Neither the Mayor nor any member of the Town Council shall during the term of his or her office hold or be interested in any other office, for which compensation is paid, under the corporation, except as may be allowed by general law, nor shall be or she be a party directly or indirectly to or interested in any contract in which the corporation is interested, unless the said office or interest is fully disclosed and approved pursuant to the applicable ethics laws of the Mayor and Town Council of Oakland[1] or the State of Maryland.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 27, Ethics.
Whenever it shall, in the judgment of the Mayor and Town Council, become necessary to condemn land for the purpose of opening or widening any street or alley, in pursuance of any water or sewerage project, or for any other purpose which the Mayor and Town Council may deem necessary in the pursuance of its duties under this Charter, the Mayor and Town Council of Oakland is hereby clothed with the power of condemnation under the right of eminent domain as provided for in § 2(b)(24) of Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland as fully as if said section had been herein incorporated.
It shall be the duty of the owner or possessor of property abutting on any street, or wherever in the discretion of the Mayor and Town Council they deem it necessary for the safety and use of the public, to construct the sidewalk adjacent to said street upon which the said property so abuts and to keep it in good repair at his or her own expense. If the owner, possessor or other person responsible shall fail to construct, repair or maintain any sidewalk after due notice, according to the ordinance of the Town, the corporation shall construct, repair or maintain the same and charge the same to the owner, possessor or other person responsible for such construction, repair or maintenance, and the cost and expense of the construction, repair or maintenance of any such sidewalk after the failure of the owner, possessor or other person responsible to do so, shall be a lien upon the said abutting property, in the same manner and to the same extent as taxes are now made a lien by law. The Mayor and Town Council shall have the same rights and remedies to enforce payment of the same as is now given to them by law to enforce the payment of taxes, but the Mayor and Town Council shall not be responsible for any damage which may be occasioned by reason of a failure on the part of the lot owner to keep his or her sidewalks in proper repair.
The Mayor and Town Council shall have the power to require licenses from all exhibitors, theatricals, concerts, block parties or for any event or function which requires a temporary beer, wine or liquor license operating within the Town. The Mayor and Town Council shall also have the right to require licenses from all traveling salespersons, door-to-door salespersons, hackers, carts or carriages operated within the Town for profit or hire. Further, they shall have the right to require licenses for all auctions, hawkers, peddlers and temporary sales establishments of whatever nature operating within the Town. The fees for such licenses and the terms thereof shall be established by ordinance or resolution of the Mayor and Town Council of Oakland.
The Mayor and Town Council may provide for codification of all ordinances which have been or may be passed by it, and for the printing of such codifications thereof, and the ordinances so issued by the authority of the Mayor and Town Council may be read in evidence from the printed codification.
The Mayor and Town Council of Oakland shall have the power and authority to contract with or grant unto any other corporate body, individual or partnership for any franchise to be granted by the Town for its operation within the corporate boundaries of the Town of Oakland. The Mayor and Town Council are empowered to pass all such ordinances as may be necessary to put into operation the provisions of this section and also to grant, by ordinances or otherwise, the right to lay conduits, electrical lines, cable lines, telephone lines or any other such thing through the streets from the Town of Oakland.
No action shall be maintained and no claim shall be allowed against the Mayor and Town Council of Oakland, or its officers or employees, for unliquidated damages for any injury or damage to person or property, unless, within 90 days after the injury or damage was sustained, written notice thereof setting forth the time, place and cause of the alleged damage, loss, injury or death shall be presented in person or by registered mail by the claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or, in case of death, by his or her executor or administrator, to the Mayor, the President of the Town Council or the Town Clerk, as the case may be.
The Mayor and Town Council of Oakland shall have power, in its discretion, to provide for retirement pensions for employees and officers whose compensation is paid by the Town, and may, in its discretion, establish and maintain a general retirement or pension system for such employees and officers, and appropriate and expend such sums as may be necessary to pay said pensions and all expenses in connection with said pensions or pension system.
This Charter shall become effective on the 10th day of June, 2000.