the procedure to be followed by such committees.
Committees shall keep minutes, which shall be public records.
The Clerk of Council shall keep a journal of the proceedings of Council, which shall be a public record. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.12. ELECTION CONTESTS.
Council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its own members and for such purpose may issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production of ballots and records. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.13. CLERK OF COUNCIL.
The Clerk of Council shall serve for a two-year term and until his or her successor is chosen and enters upon the duties of the office. He or she shall give notice of Council meetings, keep the journal, advertise public hearings, record in a separate book and cause to be published ordinances adopted by Council, and perform such other duties as may be required by this Charter, ordinance, or rules of Council. He or she may be appointed to serve full time or part time, and Council may assign the duties of Clerk of Council to any employee of the municipality as an additional duty. The Clerk of Council shall receive a salary for services as Clerk, as established by Council. Council may designate a temporary clerk whenever the regularly designated Clerk is unable to be present at a Council meeting. (Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.14. MAYOR.
The Mayor shall serve as the official and ceremonial head of the municipal government and as presiding officer at meetings of Council, and shall exercise the judicial powers conferred upon mayors by state law. The Mayor shall receive a salary as magistrate of Mayor’s Court of fifty dollars per session to be paid quarterly, to a maximum of twenty-five hundred dollars per year. He or she shall also receive a salary of six hundred dollars per year so long as he or she continues to perform judicial functions. Council may change the salary of the Mayor by ordinance.
(Amended 11-6-01)
SECTION 2.15. VICE-MAYOR.
The Council member designated as Vice-Mayor shall succeed to all the powers and duties of the Mayor when the Mayor is unable, for any reason, to perform his or her duties. Whenever the Vice-Mayor presides over Mayor’s Court, the Vice-Mayor shall be compensated as Mayor. If the Mayor and Vice-Mayor are absent from a meeting of Council, the remaining members shall choose one of their number to preside. If, in the judgment of Council, the Mayor is permanently incapacitated, the Vice-Mayor shall become Mayor and receive the salary and honorarium assigned to that office. (Amended 11-6-01)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Granville Charter was approved by the voters on May 5, 1964. Dates appearing in parentheses following section headings indicate those sections were subsequently amended, added or repealed on the date given.