Article 2-12

CITY COMMISSIONS

Sections:

2-12.010 Commissions generally. 2-12.020 Qualifications. 2-12.030 Term. 2-12.040 Attendance. 2-12.050 Removal. 2-12.060 Commissioner appointments and vacancies. 2-12.070 Meetings. 2-12.080 Rules of procedure.

(a) Except as expressly stated otherwise, a Commission is any commission, committee, group, or board established by the City Council pursuant to ordinance or resolution whose members are appointed by the City Council, and which is expected to exist or has existed for more than one year.

(b) A Commissioner is a member of a Commission.

(c) Commissions shall advise the City Council in reviewing, establishing, and implementing City policy regarding the subject matters specified in the ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission and any subsequent amendments thereto.

(d) The number of Commissioners shall be as set forth in the ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission and any subsequent amendments thereto.

(e) All Commissions shall be governed by the terms of this Article 2-12. Unless expressly stated otherwise herein the terms of this Article 2-12 shall prevail over any contrary provision of any resolution adopted by the City Council.

(f) On or before December 31 of each year, the City Clerk shall prepare and the City Council shall adopt a list of all Commissions containing the following information:

1. A list of the qualifications necessary for each Commissioner position; and

2. A list of all Commissioner terms which will expire during the next calendar year, including the name of the incumbent Commissioner, the date of appointment, the date the term expires and the qualifications necessary for the position.

This list shall be made available to the public and shall be posted in the office of the City Clerk and at the

Saratoga Library. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002)

(a) Except as provided in Section 2-12.20(b), all Commissioners shall:

1. Be a resident of the City of Saratoga;

2. Prior to being interviewed for appointment to a Commission, have attended at least one meeting of the Commission to which appointment is being sought unless an exception has been granted by the City Council;

3. Not hold any elected public office in any jurisdiction, any place or position of employment with the City of Saratoga; and

4.Satisfy any additional eligibility requirements specified in the ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission.

(b) One or more of the requirements set forth in Section 2-12.020(a) shall not apply if the ordinance or resolution establishing a Commission directs that one or more of the requirements specified are not be applied to one or more members of the Commission.

(c) If a Commissioner ceases to satisfy the requirements set forth in Section 2-12.020(a), the Commissioner's office shall become automatically vacant. With respect to appointment and tenure of replacements, and in all other matters, the vacancy will be treated like any other on that Commission.

(d) No person shall serve as a Commissioner on more than one Commission at any one time. For the purposes of this subsection (d) only, the term Commission shall include only those entities designated as a Commission by resolution or ordinance and shall not include any entity established as a committee, group, or board.

(e) Each Commissioner shall inform the City Clerk of the Commissioner's residence address at the time of appointment and promptly inform the City Clerk of all subsequent changes of address. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002)

(Ord. No. 383, § 1(Exh. A, § 4), 11-17-2021; Ord. No. 403, § 1(Exh. A, § 3), 7-3-2024)

(a) Each Commissioner shall serve a term of four years unless an alternate term is specified by the resolution or ordinance establishing the Commission.

(b) No Commissioner shall serve more than two full consecutive terms on a single Commission. A par-

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(Saratoga Supp. No. 54, 7-24)

2-12.060

tial term served as a result of an appointment to fill an unexpired term is not considered a full term and a partial term of less than three years due to an appointment being made after a vacancy has occurred is not considered a full term. A Commissioner who has served two full consecutive terms on a Commission may not be reappointed to that Commission for at least one year following the expiration of his or her term. The limitations set forth in this subsection (b) shall not apply to the Youth Commission.

(c) For each Commission, the terms of the Commissioners shall be staggered such that each year the four year terms of approximately an equal number of the Commissioners shall expire. Where a Commission has seven Commissioners, the terms of two Commissioners shall expire each year except that in the year after the first six Commission terms have expired, only one term shall expire. The limitations set forth in this subsection (c) shall not apply to the Youth Commission.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this Section, Section 2-15.020 regarding Planning Commissioner terms, where the terms of Commissioners on a Commission do not comply with subsection (c) of this Section, a Commissioner may be appointed to a term of greater or less than four years for the purpose of making the terms of the Commissioners on the Commission comply with subsection (c). No term shall be reduced after a Commissioner is appointed to serve the term, except as otherwise provided by this Code. For purposes of subsection (b) of this Section, a term of less than four years established pursuant to this paragraph is not a full term and a term that is more than four years at the time of appointment pursuant to this subsection (d) is a single term. (Amended by Ord. 208 § 2.1, 2002; Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002)

(Ord. No. 264, § 2, 5-4-09; Ord. No. 320, § 1.A.3.a, 11-5-2014; Ord. No. 340, § 1(Att. A, § 2), 7-6-2016; Ord. No. 403, § 1(Exh. A, § 4), 7-3-2024)

(a) Each Commissioner shall regularly attend meetings of the Commission of which he or she is a member.

(b) Commissioners are expected to make Commission service a high priority and to make a reasonable effort to attend all meetings. If a Commissioner is absent without permission of the Chair (or, in the case

of the Chair, the Mayor) from three regular Commission meetings in any twelve-month period, the Commissioner's office becomes vacant and shall be filled as any other vacancy unless the vacancy is excused by the City Council in its sole discretion. A Commissioner whose office has become vacant may request the vacancy to be excused by filing a letter with the City Clerk within thirty days of the effective date of the vacancy. If a Commissioner is absent without permission from two regular Commission meetings, the secretary of the Commission shall mail to the Commissioner a courtesy notice of the requirements of this Section, provided, however, that such notice shall not operate as prerequisite to the establishment of a vacancy pursuant to this subsection (b) and that failure to mail such notice shall not create any right of action in any Commissioner or any other person. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002) (Ord. No. 309, § 1, 12-4-2013)

All Commissioners shall serve at the pleasure of the City Council. The City Council may remove any Commissioner from office prior to the expiration of the Commissioner's term by the affirmative vote of not less than three members of the City Council. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002)

(a) All Commission positions shall be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the City Council. If a position is vacated prior to the end of the term, the appointment shall be for the unexpired portion of the term of office vacated. If the unexpired portion of the term is one year or less, the City Council may appoint a Commissioner to serve the remaining portion of the term and a subsequent full term.

(b) Whenever an unscheduled vacancy occurs in any Commission a special vacancy notice shall be posted in the office of the City Clerk and in the City Library not earlier than twenty days before and not later than twenty days after the vacancy occurs. Final appointment to the Commission shall not be made by the City Council for at least ten working days after the posting of the notice required by this Section except that in an emergency the City Council may fill the unscheduled vacancy immediately such that the person appointed to fill the vacancy may serve only on an acting basis until

(Saratoga Supp. No. 54, 7-24)

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2-12.060

the final appointment is made pursuant to this Section. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002; Ord. No. 320, § 1.A.3.b, 11-5-2014)

Editor’s note— Ord. No. 320, § 1.A.3.b, adopted Nov. 5, 2014, amended § 2-12.060 in its entirety to read as herein set out. Said section formerly pertained to vacancies.

The regular meetings of each Commission shall be as specified in the ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission or, if no regular meeting time is established by ordinance or resolution the regular meeting time may be established by the Commission. Any regular meeting may be cancelled by a Commission upon announcement of such cancellation at the regular meeting preceding the meeting to be cancelled. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002)

(a) The following Sections of this Chapter pertaining to meetings conducted by the City Council shall be applicable to all meetings conducted by Commissions:

2-10.020 through 2-10.080

as Chair of the same Commission more than one term of six months of more during a single full term on the Commission.

(d) In addition to the rules made applicable to Commissions as specified in paragraph (a) of this Section, each Commission shall have authority to adopt such other rules and procedures as it deems appropriate for the orderly and efficient conduct of its business which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Code or policies otherwise adopted by the City Council.

(e) The City Manager or his or her designee shall be the secretary of each Commission unless otherwise specified by the ordinance or resolution establishing the Commission.

(f) This Section 2-12.080 shall not apply to the Planning Commission which shall follow the rules of procedure set forth in Section 2-15.050 of this Code. (Ord. 203 Att. A (part), 2002; Ord. No. 340, § 1(Att. A, § 2), 7-6-2016)

(Ord. No. 354, § 1(Exh. A), 12-20-2017; Ord. No. 383, § 1(Exh. A, § 5), 11-17-2021)

2-10.110(c), (d), (f), (g) and (h)

2-10.120 through 2-10.170

As so applied to a Commission, all references therein to City Council or Council member shall be deemed to mean the Commission or Commissioner to which the Section is applied. All references therein to the Mayor shall be deemed to mean the Chair of the Commission; and all references therein to the City Clerk shall be deemed to mean the secretary of the Commission.

(b) The failure of passage of any motion before a Commission shall be deemed a denial of the motion; provided, however, a motion failing by reason of an evenly split vote by the Commission at a meeting where not all Commissioners are present shall be agendized and voted upon at the next regular meeting of the Commission at which a quorum is present.

(c) Each Commission shall elect a Chair to serve a twelve month term. In the event of a vacancy in the Chair position, the Commission shall elect a Chair to serve the remainder of the term. If fewer than six months remain in the term, the Commission may, but is not required to, elect a new Chair to a term that includes the remainder of the unexpired term and the next twelve month term as Chair. The combined term may not exceed eighteen months. No person shall serve

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(Saratoga Supp. No. 54, 7-24)

2-15.050