Article III — THE MAYOR

Section 300. The Mayor. The Mayor shall be nominated and elected from the City at large and shall receive an annual salary payable in equal monthly installments, and without any additional compensation or fees provided for in Section 202 of this Charter. The salary shall be set by the Council, which shall be not less than 70% nor more than 90% of the average salaries of City Managers'/Chief Executive Officers of California cities within the three immediate higher and the three immediate lower cities in population to Oakland, The Mayor's salary shall be reviewed by the City Council in odd-numbered years and may be adjusted by the Council as provided for herein.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988 and March 2004.)

Section 301. Qualifications. No person shall be eligible for or continue to hold the Office of Mayor, either by election or appointment, unless they are a citizen of the United States, a qualified elector and resident for at least thirty days of the City or a territory lawfully annexed or consolidated.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988.)

(Res. No. 89280, 6-21-2022)

Section 302. Term of Office, the Mayor. The Mayor shall be elected to a term of four years beginning at 11:00 a.m. on the first Monday of January following the Mayor's election. The Mayor elected to Office to serve a term beginning in 1985 shall serve in Office until 11:00 a.m. on the Monday following January 1 in 1991. In 1990 municipal elections will be held to select City Officers for four year terms, including the Office of Mayor. No person shall be elected to the office of Mayor for more than two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of Mayor, or acted as Mayor, for more than two years of a term for which some other person was elected Mayor may be elected to more than one more consecutive term as Mayor.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988, November 1998 and March 2004.)

(Res. No. 89280, 6-21-2022)

Section 303. Vacancy, Filling of. Upon the declaration of vacancy in the office of the Mayor, the office of the Mayor shall be filled by the President of the Council. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, when the President of the Council assumes the office of Mayor upon declaration of a vacancy, they shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term if such term is less than one year; otherwise they shall serve until the vacancy is filled as provided herein. The President Pro Tempore shall perform the duties and shall have the powers of the President of the Council during any time that the President of the Council has assumed the office of the Mayor. Whenever the period of vacancy in a Mayor's term of office is less than one year and the President of the Council notifies the Council in writing that they do not wish to serve as Mayor for the unexpired term, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment through a majority vote of the Council; provided the appointee shall be ineligible to be a candidate for the next full term of the Office of Mayor. If at the time of a vacancy declaration the unexpired term is one year or more, the vacancy occurring in the office of Mayor shall be filled by special election within 120 days of such vacancy. An extension of up to 90 days may be allowed only for the express purpose of consolidating the special election with the next Municipal Election or Statewide Election. Special elections for the office of Mayor that take place after the first use of ranked choice voting in a Municipal Election shall be conducted using the same ranked choice voting procedures used to elect the Mayor in General Municipal Election. The candidate elected to fill the vacancy shall hold office for the balance of the unexpired term. Alternative legal voting procedures shall be used to the greatest extent feasible to increase voter participation in special elections including, but not limited to, mail ballot voting, secure electronic voting, and extended voting period.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988, March 2002 and February 2007.)

(Res. No. 89317, 7-11-2022; Res. No. 89280, 6-21-2022)

Section 304. Vacancy: What Constitutes. The office of Mayor shall be declared vacant by the Council when the person elected or appointed thereto fails to qualify within ten (10) days after the Mayor's term is to begin, dies, resigns, ceases to be a resident of the City or is absent continuously from the City for a period of more than thirty (30) days without permission from the Council, is convicted of a felony, is judicially determined to be an incompetent, is permanently so disabled as to be unable to perform the duties of the Mayor's office, forfeits the office under any provision of this Charter, or is removed from office by judicial procedure. A finding of disability shall require the affirmative vote of at least six (6) members of the Council after considering competent medical evidence bearing on the physical or mental capability of the Mayor.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988 and March 2004.)

(Res. No. 89280, 6-21-2022)

Section 305. Functions, Powers and Duties. The Mayor shall be the chief elective officer of the City, responsible for providing leadership and taking issues to the people and marshalling public interest in and support for municipal activity. The Mayor shall have the following powers, duties, and responsibilities:

(a)

The Mayor shall be responsible for the submission of an annual budget to the Council which shall be prepared by the City Administrator under the direction of the Mayor and Council. The Mayor shall, at the

time of the submission of the budget, submit a general statement of the conditions of the affairs of the City, the goals of the administration, and recommendations of such measures as he may deem expedient and proper to accomplish such goals.

(b)

Recommend to the Council such measures and legislation as the Mayor deems necessary and to make such other recommendations to the Council concerning the affairs of the City as the Mayor finds are in the best interest of the residents of the City.

(c)

Encourage programs for the physical, economic, social and cultural development of the City.

(d)

Actively promote economic development to broaden and strengthen the commercial and employment base of the City.

(e)

Appoint the City Administrator, subject to confirmation by the City Council, remove the City Administrator and give direction to the City Administrator. The Mayor shall advise the Council before removing the City Administrator.

(f)

Serve as ceremonial head of the City.

(g)

Represent the City in inter-governmental relations as directed by the Council.

(h)

Provide community leadership.

(i)

May cast a tie-breaking vote on any Ordinance, Resolution or Motion voted on by the Council, if the Council's vote is evenly divided. Solely for the purposes of determining whether the Mayor is eligible to cast a tie-breaking vote, abstentions and absences shall count as a "No" vote. A legally-required recusal shall not count as a "No" vote.

The Mayor shall, at the first meeting of the City Council in October, appear before the Council to deliver a general address on the state of the City, and recommend the adoption of such measures as [the Mayor] may deem expedient and proper. The Mayor and such staff as the Mayor may designate shall also conduct four (4) additional public meetings during the year to solicit and respond to comments, concerns, or questions from the public. These meetings shall be noticed to the public not less than two (2) weeks in advance, and shall be scheduled approximately three (3) months apart.

The Mayor shall devote their full time and attention to the duties of the Office of the Mayor and shall not engage in outside employment while in office. However, nothing shall prevent the Mayor from the receipt of income earned from business(s) or investment(s) in which the Mayor is not actively engaged and which are not in conflict with the performance of the Mayor's duties and responsibilities.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988, November 1998 and March 2004.)

(Res. No. 89317, 7-11-2022; Res. No. 89280, 6-21-2022)

Section 306. Duties of Council President. In addition to any duties specified by ordinance or by the Council's Rules of Procedure Resolution passed in accordance with Charter Section 210, during the unavailability or temporary disability of the Mayor, the President of the Council shall perform the duties of the office of Mayor.

(Amended by: Stats. November 1988.)

(Res. No. 89317, 7-11-2022)

Editor's note— Res. No. 89317, adopted July 11, 2022, amended the title of Section 306 to read as herein set out. The former Section 306 title pertained to the duties of Vice Mayor.