Modesto Municipal Code Art. VII The Council

Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, the members of the Council shall hold office for a term of four years from and after the first Tuesday following their election. The members of the Council in office at the time this Charter takes effect shall continue in office until the expiration of their terms or until their successors are elected and qualified. To accommodate the City's transition to even-numbered year elections, Councilmembers elected in the November 2015 and November 2017 elections shall have their terms extended by one year; meaning they will serve a term of five years and their Council seats will be up for election in November 2020 and November 2022, respectively.

If a tie vote makes it impossible to determine which of two or more candidates has been elected, said tie shall be settled by the drawing of lots, the procedure for which shall be determined by the Council. Each member of the Council shall have the right to vote on all matters coming before the Council.

No candidate shall file for more than one elective office; and no incumbent member of the Council shall run for a seat other than that which the member holds, except that any incumbent member of the Council may run for the seat of Mayor, and an incumbent Mayor may run for the seat of Mayor or for any other seat on the Council, all subject to the limitations of terms of office in Section 503 of this Charter.

(As amended November 4, 1980, November 7, 1989, and February 5, 2008, and November 6, 2018)

No person shall be eligible to be nominated for or to hold office as a member of the Council or as Mayor unless the person is and shall have been for at least 30 days preceding the person's nomination or appointment a resident and registered elector of the City of Modesto or of territory annexed thereto.

(As amended November 4, 1980, and November 7, 1989)

If a vacancy shall occur in the office of Mayor or Councilmember, the Council shall forthwith appoint a person to fill such vacancy. Said appointee shall possess such qualifications for eligibility as are set forth in Section 701 of this article and shall hold office until a successor is duly elected and qualified. Such successor shall be chosen at the next regular municipal election, or as otherwise may be required by recall proceedings instituted involving the office of Mayor or a Councilmember.

In the event that the Council shall fail to fill a vacancy by appointment within 60 days after such office shall have become vacant, it shall forthwith cause an election to be held to fill such vacancy.

(As amended November 4, 1980, November 7, 1989 and November 8, 2022)

(a) Compensation and Reimbursement. The Mayor and each member of the Council shall be paid as compensation for his or her services as a member of the Council for each calendar month during which he or she is a member of the Council a monthly salary together with appropriate benefits which shall be established by ordinance only after the Citizen's Salary Setting Commission has made a written recommendation for compensation pursuant to the strict limits of the section, such written recommendation has been published for review pursuant to the requirements of this section, and the mandated public hearings required by this section have been held on the recommendation.

The Mayor and members of the Council shall also receive reimbursement for expenses incurred while performing official duties of their office only so long as evidence of such expenses incurred is presented to the City in the manner prescribed for all other employees of the City.

No compensation or reimbursement shall be established for any member of the Council, including the Mayor, except as provided in this Section.

(b) Citizen's Salary Setting Commission. There shall be established a Citizen's Salary Setting Commission, hereinafter "Commission," whose function shall be to recommend the compensation it deems appropriate for the Mayor and members of the Council. This Commission shall meet between March 1st and April 30th of every even-numbered year.

The Citizen's Salary Setting Commission shall consist of five qualified electors residing within the City and shall be appointed by the City Council pursuant to the provisions below:

(A) Strong consideration shall be given to composing the Commission of:

(i) a retired Stanislaus County judge as chairperson;

(ii) one member from a bona fide local taxpayer's association with tax exempt status under the relevant provisions of the Internal Revenue Code;

(iii) one member from a bona fide local nonpartisan political organization, with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, dedicated to encouraging informed and active participation in government;

(iv) one member from, a former Civil Grand Jury who has served in that role within in the previous five years;

(v) additional members who have demonstrated civic involvement and a capacity to serve in an honest, independent, and impartial fashion.

(B) No member of the Commission shall be a relative by blood or marriage within the third degree of the Mayor, a member of the Council, any Charter officer, or any department head or deputy department head.

(C) No member of the Commission shall be an employee of the City nor any bargaining unit for employees of the City, nor be a person who receives compensation from the City or from bargaining units of the City in any manner, including retirement benefits.

(D) No member of the Commission shall be a lobbyist or other person with business before the City that represents an economic interest in excess of the limit for material financial effect as established by local ordinance for the time periods established by local ordinance.

(E) In all other respects, the members of the Commission shall be chosen pursuant to the provisions of this Charter.

(F) Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation.

Except as provided herein below, the regular term of office of each member of the Commission shall be four years. The initial five members of the Commission shall be appointed during the month of March 2008. Two of the members so appointed shall be appointed for a term expiring on December 31, 2010. Three of the members, including the initial chairperson, so appointed shall be appointed for a term expiring on December 31, 2012. Commencing in December 2010, new appointments shall be made during the month of December of each even-numbered year to fill the offices of the members whose terms are expiring at the end of such even-numbered years. Such appointments shall be for regular terms of four years commencing on the first day of January of the following odd-numbered year and expiring on the 30-first day of December of the second even-numbered year thereafter.

No Commission member may serve for more than two terms. A Commission member may be removed from office at any time for misconduct, inefficiency or willful neglect in the performance of the duties of his or her office providing the Council first states in writing the reasons for such removal and gives such member an opportunity to be heard before the Council in his or her own defense. No tax dollars shall be expended on behalf of a Commission member for such defense. If a vacancy occurs before the expiration of a member's term, the Council shall appoint a qualified person to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term of such member.

(c) Salary Limitations and Penalties. The salary of the Mayor shall not be more than 50 percent (50%) of the amount of the salary of a Judge of the Superior Court of Stanislaus County.

The salary of a Councilmember shall not be more than 50 percent (50%) of the median family income for the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area as reported by the United States Census Bureau. The salary of each Councilmember shall be the same.

Any appropriate benefits established under this provision may not include retirement or pension benefits of any sort.

No recommendation shall be made by the Commission except upon the affirmative vote of three members of the Commission.

No recommendations may be made in odd-numbered years. The recommendation of the Commission will be made to the Council by April 30th of every even-numbered year to be effective for a two-year period commencing not before July 1 of that even numbered year. Failure of the Commission to make a recommendation in any even numbered year within the prescribed time shall be deemed to be a recommendation that no changes be made to existing compensation levels.

Any monthly salary shall be reduced by one-fourth for each regular meeting of the Council not attended by a councilmember each month, unless absent on official duty with the consent of the Council.

(d) Process to Set Compensation. Each recommendation by the Commission, together with the reasons for the recommendation, shall be made in writing by the Commission.

Before any such recommendation is provided to the Council, a draft recommendation shall be made available to the public and the Commission shall hold at least two public hearings on the matter before it adopts its final recommendation.

When such final recommendation has been submitted to the Council, it shall not thereafter be amended by the Commission.

Upon receiving the final recommendation from the Commission, the Council may adopt the compensation as recommended by the Commission or may adopt compensation in some lower amount, but in no case may adopt compensation in some higher amount. The Council may only adopt all such compensation by ordinance and after a public hearing of which legal notice is published in a newspaper of general circulation within the City at least 20 days prior to said hearing. Salaries established by ordinance adopted pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall remain in effect until amended by a subsequent ordinance adopted pursuant to the provisions of this Section. The compensation being paid to Councilmembers as of the effective date of this Section shall continue until any subsequent compensation is established pursuant to the requirements of this Section.

(e) Subject to Referendum.

Any final decision by the Council on compensation under this Section shall be subject to the referendum provisions of the Charter.

(As amended April 29, 1971, November 4, 1980, and February 5, 2008)

No member of the Council shall hold any other municipal office or hold any office or employment the compensation of which is paid out of the municipal moneys, nor be elected or appointed to any office created or the compensation of which is increased by the Council while the person is a member thereof, until one year after the expiration of the term for which the member was elected.

(As amended November 7, 1989)

Each member of the Council shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations in any investigation or proceeding pending before the Council. The Council shall have the power and authority to compel the attendance of witnesses, to examine them under oath and to compel the production of evidence before it. Subpoenas may be issued in the name of the City and be attested by the City Clerk. Disobedience of such subpoena or the refusal to testify (upon other than constitutional grounds), shall be deemed contempt and shall be punishable as provided by the general laws of this State.

All powers herein granted to and vested in the City of Modesto shall, except as herein otherwise provided, be exercised by a Council to be designated the Council of the City of Modesto. Said Council shall be the governing body of the City and, subject to the express limitations of this Charter, shall be vested with all powers of legislation in municipal affairs adequate to a complete system of local government consistent with the Constitution of the State.

The Council shall provide for the time, place and manner of holding its meetings by ordinance, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Section. Copies of such ordinances shall be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk where they shall be available for public inspection. Except as is otherwise provided by the laws of this State, all meetings of the Council shall be open to the public, and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting thereof. The Council shall hold at least one regular meeting each month.

A special meeting may be ordered at any time by the Mayor whenever in the Mayor's opinion the public business may require it, or upon the written request of any four members of the Council. Whenever a special meeting shall be called, the City Clerk shall cause written notice of such meeting to be given to each member of the Council and to each local newspaper of general circulation, radio or television station requesting notice in writing. Such notice must be delivered personally or must be deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, at least 24 hours before the time of such meeting as specified in the notice. The notice and order shall specify the time and place of the special meeting and the business to be transacted. No other business shall be considered at such meetings by the Council.

Written notice to each member of the Council may be dispensed with as to any member of the Council who, at or prior to the time the meeting convenes, files with the City Clerk a written waiver of notice. The waiver may be given by telegram. The written notice may also be dispensed with as to any member of the Council who is actually present at the meeting at the time it convenes.

(As amended November 7, 1989)

A majority of the Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time and postpone the consideration of pending business.

The Council shall determine its own rules of procedure, may punish its members for disorderly conduct and compel their attendance at the Council meetings.

Legislative action shall be taken by the Council only by means of an ordinance or resolution.

The ayes and noes shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions and entered upon the journal of the proceedings of the Council. Upon the request of any member, the ayes and noes shall be taken and recorded on any vote. All members, when present, must vote.

No ordinance or resolution shall be passed or become effective without receiving the affirmative votes of at least four members of the Council.

Every ordinance shall be preceded by a brief title which shall indicate the subject and purport thereof.

The ordaining clause of all ordinances adopted by the Council shall be substantially as follows: "The Council of the City of Modesto does ordain as follows:"; and the ordaining clause of all ordinances adopted by the people shall be, "The People of the City of Modesto do ordain as follows:".

With the sole exception of ordinances which take effect upon adoption referred to in this Article, no ordinance shall be passed by the Council on the day of its introduction nor within five days thereafter nor at any other time than at a regular or adjourned regular meeting, nor until its publication at least once in full in the official newspaper of the City of Modesto at least two days before its adoption. As an alternative method of publication, the Council may order copies of any ordinance to be posted at least two days prior to its adoption in at least three prominent and distinct locations in the City together with a single publication in such official newspaper of a notice setting forth the title of the ordinance, the date of its introduction, and a list of the places where copies of such ordinance are posted. In case of an amendment being made to an ordinance before the final adoption of the ordinance, it must in like manner be published in full as amended at least one day before its adoption as amended. The correction of typographical or clerical errors shall not constitute an amendment within the meaning of the foregoing sentence.

Emergency Ordinances. Any ordinance declared by the Council to be necessary as an emergency measure for preserving the public peace, health or safety, and containing a statement of reasons for its urgency, may be introduced and adopted at one and the same meeting if passed by at least five affirmative votes.

(As amended November 4, 1980)

Each legislative act of the Council establishing a fine or penalty, imposing a new or additional tax, or granting a franchise, or when so provided by this Charter, shall be by ordinance.

When any ordinance is put upon its final passage and fails to pass, and a motion is made to reconsider, the vote upon such motion shall not be taken except at a meeting of the Council, held not less than one week after the meeting at which such motion was made.

All ordinances shall be signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk.

No ordinance shall be revised, reenacted or amended by reference to its title only; but the ordinance to be revised or reenacted, or the section or subsection thereof to be amended, or the new section or subsection to be added thereto, shall be set forth and adopted in the method provided in this section for the adoption of ordinances.

No ordinance or any part thereof shall be repealed except by an ordinance adopted in the manner provided in this Charter.

No ordinance adopted by the Council shall become effective until 30 days from and after the date of its adoption, except the following which shall take effect upon adoption:

(a) An ordinance calling or otherwise relating to an election;

(b) An improvement proceeding ordinance adopted under some law or procedural ordinance;

(c) An ordinance declaring the amount of money necessary to be raised by taxation, or fixing the rate of taxation, or levying the annual tax upon property;

(d) An emergency ordinance adopted in the manner provided for in this Article;

(e) An ordinance annexing areas to the City; or

(f) An ordinance providing for a tax levy or appropriation for the usual current expenses of the City.

A true and correct copy of all ordinances shall be kept and certified to by the City Clerk in a book marked "City Ordinances." Such record copy, with such certificate, or the original ordinance, shall be prima facie evidence of the contents of the ordinance and of the due passage and publication of the same, and shall be admissible as such in any court or proceeding. Such records shall not be filed in any case, but shall be returned to the custody of the City Clerk. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the proof of the passage and publication of an ordinance in the usual way.

Any or all ordinances of the City which have been enacted and published in the manner required at the time of their adoption, and which have not been repealed, may be compiled, consolidated, revised, indexed and arranged as a comprehensive ordinance code, and such code may be adopted by reference with the same effect as an ordinance by the passage of an ordinance for such purpose. Such code need not be published in the manner required for other ordinances, but not less than three copies thereof shall be filed for use and examination by the public in the office of the City Clerk prior to the adoption thereof. Ordinances codified shall be replaced as of the effective date of the code. Subsequent amendments to sections of the code shall be enacted in the same manner as herein required for the amendment of ordinances generally.

Detailed regulations pertaining to any subject such as the construction of buildings, plumbing, wiring or other subjects which require extensive regulations, when arranged as a comprehensive code, may likewise be adopted by reference in the manner provided in this section.

The Council shall adopt a written Statement of Policy for each Charter Officer and for each City department which is under the administration of the City Manager. Said Statement of Policy shall set forth the broad goals, objectives and aspirations to be accomplished by that department.

For Charter Officers, each Charter Officer shall provide to the Council a draft written Statement of Policy for his or her office for consideration, and, if deemed necessary by the Council, revision and amendment, prior to adoption by the Council. For each City department which is under the administration of the City Manager, the City Manager shall designate one or more persons in each such department to provide to the City Manager, for transmittal to the Council, a draft written Statement of Policy for each department for consideration, and, if deemed necessary by the Council, revision and amendment, prior to adoption by the Council.

Such Statements of Policy shall be reviewed and, if necessary, amended, in the first quarter of every even-numbered calendar year and when the position of a Charter Officer or the head of a City department which is under the administration of the City Manager becomes vacant.

When such review and amendment is conducted due to a vacancy in position, the Mayor and Councilmembers shall adopt a set of questions which are intended to elicit responses from each prospective appointee concerning the goals, objectives and aspirations in the Statement of Policy.

Prior to appointing any head of a City department, the City Manager shall submit to the Mayor and Councilmembers, for their review, the responses to the Mayor and Councilmembers' questions submitted by the finalists for appointment to the vacant position. This section shall not apply to the appointment of any "acting" department head to serve in an interim capacity.

The City Manager shall share and review with the Council the annual independent, written performance evaluations of each head of a city department which is under the administration of the City Manager.

Nothing in this section shall be construed in any way as an infringement or limitation on the powers and duties of the City Manager as chief administrative officer and head of the administrative branch of the City government as prescribed in other sections of this Charter.

(Added February 5, 2008)