The legislative branch of the government of
the Municipality of Kingston shall consist of an elective governing
body which shall be known as the Municipal Council.
The Council shall be composed of seven (7) members
elected at large by the electors of the Municipality.
Councilmen shall be elected to serve staggered
terms of four (4) years each and until each of their successors qualifies.
At the first municipal election subsequent to the adoption of this
charter, the offices of the four (4) councilmen whose terms are then
expiring shall be filled. At the next municipal election, the offices
of the three (3) councilmen whose terms are then expiring shall be
filled. Thereafter, at each municipal election four (4) and then three
(3) councilmen shall be elected as the case may be. Their terms of
office shall begin on the first Monday in January next following their
election.
All councilmen shall be electors of the municipality
and shall have been residents continuously in the municipality for
at least one year immediately preceding their election and must remain
continuous residents during their terms of office.
Except as otherwise provided in this charter,
the Council shall have and exercise all legislative powers and duties
now or hereafter conferred or imposed on said Council, or not denied
to it, by applicable law. The Council shall have, but not by way of
limitation, the following powers and duties:
A.
To make appropriations, incur indebtedness, approve
contracts, and adopt the budget;
B.
To adopt, amend and repeal an administrative code,
not inconsistent with this charter, which may create, alter, combine
and abolish municipal departments, administrative units, authorities,
boards and commissions not headed by elected officers and not provided
for in this charter;
C.
To levy taxes not otherwise prohibited by law;
D.
To fix the amount of bonds of officers and employees
who are paid from municipal funds;
E.
To adopt by resolution all necessary rules and regulations
for its conduct and procedure; and
F.
To make or cause to be made such studies or post audits
and investigations as it deems to be in the best interest of the Municipality.
The Council shall have the power to fix the
compensation of its members, except that until 1978 each Councilman
shall receive a salary of $2400 per annum. No change in the compensation
of Council shall become effective for any councilman until the commencement
of his new term of office. Councilmen shall receive no other municipal
compensation, direct or indirect; and they shall receive no pensions
or other forms of fringe benefits.
No councilman, during his Council term, shall
hold any other elective office or employment in any municipal government
for which compensation is prescribed; nor shall be hold any elective
office under the government of the United States or the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania or serve as a member of Congress or of the General
Assembly of Pennsylvania; nor shall be hold any office or employment
in any political party.
The office of councilman shall become vacant
through: a) death; b) resignation; c) recall; or d) forfeiture. Forfeiture
occurs when a councilman: 1) lacks the qualifications of the office
as defined by the charter; 2) violates an express prohibition of the
charter; 3) is convicted of a crime more serious than a summary offense
as defined by law; or 4) is absent and unexcused from four (4) consecutive
regular meetings of Council and the office is declared vacant by Council.
A.
The Council shall, by a majority vote of the total
number of the Council, fill any vacancies in the office of councilmen.
Should the Council fail, for any reason whatsoever, to fill a vacancy
within thirty (30) days after the vacancy occurs, then the Court of
Common Pleas shall, upon petition of any ten (10) citizens of the
municipality, fill the vacancy. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy
shall be an elector of the same political party as the person who
vacated the office.
B.
If the vacancy occurs during the last year of a term,
the appointee shall fill the unexpired term. If the vacancy occurs
during the first three years of a term, the appointee shall serve
only until the scheduled primary, municipal or general election, occurring
at least sixty (60) days after the vacancy has occurred, at which
time the unexpired term shall be filled by the electors of the municipality.
C.
The person so appointed or elected to fill a vacancy
shall take office immediately upon qualifying.
The Council shall organize on the first Monday
of January of each year. The Council at this organization meeting
shall elect from its membership a President and a Vice President.
The President, or in his absence the Vice President, shall preside
at all meetings of the Council.
The Council shall convene in regular meeting
not less than once a month. All meetings of the Council shall be open
to the public and reasonable and adequate public notice of all meetings
shall be given.
A.
All actions of the Council shall be in the form of
an ordinance, resolution, or motion. All ordinances and resolutions
must be in written form. All final action in adopting ordinances or
resolutions shall be by roll call vote, and the vote of each member
of Council shall be entered into the record of the meeting. No action
of Council shall be taken in the absence of a quorum which shall consist
of four (4) councilmen.
B.
Resolutions and motions of the Council shall be passed
by an affirmative vote of a majority of the councilmen present and
entitled to vote. Ordinances shall be adopted by an affirmative vote
of a majority of the total number of the whole Council.
C.
All legislation, including but not limited to the
adoption of all budgets and capital programs, the adoption of all
tax levies, the adoption of an administrative code and amendments
thereto, the grant, renewal or extension of all franchises, the borrowing
of funds with the exception of revenue anticipation loans, the enactment
of all zoning and sub-division regulations and technical codes, and
the amendment or repeal of existing ordinances shall be by ordinance.
All ordinances of the Council shall be introduced at any duly convened
meeting of the Council, but no ordinance shall be adopted until a
subsequent meeting of Council, duly convened and occurring at least
twenty-five (25) days following the introduction of the ordinance.
[Amended 12-5-1994 by Ord. No. 1994-21]
D.
Upon adoption, an ordinance shall be signed by the
President of Council and submitted to the Mayor within five (5) days.
The Mayor shall approve or veto such ordinance within ten (10) days
thereafter. However, such a veto may be overridden at the next succeeding
regular meeting of Council by an affirmative vote of a majority plus
one of the total number of the Council members. Should the mayor fail
to act within said ten (10) days the ordinance shall be deemed enacted.
A.
The Municipal Administrator shall cause all ordinances
to be published in summary form within (10) days following their enactment,
at least once in a newspaper circulating generally within the municipality.
B.
An ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days
following its publication date unless the ordinance shall specify
a later date.
Upon written declaration by the Mayor that an emergency exists within the municipality, Council may, without regard to any other provisions contained in Article II and Section 303 (D), adopt an ordinance upon the affirmative and majority vote of at least four (4) members of Council who shall be present at any meeting of the Council. The ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption and shall cease to be effective on the thirty first (31st) day following its adoption.
A.
All ordinances and resolutions of the municipality
shall be entered, as approved, in the record books of the municipality.
The record books shall be open and available to the public for inspection
at reasonable hours. These books shall be in the custody and control
of the Municipal Administrator. All entries made therein shall be
at his direction.
B.
All municipal ordinances and any existing resolutions
having legislative effect shall be codified and the codification kept
current. Copies of the codified ordinances and resolutions shall be
made available to the public upon request at a reasonable charge.
The Council may make inquires and investigations
into the affairs of the municipality and the conduct of any municipal
department, office, agency, or authority. To facilitate the conduct
of such inquiries and investigations, Council shall have the authority,
by subpoena, to compel the production of evidence in the control,
custody and possession of the executive branch, and to administer
oaths, and to take testimony.
The Council shall provide reasonable opportunity
for interested citizens to address the Council at regular or special
meetings on matters of general or specific concern.
