Elected officials shall be citizens of the United States and
registered electors of the municipality throughout the officials'
term. Members of Council shall be residents of the wards from which
they are elected throughout the member's term.
No incumbent member of Council shall be made ineligible to hold
office by reason of redistricting during a term of office, but shall
continue to represent the ward from which originally elected for the
remainder of the term for which elected.
Any person otherwise eligible to hold the office of member of
Council shall not be made ineligible by reason of redistricting but
during the term following redistricting such person may represent
the ward in which originally eligible.
No person shall be eligible to seek office in more than one
(1) ward at any time.
No elected municipal official shall hold any other elective
governmental or political office or municipal employment while serving
as an elected official. Nor shall any former elected municipal official
be employed or appointed by the municipality in any compensated capacity
until two (2) years after the expiration of the term for which such
official was elected, except when such official held an office eliminated
by ordinance.
Elected delegates to national political conventions shall not
be considered elected officers in this section.
Elected officials shall not at any time authorize, approve or
ratify any payment or expenditure made in excess of any budget appropriation.
Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prevent Council, during
any fiscal year, from adopting, by ordinance, new appropriations,
supplementary appropriations and transfers from one appropriation
to another.
The office of an elected official shall become vacant upon death,
resignation, removal from office in any manner authorized by law or
this Charter or forfeiture of office or for failure to assume such
office after election thereto within forty-five (45) days after the
commencement of the term thereof. An elected official shall forfeit
office if the official:
(a) Lacks at any time during term of office any qualification for the
office prescribed by this Charter or by law; or
(b) Violates any express prohibition of this Charter; or
(c) Is convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude or
misbehavior in office; or
(d) Being a member of Council or the Mayor, is absent from at least three
(3) consecutive business meetings of the Council, unless excused by
Council. In the case of failure of attendance, the Council shall declare
such office vacant at least ten (10) days before the same shall be
filled by appointment.
(e) Is found to have committed an act or acts which constitute malfeasance
in office, misfeasance in office or violation of the oath of office.
For purpose of this section:
(1)
"Malfeasance in office" means an unlawful act committed willfully
by any elective public officer;
(2)
"Misfeasance in office" means the fulfillment of a statutorily
imposed duty in an unlawful or improper manner by an elective public
officer;
(3)
"Violation of the oath of office" means the neglect or failure
by an elective public officer to perform a duty imposed by law.
(a) If a vacancy shall occur in any elective office in the municipality
for any reason set forth in this Charter, the remaining members of
the Council shall fill such vacancy by appointing a person eligible
under the Charter to hold such office until a successor is elected
at the next municipal election. Such successor will serve the remainder
of the unexpired term. If the Council shall fail to fill such vacancy
within forty-five (45) days after the vacancy occurs, then the Court
of Common Pleas of Allegheny County shall, upon petition of the Council
or of any five (5) electors of that ward of the municipality whose
Council seat is vacant, fill the vacancy in such office by the appointment
of an eligible resident of the municipality for the unexpired term
of office.
(b) Whenever three (3) or more vacancies exist in Council, upon a petition
of the remaining member of Council or of any five (5) electors of
the municipality being filed with the Court, such vacancies shall
be filled by the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County in the
following manner:
(1)
The Court shall appoint eligible residents of the municipality
to serve temporarily in such vacant positions until a successor is
selected at a special or municipal election.
(2)
The Court shall order a special election to be held to fill
such vacancies for the unexpired terms of office, except that this
Court shall order the vacancies filled at the next municipal election
if a special election cannot be held more than three (3) months prior
to the next municipal election.
(c) The Council shall be the judge of the election and eligibility of
its members.
(d) Except for alleged forfeitures of office under this Article, that is Section 2403 (a) and (e), the Council shall be the judge of the grounds for forfeiture of their office and for that purpose shall have the power to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and require the production of evidence. A member charged with conduct constituting grounds for forfeiture of office on grounds of Subsections
(b),
(c) and
(d) of Section 2403 shall be entitled to a public hearing on demand, and notice of such hearing shall be published in one (1) or more newspapers of general circulation in the municipality at least one (1) week in advance of the hearing. Decisions made by the Council under this section shall be subject to review by the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County.
(e) The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County shall have jurisdiction and be the judge of the grounds for forfeiture of office where a complaint, in writing, by at least one hundred (100) registered electors of the municipality, is filed with the Court alleging forfeiture of office under Subsections
(a) or
(e) of Section 2403 of Article
XXIV of this Charter. The Court shall issue upon such officer or officers named an order to show cause why their office or offices should not be declared vacant and another appointed in their stead.
All elected and appointed officials, prior to assuming office,
shall take and shall sign an oath of office as shall from time to
time be prescribed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Such oath may be taken and signed before the Mayor of the municipality
or before a person authorized to administer oaths, and no person shall
be permitted to assume such office until the oath, in written form,
is filed with the municipality.
No elected or appointed municipal officer or employee shall
influence or attempt to influence the making of or supervise in any
manner or deal with any contract or municipal matter in which said
person has an adverse or special interest.
Any elected or appointed municipal officer who knows or in the
exercise of reasonable diligence could know that that officer is interested
financially, directly or indirectly, in any municipal contract or
has an adverse or special interest in any municipal matter shall notify
Council thereof. Any such contract or municipal matter shall not be
acted upon or approved by Council except by an affirmative vote of
at least three (3) of the members thereof. When the interested officer
is a member of Council, such officer shall refrain from voting on
said contract or municipal matter.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to cases where
such officer is an employee of the person, firm or corporation involved
in a municipal contract or municipal matter in a capacity with no
possible influence on the transaction and in which such person cannot
possibly be benefited thereby, either financially or in any other
material matter.
Any elected or appointed municipal officials who shall knowingly
violate the foregoing conflict sections shall forfeit their offices
and any employee doing so shall be dismissed.
The Charter shall not give any power or authority to diminish
any rights or privileges of any present or former municipal employee
entitled to benefits in any pension or retirement system.
An employee holding a municipal position at the time this Charter takes full effect, who was serving in that same or a comparable position at the time of its adoption, shall not be subject to competitive tests as a condition of continuance in the same position, but in all other respects shall be subject to the personnel system established pursuant to Articles
XVI and
XVII.
This Charter may be amended in accordance with the Home Rule
Charter and Optional Plans Law, as now or hereafter amended, reenacted
or supplied.
It is the intention of the electors of the municipality that
if this Charter cannot take effect in its entirety because of the
judgment of any court of competent jurisdiction holding invalid any
part or parts hereof, the remaining provisions of the Charter shall
be given full force and effect as completely as if the part or parts
held invalid had not been included herein.
If any part or parts of this Charter require the judgment or
approval of any court of competent jurisdiction and are held valid,
such part or parts shall remain part of the approved Charter.