Grass Valley Municipal Code Art. VIII Administration

There shall be the following officers, who shall perform the duties assigned to them by this Charter or by ordinances or resolutions: city attorney, clerk, treasurer, city administrator or city manager and such other officers, boards, department or commissions as may be established by ordinance.

The compensation of all officers and employees shall be fixed by the council.

More than one office and the powers and duties thereof may be consolidated under a single office by ordinance or resolution of the council. Additional powers, functions, and duties may be assigned by ordinance or resolution to any office, board, department or commission established by this Charter.

The council may abolish or change any office established by ordinance or resolution, and may prescribe, distribute, and consolidate the functions and duties of offices so established.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the council may transfer or consolidate functions of the city government to or with appropriate functions of the state, county, or another municipal government as permitted by law, and in case of such transfer or consolidation, the provisions of this charge providing for the function of the city government so transferred or consolidated, shall be deemed suspended during the continuance of such transfer or consolidation, to the extent that such suspension is made necessary or convenient and is set forth in the ordinance establishing such transfer or consolidation. Any such transfer or consolidation may be repealed by ordinance.

Before a final decision is made by the council to consolidate its police department with another jurisdiction or have police services provided by another agency, this question must be submitted to the voters of the city for their approval.

The council shall determine by ordinance or resolution which officers shall give bonds for the faithful performance of their official duties and fix the amount of such bonds. Such officers, before entering upon their duties, shall execute bonds to the city in the penal sum required, which bonds shall include other offices of which they may be ex-officio incumbents. Said bonds shall be approved by the council and filed with the city clerk. That of the city clerk shall be filed with the city administrator. The premium of such bonds shall be paid by the city.

Each officer or member of a board, department or commission shall take the constitutional oath of office and subscribe thereto before entering upon official duties. Such oaths shall be filed with the clerk. The oath of the city clerk shall be filed with the city administrator.

The city clerk shall be required to and shall have the power to:

(a) Attend all meetings of the city council and be responsible for the recording and maintaining of a full and true record of all the proceedings of the council in books that shall bear appropriate titles and be devoted to such purposes;

(b) Maintain separate books, in which a record shall be recorded respectively of all ordinances and resolutions, with the certificate of the clerk annexed to each thereof stating the same to be the original or a correct copy and as to an ordinance requiring publication, stating that the same has been published in accordance with this Charter;

(c) Maintain separate books, in which a record shall be made of all written contracts and official bonds;

(d) Keep all aforementioned books properly indexed and open to public inspection when not in actual use;

(e) Be the custodian of the seal of the city;

(f) Administer oaths or affirmations, take affidavits and depositions pertaining to the affairs and business of the city, and certify copies of official records;

(g) Have charge of all city elections; and

(h) Exercise such other powers or perform such other duties as may be imposed by the council by ordinance or resolution.

The council shall contract for an annual audit of the books of the city consistent with the requirements of applicable law.

(a) The city treasurer shall receive and safely keep all money coming into his or her hands as treasurer.

(b) He or she shall comply with all laws governing the deposit and securing of public funds and the handling of trust funds in his possession.

(c) He or she shall pay out money only on warrants signed by legally designated persons.

(d) The city treasurer shall submit to the city administrator and council written report and accounting of all receipts, disbursements, and fund balances monthly or on such other basis as the council shall prescribe.

(a) The city attorney shall have been admitted and qualified to practice before the Supreme Court of the State of California for at least five years next preceding his or her appointment. The city attorney shall be legal advisor of the council, and all other city officials, boards and departments, and when requested in writing for a legal opinion by the council or city administrator concerning city business, his or her opinion must be in writing. He or she shall prosecute all violations of city ordinances and shall draft all ordinances, resolutions, contracts and other legal documents and instruments required by the council.

(b) Approvals of Bonds and Contracts: He shall approve, as to form, all official and other bonds given for the benefit of the city, and all contracts with the city, and no contract shall become enforceable as against the city without the endorsement thereon of such approval unless the council shall otherwise provide by ordinance, resolution, or order appearing in the minutes of the council.

(c) Attendance at Council Meetings: He or she shall perform such other legal services as the council may direct and shall attend all meetings of the council unless excused therefrom by three (3) members or by the mayor.

(d) Inability to Act: When from any cause the city attorney is unable to perform the duties of office he or she may, with the consent of the council, appoint some other qualified attorney temporarily to act in his place, and whenever, in the judgment of the council, the interests of the city require it, it may employ assistant counsel.

(e) Records: The city attorney shall deliver all books, records, documents, and personal property of every description, owned by the city to his or her successor and the city shall provide a means of safeguarding the same.

(f) Additional Powers and Duties: He or she shall possess such other powers, and perform such additional duties not in conflict with this Charter as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution or imposed upon the chief legal officer of municipalities by law.

The council shall establish a planning commission by ordinance, which shall address the powers, duties, qualification, removal, and compensation, if any, of the commission.