Torrance Municipal Code Art. 4 Elective Officers (CA)

400 ELECTIVE OFFICERS.

The elective officers of the City shall be the Mayor and six members of the City Council, the City Clerk, and the City Treasurer. No person shall be a candidate for more than one of the offices at any municipal election.

401 ELIGIBILITY FOR ELECTIVE OFFICE.

No person shall be eligible to hold any elective office in this City unless that person is a resident and elector therein and shall have resided in such City for at least 30 days immediately preceding the date of filing of nomination papers. If an elective officer shall cease to possess any of the qualifications for office herein set forth, or shall be convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or shall resign, or be adjudged an incompetent, the office shall immediately become vacant.

402 TERMS.

a) The six members of the City Council shall be elected by-district, and the remaining elective officers of the City shall be elected from the City at large and shall hold office for a term of 4 years from and after the Tuesday next succeeding the date of such election and until their successors are elected and qualified.

b) No person shall be elected as Mayor for more than 2 consecutive full terms; provided, however, that such person may be successively elected to additional terms as Mayor in full compliance with this subsection where the first of such 2 full terms succeeds the term of another person.

c) Any person elected as a member of the City Council for 2 consecutive full terms shall not be eligible to hold office as a member of the City Council until a period of 4 years has elapsed from the expiration of the second consecutive term. Appointment or election to an unexpired term shall not count in determining a person’s eligibility under this section. Terms completed prior to this provision taking effect, shall not be counted in determining a person’s eligibility under this section. Terms which are in progress at the time this provision goes into effect, shall count as the first term of the 2-term limit.

403 VACANCIES.

a) A City Councilmember, Mayor, City Clerk, or City Treasurer shall be deemed to have vacated their office on the date that the elected official:

is absent from all regular meetings of the City Council for a period of 60 days consecutively from and after the last regular City Council meeting attended by such member without permission or excuse approved by the City Council;
is convicted of a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude, or a crime involving a violation of the elected official’s official duties;
resigns from office in writing;
is sworn into another office or position requiring surrender of the City office;
is removed from office by judicial procedure or other state law proceeding;
forfeits the office under any provisions of this Charter;
no longer meets the qualifications necessary;
is judicially determined to be incompetent;
is permanently disabled as to be unable to perform the duties of the position. A finding of disability shall require the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the City Council after considering competent medical evidence bearing on the physical or mental capability of the officer; or
dies.

Any vacancies occurring in any of the elective offices provided for in this Charter, shall be filled by appointment by the City Council.

b) In the event of the City Council, failing to fill a vacancy by appointment within 60 days after such vacancy occurs, the City Council must immediately, after the expiration of the 60 days, cause an election to be held to fill such vacancy.

c) Any person appointed or elected to fill any vacancy on the City Council shall hold office only until the next regular municipal election at which time a person shall be elected to serve for the remainder of such unexpired term.

404 COMPENSATION.

The members of the City Council shall receive compensation for their services in an amount equal to the minimum wage as published by the State of California Department of Industrial Relations, or any successor agency, in its Minimum Wage Order (or any successor order, notice, or publication of the State of California’s minimum wage), which amount shall reimburse the City Councilmember for expenditures imposed on the City Councilmember in serving as a City Councilmember. For the avoidance of doubt, the monthly compensation for Councilmembers will be calculated by taking the minimum wage of the State of California and multiplying it by 2,080 hours to get the yearly amount and dividing the yearly amount by 12 to get the monthly compensation. City Councilmembers are not employees, are not hourly workers, and will not be entitled to overtime. The reference to minimum wage is just for the purposes of calculating the monthly compensation. Councilmembers will be paid on the same dates as City employees, and in addition thereto shall receive their actual and necessary expenses while engaged on City business at the direction of the City Council. Any member of the City Council making demand for reimbursement for traveling or other expenses shall provide the Director of Finance with vouchers covering such expenses, together with a sworn statement to the effect that such expenses were actually incurred in good faith by the Councilmember while on official City business. The compensation of any member of the City Council appointed or elected to fill a vacancy shall be the same as that payable to such member whose office was vacated.

405 THE MAYOR.

The Mayor shall preside at the meetings of the City Council, and in case of the Mayor’s absence or inability to act, the City Council shall appoint a Mayor Pro Tempore, who shall serve only until such time as the Mayor returns and is able to act, and for such period shall have all the powers and duties of the Mayor. The Mayor shall be a member of the City Council for all purposes and shall have all the rights, powers and duties of a member of the City Council in addition to those powers and duties conferred upon the Mayor by virtue of the office as Mayor. Unless otherwise expressly provided to the contrary, any provision in this Charter which relates to the City Council or to members of the City Council shall be interpreted to include the Mayor as a member of the City Council. The Mayor shall sign all warrants drawn on the City Treasury, and shall sign all written contracts required by ordinance to be approved by the City Council and all conveyances made up or entered into by the City. The Mayor shall have the power to administer oaths and affirmations, to take affidavits and to testify. The Mayor is authorized to acknowledge the execution of all instruments executed by the City that are required to be acknowledged.

406 CITY CLERK.

It shall be the duty of the City Clerk to keep a full and true record of all the proceedings of the City Council in books that shall bear appropriate titles and be devoted exclusively to such purposes, respectively. Such books shall have a general index sufficiently comprehensive to enable a person readily to ascertain matters contained therein.

The City Clerk shall keep a book marked Ordinances into which the City Clerk shall record all City ordinances with the City Clerk’s certificate annexed to each of the ordinances stating the same to be a true and correct copy of any ordinance of the City, giving the number of the ordinances and stating that the same has been published or posted according to law. The record with the certificate shall be prima facie evidence of the contents of each ordinance and of the passage and publication of the same and shall be admissible as such evidence in any court or proceedings.

The official records of the City in the custody of the City Clerk shall not be filed in any court proceedings or other action 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 ordinances in the usual way. The City Clerk shall be the custodian of the seal of the City.

The City Clerk may appoint a deputy, or deputies, from an eligible list to be prepared in accordance with the proceedings prescribed in the civil service system of the City, such deputy or deputies to receive such compensation as may be provided for by the City Council.

The City Clerk and the City Clerk’s deputy, or deputies, shall have power to administer oaths or affirmations, to take affidavits and depositions pertaining to the affairs and business of the City, which may be used in any court or proceedings in the State, and to certify the same.

The salary of the City Clerk shall be determined by the City Council.

The City Clerk shall devote their entire time to the interests of the City, and shall be entitled to receive expenses, vacation periods and sick leave, with pay, the same as prescribed by the civil service ordinances of the City for heads of departments.

407 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE CITY CLERK.

The City Clerk shall be the department head for the City Clerk’s Office and be required to:

a) Attend in person or through an authorized representative, all meetings of the City Council and be responsible for recording and maintaining a full and true record of all proceedings of the City Council.

b) Maintain separate books, in which shall be recorded respectively all ordinances and resolutions, with the certificate of the City Clerk annexed to each book stating the ordinance or resolution to be the original or a correct copy, and as to an ordinance requiring publication, stating that the same has been published or posted in accordance with this Charter; keep all books properly indexed and open to public inspection when not in actual use.

c) Maintain a record of all written contracts, deeds, official bonds, and other recorded instruments.

d) Be the custodian of the seal of the City.

e) Administer oaths or affirmations, take affidavits and depositions pertaining to the affairs and business of the City and certify copies of official records.

f) Serve as the election official of the City and administer all City elections.

g) Attest the signature of City officials on written contracts or conveyances.

h) Acknowledge the execution of all instruments executed by the City as required.

i) Serve as the City’s agent for service of process.

j) In accordance with the City’s transparency goals, assure that appropriate procedures are established and followed to comply with the California Public Records Act (Government Code section 7920.000 et seq.).

k) Administer the City’s record retention policy.

l) Administer the City’s electronic or digital signature policy.

m) Conduct the opening of bids for public works projects publicly advertised by the City. The City Clerk may delegate this duty to another officer or employee of the City.

n) Upon request, the City Clerk may publish or notice or facilitate the publication of all City Council-related matters required to be published or noticed in accordance with applicable laws.

o) Perform other duties not inconsistent with this Charter, as may be required by State general law, or by ordinance or resolution of the City Council.

408 CITY TREASURER.

It shall be the duty of the City Treasurer to receive and safely keep all moneys which shall come into the City Treasurer’s hands as City Treasurer. The City Treasurer shall comply with all provisions of law governing the deposit and securing of public funds. The City Treasurer shall also comply with all the provisions of the general laws of the State governing the handling of such trust funds as may come into the City Treasurer’s possession. The City Treasurer shall pay out moneys only on warrants signed by persons designated by law, or ordinance, as the proper persons to sign warrants and as to trust funds which may come into the City Treasurer’s possession or control by virtue of some law, ordinance or resolution, by warrant or other order, in accordance with the provisions of such law, ordinance or resolution. The City Treasurer shall at regular intervals, at least once each month, submit to the Director of Finance a written report and accounting of all receipts, disbursements and fund balances, a copy of which report the City Treasurer shall file with the City Council.

The City Treasurer shall attend a minimum of one City Council meeting per month. The City Treasurer shall be deemed to have vacated the office of City Treasurer on the date that the City Treasurer is absent from all regular meetings of the City Council for a period of 60 days consecutively from and after the last regular City Council meeting attended by such member without permission or excuse approved by the City Council.

The City Treasurer may appoint a deputy, or deputies, from an eligible list to be prepared in accordance with the proceedings prescribed in the civil service system of the City, such deputy or deputies to receive such compensation as may be provided by the City Council.

409 ELECTION AS TO MAKING CITY CLERK OR CITY TREASURER APPOINTIVE OFFICES.

The City Council may submit to the electors at any special or general municipal election, the question as to whether the City Clerk or City Treasurer, or either of them, shall be appointed by the City Council instead of being elected, as provided in this Charter. If a majority of votes cast on any such proposition are in favor of the appointment of such officers, or either of them, then at the expiration of any such official’s term of office, or on the occurrence of a vacancy in such office, such office shall be filled by appointment by the City Council and the appointee shall hold office in the same manner as other appointive officers.

410 POLITICAL ACTIVITY OF THOSE UNDER SYSTEM.

No elective officer, appointive officer, or employee of the City shall:

(a) Directly or indirectly use, promise, threaten, or attempt to use any official influence in the aid of any partisan political activity, or to affect the result of any election to partisan or political office, or otherwise act or fail to act, in their official capacity as a result of any or partisan or political consideration.

(b) Solicit or coerce from any other officer or employee of the City, any political payment, contribution, or membership.

(c) Use any office or position within the City in any activity in support or opposition to any person running for any elected office.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent any such officer or employee from becoming or continuing to be a member of a political group or organization, or from attendance at a political meeting, or from enjoying entire freedom from all interference in casting a vote or from seeking or accepting election or appointment to any public office.

Any willful violation hereof, or violation through gross negligence of this Section, in addition to any other remedies provided in this Charter for violations hereof, shall be sufficient grounds for the discharge of any such officer or employee.

No officer or employee, or seeking admission thereto, shall be employed, promoted, demoted, or discharged, or in any way favored or discriminated against because of political opinions or affiliations.

411 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURES.

(a) Any elected officer, candidate, committee, or other person required to file statements, reports, or other documents with the City Clerk must disclose their campaign contributions and expenditures in accordance with the State’s Political Reform Act, or any successor statute or provision.

(b) The City Clerk shall post all campaign statements and reports on the City’s website.