Seal Beach Municipal Code Art. IV Elective Officers

The elective officers of the City shall consist of five members of the City Council, one elected from each of the five Councilmanic Districts as prescribed in Article V. The terms of elective officers shall be four years and until their respective successors qualify. The term of each elective officer shall commence on the twenty-first (21st) day following his/her election at the time of the completion of the canvass of the election returns.

(Amended 1974, 1978, 2006, 2014)

Compensation for the members of the City Council shall be established by ordinance in accordance with provisions of Sections 36516 and 36516.5 of the State of California Government Code as such provisions now exist or may thereafter be amended. Each member of the City Council shall receive reimbursement for Council authorized expenses in accordance with provisions of Sections 36514.5 and 37201 through 37205 of the State of California Government Code.

(Amended 1990)

A vacancy in any elective office shall be filled in accordance with State law.

(Amended 2006)

a. Upon the completion of the canvass of the election returns of any municipal election at which any member or members of the City Council is or are elected, the City Council shall meet and shall elect one of its members as its presiding officer, who shall have the title of Mayor. The Mayor shall have a voice and vote in all its proceedings. The Mayor shall be the official head of the City for all ceremonial purposes. The Mayor shall also act in a liaison capacity between the City Council and the City Manager, and in such capacity shall advise the City Manager on matters of Council Policy. The Mayor shall perform such other duties consistent with the office as may be prescribed by this Charter or as may be imposed by the City Council. The Mayor shall serve in such capacity at the pleasure of the City Council.

b. Mayor Pro Tempore. At the same time as a Mayor is selected, the City Council shall also designate one of its members as Mayor Pro Tempore, who shall serve in such capacity at the pleasure of the City Council. The Mayor Pro Tempore shall perform the duties of the Mayor during the Mayor's absence or disability.

(Amended 1974)

All powers of the City shall be vested in the City Council except as otherwise provided in this Charter.

Neither the City Council nor any of its members shall interfere with the execution by the City Manager of his/her powers and duties; or order, directly or indirectly, the appointment by the City Manager or by any of the department heads in the administrative service of the City, of any person to an office or employment or removal therefrom. 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 thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the City Manager, either publicly or privately.

The City Council shall hold regular meetings at least once each month in accordance with the Brown Act (California Government Code Section 54950 et seq.), as such statute now exists or may hereafter be amended, at such times, as it shall fix by ordinance or resolution. The City Council may adjourn or re-adjourn any meeting and may call special meetings, in accordance with the Brown Act. If at any time any regular meeting falls on a holiday, such regular meeting may be held thereafter prior to the next regular meeting.

(Amended 2002)

(Repealed 2002 – Superseded by Section 407)

All meetings shall be held in such place, as the City Council shall fix by ordinance or resolution, or in such place to which any such meeting may be adjourned and shall be open to the public. If, by reason of fire, flood, or other emergency, it shall be unsafe to meet in the place designated, the meetings will be held for the duration of the emergency at such place as is designated by the Mayor, or if he/she should fail to act, by three members of the City Council.

A majority of the members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time. In the absence of all of the members of the City Council from any regular meeting, the City Clerk may declare the same adjourned to a stated day and hour. Notice of a meeting adjourned by less than a quorum or by the Clerk shall be given by the Clerk or may be waived by consent in the same manner as specified in this Charter for the giving or waiving of notice of special meetings of the City Council, but need not specify the matters to be acted upon.

The City Council shall judge the qualifications of its members as set forth by the Charter. It shall judge all election returns. It may establish rules for the conduct of its proceedings and evict or prosecute any members or other person for disorderly conduct at any of its meetings.

Each member of the City Council shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations in any investigation or proceedings pending before the City Council. The City 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 shall be issued in the name of the City attested by the City Clerk. Disobedience of such subpoenas, or the refusal to testify (except as to privileged matters), shall constitute a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable in the same manner as violations of this Charter are punishable.

At the demand of any member or upon the adoption of any ordinance, resolution, or order for the payment of money, the City Clerk shall call the roll and shall cause the ayes and noes taken on such question to be entered upon the minutes of the meeting.

No citizen shall be denied the right, personally or through counsel, to present grievances at any regular meeting of the Council, or offer suggestions for the betterment of municipal affairs subject always to the rules of the City Council governing the conduct of Council meetings.

With the sole exception of ordinances, which take effect upon adoption, referred to in this Article, no ordinance shall be adopted by the City Council on the day neither of its introduction, nor within five days neither thereafter nor at any time other than at a regular or adjourned regular meeting. At the time of its introduction an ordinance shall become part of the proceedings of such meeting in the custody of the City Clerk. At the time of adoption of an ordinance or resolution, it shall be read in full, unless after the reading of the title thereof, the further reading thereof is waived by unanimous consent of the council members present. In the event that any ordinance is altered after its introduction, the same shall not be finally adopted except at a regular or adjourned regular meeting held not less than five days after the date upon which such ordinance was so altered. The correction of typographical or clerical errors shall not constitute the making of an alteration within the meaning of the foregoing sentence.

No order for the payment of money shall be adopted or made at any other than a regular or adjourned regular meeting.

Unless a different vote is required by other provisions of this Charter, the affirmative votes of at least three members of the City Council shall be required for the enactment of any ordinance, or for the making or approving of any order for the payment of money. All ordinances and resolutions shall be signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk.

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

In addition to such other acts of the City Council as are required by this Charter to be by ordinance, every act of the City Council establishing a fine or other penalty, or granting a franchise, shall be by ordinance.

The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be substantially as follows: "The City Council of the City of Seal Beach does ordain as follows:"

The City Clerk shall cause each ordinance to be published at least once in the official newspaper, within 15 days after its adoption.

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 repealed as of the effective date of the code. Such code may be subsequently revised, recompiled, recodified and indexed, including such restatement and substantive change as necessary in the interest of clarity, in the same manner as prescribed in this section for the original adoption by reference of an ordinance code. Amendments to the code shall be enacted in the same manner as ordinances.

Detailed regulations pertaining to the construction of buildings, plumbing and wiring, when arranged as a comprehensive code, may likewise be adopted by reference in the manner provided in this section. Maps, charts and diagrams also may be adopted by reference in the same manner.

No ordinance 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.

In the event that there is more than one newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the City, the City Council, annually, prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, shall publish a notice inviting bids and contract for the publication of all legal notices or other matter required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in said City during the ensuing fiscal year. In the event there is only one newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the City, then the City Council shall have the power to contract with such newspaper for the printing and publishing of such legal notices or matter without being required to advertise for bids therefor. The newspaper with which any such contract is made shall be designated the official newspaper for the publication of such notices or other matter for the period of such contract.

In no case shall the contract prices for such publications exceed the customary rates charged by such newspaper for the publication of legal notices of a private character.

In the event there is no newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the City, then all legal notices or other matter may be published by posting copies thereof in at least three public places in the City.

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.

The City Council shall not have the power to make or authorize any contract or lease or extension thereof for a longer period than 66 years unless said contract, lease or extension is approved by a majority of the qualified electors of the City voting on such question at any election. This section shall not apply to any franchise granted pursuant to the provisions of this Charter, or to any contract for the furnishings, or acquisition of the products, commodity or services of any public utility.

The City shall not be bound by any contract, except as hereinafter provided, unless the same shall be made in writing, approved by the City Council and signed on behalf of the City by the Mayor and City Clerk or by such other officer or officers as shall be designated by the City Council. Any of said officers shall sign a contract on behalf of the City when directed to do so by the City Council.

By ordinance or resolution the City Council may authorize the City Manager to bind the City, with or without a written contract, for the acquisition of equipment, materials, supplies, labor, services or other items included within the budget approved by the City Council, and may impose a monetary limit upon such authority.

The City Council may by ordinance or resolution provide a method for the sale or exchange of personal property not needed in the City service or not fit for the purpose for which intended and for the conveyance of title thereto.

Contracts for the sale of products, commodities or services of any public utility owned, controlled or operated by the City may be made by the Manager of such utility or by the head of the department or City Manager upon forms approved by the City Manager and at rates fixed by the City Council.

The provision of this section shall not apply to the services rendered by any person in the employ of the City at a regular salary.

A member of the City Council shall not be elected to more than two consecutive elective four year terms.

(Amended 1974)