Santa Clara Municipal Code Art. VIII City Manager, Ordinances, Meetings

A City Manager shall be chosen by the City Council on the basis of his/her executive and administrative qualifications. No City Council member shall receive such an appointment during the term for which he/she shall have been elected, nor within two years thereafter.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

The City Manager shall be paid a salary commensurate with his/her responsibilities as chief administrative officer of the City, which salary shall be established by ordinance or resolution.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

The City Manager shall be chief executive officer and the head of the administrative branch of the City government. He/she shall be responsible to the City Council for the proper administration of all affairs of the City and to that end, subject to the personnel provisions of this Charter, he/she shall have power and shall be required to:

(a) Appoint and remove, subject to the Civil Service provisions of this Charter, all officers and employees of the City, except as otherwise provided by this Charter, and except as he/she may authorize the head of a department or office to appoint and remove subordinates in such department or office. No person related to the City Manager by blood or by marriage shall be eligible for office or employment in the City.

(b) Prepare the budget annually and submit it to the City Council and be responsible for its administration after adoption.

(c) Manage the City-owned water and power departments in a business-like manner, charging equitable rates for the services furnished and building up the properties so as to conserve their value and increase their capacity as needed by the City.

(d) Prepare and submit to the City Council as of the end of the fiscal year a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the City for the preceding year.

(e) Keep the City Council advised of the financial condition and future needs of the City and make such recommendations as may seem to him/her desirable.

(f) Make investigations into the affairs of this City, or any department or division thereof, or any contract, or the proper performance of any obligation to the City.

(g) Submit to the City Council at each meeting for its approval, the list of all claims and bills approved for payment by him/her.

(h) Perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter or required by him/her by the City Council, not inconsistent with this Charter.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

The City Manager may prescribe such general rules and regulations as he/she may deem necessary or expedient for the general conduct of the administrative offices and departments of the City under his/her jurisdiction.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

The City Manager shall appoint, subject to the approval of the City Council, one of the other officers of the City to serve as Manager Pro Tempore during any temporary absence or disability of the City Manager.

The City Manager and such other officers of the City as may be designated by the City Council, shall be accorded a seat at the City Council table and shall be entitled to participate in the deliberations of the City Council, but shall not have a vote.

The City Council shall appoint the City Manager for an indefinite term and may remove him/her by a majority vote of the entire Council. At least thirty (30) days before such removal shall become effective, the City Council shall by a majority vote of the entire Council, adopt a preliminary resolution stating the reasons for his/her removal. The City Manager may reply in writing and may request a public hearing, which shall be held not earlier than fifteen (15) days nor later than thirty (30) days after the filing of such request. After such public hearing, if one be requested, and after full consideration, the City Council by majority vote of the entire Council may adopt a final resolution of removal. By the preliminary resolutions, the City Council may suspend the City Manager from duty but shall in any case cause to be paid him/her forthwith any unpaid balance of his/her salary and his/her salary for the next calendar month following adoption of the preliminary resolution.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

Neither the City Council nor any of its members shall order or request the appointment of any person to an office or employment or his/her removal therefrom, by the City Manager, or by any of the department heads in the administrative service of the City. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the City Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service under the City Manager solely through the City Manager and neither the City Council nor any member shall give orders to any subordinates of the City Manager, either publicly or privately.

Any City Council member violating the provisions of this section, or voting for a resolution or ordinance in violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall cease to be a Council Member.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

The enacting clause of every ordinance shall be "Be it ordained by the City of Santa Clara as follows:" No ordinance shall be finally adopted by the Council on the day of its introduction, nor within five days thereafter, nor at any time other than a regular meeting, nor until its publication as required in Section 812. However, ordinances calling elections and ordinances carrying out the provisions of elections need not be published prior to adoption. In case an ordinance is amended before its final adoption and after its publication, it shall in like manner be republished as required in Chapter Section 812, at least one day before its adoption as amended; provided, however, that where such amendment is made for the correction of clerical errors or omissions of form only, then such ordinances need not be given a first reading or a republication as corrected.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

No ordinance or portion thereof shall be repealed except by ordinance. No ordinance shall be revised, re-enacted or amended by reference to its title only; but the ordinance to be revised or re-enacted, or the section or sections thereof to be amended, or the new section or sections to be added thereto, shall be set forth and adopted according to the method provided in this article for the enactment of ordinances, and such revision, re-enactment, amendment or addition, shall be done by ordinance only.

No ordinance shall become effective until thirty (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 (d) An emergency ordinance adopted in the manner herein provided.

Any ordinance declared by the City Council to be necessary as an emergency measure for preserving the public peace, health, safety or property, and containing a statement of the reasons for its urgency and adopted by a five-sevenths vote of the whole Council may go into effect at the will of the Council.

The City Clerk shall cause each proposed ordinance to be posted at least three (3) days prior to its adoption in three (3) public places in the City and at least three (3) days prior to the ordinance adoption shall cause a single publication in an official newspaper to occur, setting forth the title of the ordinance, the date of its introduction, a brief summary of the ordinance and a list of the places where copies of the full text of the proposed ordinance are posted.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

Any or all properly enacted and unrepealed ordinances of the City may be compiled, consolidated, revised and indexed, including such restatements and substantive changes as are necessary for clarity in a comprehensive City Code.

A City Code may be adopted by reference by the passage of an ordinance in the same manner as other ordinances of the City. The City Code itself need not be published in the manner required for other ordinances. Prior to its adoption, not less than three copies of the Code shall be filed in the City Clerk's Office, for examination by the public. After the Code has been adopted, ordinances may be amendatory or revisory of the Code. Sections of the Code shall not be revised or amended by reference but readopted and published at length as revised or amended.

(Amended by electors at an election held March 7, 2000, Charter Chapter 11 of the State Statutes of 2000)

Ordinances establishing rules and regulations for the construction of buildings, the installation of plumbing, the installation of electric wiring, or other similar work, where such rules and regulations have been printed as a code in book form, may be adopted by reference by the passage of an ordinance in the same manner as other ordinances of the City. The code so adopted need not be published at length, provided, however, that not less than three copies of such code shall have been filed, for use and examination by the public, in the office of the City Clerk prior to the adoption thereof.

The City Council shall by resolution designate one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City of Santa Clara as official newspaper for the publication of any legal notice or other matter required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in said City. If it appears to the City Council that the rates offered are unfair, it need not designate an official newspaper. Upon making a finding to such effect, or if publication of newspapers which have been so designated are suspended, then legal notices, ordinances or other matter required to be published in an official newspaper may be published by posting copies thereof in at least three public places in the City. The places for posting of legal notices shall be fixed by ordinance of the City Council.

No defect or irregularity in proceedings taken under this section, or failure to designate an official newspaper, shall invalidate any publication where the same is otherwise in conformity with this Charter, or law, or ordinance.