The Council shall be composed of eight members, one member from each of the four wards of the City, and four at-large members. The ward members shall be elected by and from the qualified voters of the ward; and the candidate for each ward receiving the largest number of votes cast in each ward shall be elected Councilor for that ward. The at-large members shall be elected by and from the qualified voters of the City and the candidate(s) receiving the largest number of votes cast City wide shall be elected Councilor(s).
The terms of all Councilors shall be for three years or until successors are elected and qualified. No person may be elected as a City Councilor for more than three consecutive three-year terms, unless he or she was elected to an initial term of 18 months or less, in which case he or she may still be elected to three consecutive year terms.
No member shall be eligible while a member of the Council to hold any office of emolument or profit under the City Charter or ordinances, nor to hold the office of City Manager during the term for which the member was elected.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 2; P.&S.L. 1959, Ch. 148, § 1; P.&S.L. 1967, Ch. 75, § 1; P.&S.L. 1969, Ch. 144, § 1; Amendment No. 1-1974, 11-5-1974; Ord. No. 647, 11-20-1978; Amendment of 6-14-1988; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 11-5-2002; Amendment of 11-4-2008; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
Each member of the Council, except the Mayor, shall receive as a stipend the sum of $200 per month, and shall be reimbursed for actual authorized out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the performance of official duties.
(Amendment of 6-14-1988; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal affairs of the City, except as otherwise provided by this Charter, shall be and are vested in one body called the City Council. All members of the Council shall be qualified voters of the City, and shall be sworn in the manner hereinafter prescribed. The City Council shall exercise its powers in the manner hereinafter provided.
The members of the Council and the Mayor shall be and constitute the municipal officers of the City of Augusta for all purposes required by statutes and, except as otherwise herein specifically provided, shall have all the powers and authority given to and perform all duties required of municipal officers and mayors of cities under the laws of this state.
All other powers now or hereinafter vested in the inhabitants of the City, and all powers granted by this act, except as herein otherwise provided, shall be vested in the Council.
The Council shall function as the policy-making body of the City. It is not intended that the Council be involved with the day-to-day administrative matters assigned to the City Manager except as required by statute.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 1; Ord. No. 648, 11-20-1978; Amendment of 6-14-1988; Amendment of 11-5-2002)
In case of a vacancy caused by the forfeiture of office, death, resignation, removal from the ward in which elected, removal from the City, or removal from office, the vacancy shall be filled either from the ward in which such vacancy occurs or from the City in the case of an at-large member by an election called by the Council as soon as practical if the vacancy would exceed six months.
A Councilor who is convicted of murder, or a Class A, B or C crime, or a Class D or E crime involving moral turpitude or dishonesty, while in office, after due notice and hearing before the Council, may be removed from office. If a Councilor is indicted for murder, or a Class A, B or C crime, he or she may be suspended from office until final resolution of the charges, after due notice and hearing by majority vote of the Council.
A Councilor shall forfeit his or her office if he or she fails at any time during his or her term of office to maintain any qualification for the office prescribed by this Charter or by law.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 3; P.&S.L. 1967, Ch. 75, § 2; Ord. No. 648, 11-20-1978; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The Council shall meet on the first Thursday in January, at such time and place on that date, or at such other date as the previous Council shall determine, at which time the Mayor-elect, the Councilors-elect, members-elect of the School Board, and the School Board Chairperson-elect shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of their duties by the City Clerk, a notary public, dedimus justice, or an attorney at law. Thereafter, the Council shall meet at such time and place as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, except that it shall meet regularly each month.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 4; P.&S.L. 1963, Ch. 89; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
Special meetings may be called by the Mayor, and in the event of his or her absence, disability or refusal, may be called by five members of the Council. Notice of a special meeting shall be served in hand to or left at the residence of each member of the Council at least 24 hours before the time for holding the special meeting. The Council may meet upon shorter notice by unanimous consent of all of its members, recorded in the record of such meeting.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 5)
Five members of the Council, one of whom may be the Mayor, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time. At least 24 hours' notice of the time and place of resumption of such adjourned meeting shall be given to all members who were not present at the meeting from which the adjournment was taken.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 2; Amendment of 11-4-2008)
The Council shall keep a record of its proceedings and shall be the judge of the qualification and election of its own members. The Council shall determine and enforce its own rules relating to procedure, misconduct, and forfeiture of office. The meetings of the Council shall be open to the public. All members present shall vote on all matters brought before the Council which require a vote unless excused by the Council for conflict of interest. Agenda for the business anticipated to be conducted at formal meetings of the Council shall be available to the public at the City Clerk's office at least two business days prior to the meeting. A verbatim electronic recording of suitable quality as to be audible of all public meetings shall be made and placed on file within seven days at the office of the City Clerk for at least one year. Possession and handling of these recordings shall be restricted to the office of the City Clerk, which shall provide for the listening or transcribing of the records upon reasonable request.
The Council shall act only by ordinance, order or resolve; and all ordinances, orders and resolves, except resolves making appropriations, shall be confined to one subject. Appropriation resolves shall be confined to the subject of appropriations. No ordinance and no appropriation resolve shall be passed until it has been read on two separate days, except when the requirement of a reading on two separate days has been dispensed with by an affirmative vote of six voting members. The yeas and nays shall be taken on the passage of all ordinances, orders and resolves and entered on the record of the proceedings of the Council by the Clerk. Every ordinance shall require for final passage the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Council present and voting. Every ordinance before final passage shall be posted, marked "Proposed Ordinance," at the City Hall and shall take effect and be in full force 30 days from and after it shall have received final passage by the Council. An order or resolve shall take effect 10 days after its passage. Within 15 working days after final passage, the ordinance shall be published in summary in one or more of the newspapers circulated in Augusta.
The Council may, by an affirmative vote of six voting members, pass emergency ordinances, orders or resolves to take effect at the time indicated therein. Such emergency ordinances, orders or resolves shall contain a section in which the emergency is set forth and defined. No emergency ordinance may be enacted unless it involves life, health, safety or property.
(P.&S.L. 1957, Ch. 169, Art. II, § 7; P.&S.L. 1965, Ch. 137, § 1; Ord. No. 648, 11-20-1978; Amendment of 6-14-1988; Amendment of 11-3-1998; Amendment of 11-4-2008; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
Unless otherwise required by municipal referendum or state law, the Council will review the Charter at least once every 10 years to determine whether a Charter Commission should be established or whether amendments should be considered.
(Amendment of 6-14-1988; Amendment of 6-12-2018)
If any member of the City Council or the Board of Education, or the Mayor or Chairperson of the Board of Education, is unavailable or unable to serve for any reason for 120 consecutive days, they will be considered to have resigned their position. After 120 days, the City Council or the Board of Education, as the case may be, will either accept the resignation and declare a vacancy or extend a leave of absence to the date it determines.
(Amendment of 6-12-2018)