There shall be a Board of Commissioners, or Commission of five
members, which shall consist of the Mayor as ex-officio Commissioner,
and four other Commissioners. Only qualified electors of the city
who have resided within the city at least three years, and are at
least 25 years of age shall be qualified for the office of Mayor.
Only qualified electors of the City of Weatherford who have resided
within the city at least three years and within their respective ward
for at least one year, and are at least 25 years of age shall be qualified
for the office of Commissioner. They shall have these qualifications
from and after the time they file for office or are selected to fill
vacancies.
Note: Refer to Section 1-7 of the Weatherford City Code for additional clarification.
[Added at election on March 19, 1996]
The Mayor and each Commissioner shall receive compensation for
their services to the city. The compensation to be received by the
Mayor and each member of the Commission shall be set by ordinance.
Said compensation may be changed by a majority vote of the entire
membership of the Commission; provided, no change in salary shall
become effective prior to the commencement of the term of office next
succeeding the term in which the change is made and then only in the
event such a change was approved prior to the general election for
the next succeeding term. Commissioners may be reimbursed for expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties.
The Mayor shall preside at meetings of the Commission, and shall
certify the passage of all ordinances and resolutions passed by it.
He shall be recognized as the head of the city government for all
administrative and ceremonial purposes and by the governor for the
purposes of military law. He shall have regular administrative duties
and shall sign such written obligations of the city as the Commission
may require. As a Commissioner, he shall have all powers, rights,
privileges, duties, and responsibilities of a Commissioner, including
the right to vote on questions.
At first meeting after the time prescribed for the beginning
of the term of a newly elected Mayor or Commissioners, or as soon
after as practicable, the Commission shall elect from its membership
a Vice-Mayor, who shall serve until the time prescribed for the beginning
of the term of the next newly elected Mayor or Commissioners and until
his successor has been elected and qualifies. The Vice-Mayor shall
act as Mayor during the absence of Mayor, until another Mayor is elected
by the Commission and qualifies. If the office of Vice-Mayor becomes
vacant, the Commission shall elect from its membership another Vice-Mayor.
Except as otherwise provided in this charter, all powers of
the city including the determination of all matters of policy, shall
be vested in the Commission. Without limitation of the foregoing,
the Commission shall have power:
1.
To appoint and remove the City Attorney and Municipal Judge, as provided
in this charter;
2.
By ordinance to enact municipal legislation;
3.
To raise revenue and make appropriations, and to regulate bond elections,
the insurance of bonds, sinking funds, the refunding of indebtedness,
salaries and wages, and all other fiscal affairs of the city, subject
to the provisions of the state constitution and law and this charter;
4.
To inquire into the conduct of any office, department or agency of
the city, and to investigate municipal affairs;
5.
To appoint or elect and remove its own subordinates, the members
of the personnel board, the members of the planning Commission, the
members of the board of adjustment, and other quasi-legislative, quasi-judicial
or advisory officers and authorities, now or when and if established,
or to prescribe the method of appointing or electing and removing
them;
6.
To regulate elections, the initiative and referendum, and recall,
within the limits prescribed by the state constitution and law and
this charter;
7.
To regulate the organization, powers, duties and functions of the
Municipal Court and of the Minor Violations Bureau, when and if established,
within the limits prescribed by the state constitution and law and
this charter;
8.
To create, change and abolish all offices, departments and agencies
of the city government other than the offices, departments and agencies
created by this charter; and to assign additional powers, duties and
functions to offices, departments and agencies created by this charter.
No Commissioner except the Mayor may direct or request the appointment
of any person to, or his removal from, office or employment by Mayor
or by any other authority, or except, as provided in this charter,
participate in any manner in the appointment or removal of officers
and employees of the city. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the
Commission shall deal with the administrative service solely through
the Mayor and neither the Commission nor any member thereof, may give
orders on administrative matters to any subordinate of the Mayor,
either publicly or privately.
The City Clerk shall serve as clerical officer of the Commission.
He shall keep the journal of its proceedings, and shall enroll in
a book or books kept for the purpose all ordinances and resolutions
passed by it. He shall be custodian of such documents, records and
archives as may be provided by applicable law or ordinance, shall
be custodian of the seal of the city and shall attest, and affix the
seal to, documents when required in accordance with applicable law
or ordinance.
[Amended at election on March 19, 1996]
The Commission shall hold at least one regular meeting every
month at such times as it may prescribe by ordinance or otherwise.
The Mayor or any three Commissioners may call special meetings. All
meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public, and the journal
of its proceedings shall be open to the public inspection; except
the Commission may hold executive sessions if held in accordance with
the laws of the State of Oklahoma.
[Amended at election on March 19, 1996]
If the Mayor or any other Commissioner shall be absent from
more than one-half of all the meetings of the Commission, regular
and special, held within any period of six consecutive calendar months,
he shall thereupon cease to hold office and may not be reappointed
to fulfill his own unexpired term.
The Mayor or any other Commissioner may be removed from office
for any cause specified by applicable state law for the removal of
officers, and by the method or methods prescribed thereby; and may
also be removed by recall as provided in this charter.
The Commission, by majority vote of its remaining members, shall
fill vacancies in its own membership, including the office of Mayor,
for the unexpired terms.
[Amended at election on March 19, 1996]
A majority of all the members of the Commission shall constitute
a quorum. On the demand of any member, the vote on any question shall
be by yeas and nays, and shall be entered in the journal.
The enacting clause of all ordinances passed by the Commission
shall be, "Be it ordained by the Board of Commissioners (or Commission)
of the City of Weatherford, Oklahoma," and of all ordinances proposed
by the voters under their power of initiative, "Be it ordained by
the people of the City of Weatherford, Oklahoma."
A proposed ordinance shall be read, and a vote of majority of
all the Commissioners shall be required for its passage. The vote
on final passage of every ordinance shall be by yeas and nays, and
shall be entered in the journal. The Mayor shall have no power to
veto. Within 10 days after its passage, every ordinance shall be published
in full or by number and title in a newspaper authorized by law to
publish legal publications. Every ordinance except an emergency ordinance,
so passed and published, shall become effective 30 days after its
final passage and publication unless it specifies a later time; provided
that a franchise for a public utility shall not go into effect until
the ordinance granted it has been published in full in a newspaper
authorized by law to publish legal publications and has been approved
at an election by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors voting
on the question.
An emergency ordinance is an ordinance which in the judgment
of the Commission is necessary for the immediate preservation of peace,
health or safety, and which should become effective prior to the time
when an ordinary ordinance would become effective. Every such ordinance
shall contain, as a part of its title, the words, "and declaring an
emergency;" and in a separate section, herein called the emergency
section, shall declare the emergency. An affirmative vote of at least
four Commissioners shall be required for the passage of an emergency
ordinance; which vote shall be by ayes and nays, and shall be entered
in the journal. An emergency ordinance shall take effect upon passage
and publication unless it specifies a later time.
The Commission by ordinance may adopt by reference codes, ordinances,
standards and regulations relating to building, plumbing, electrical
installations, milk and milk products, public health, and other matters
which it has power to regulate otherwise. Such code, ordinance, standard
or regulations so adopted need not be enrolled in the book or ordinances;
but a copy shall be filed and kept in the office of the City Clerk.
The City Clerk shall keep copies of all such codes, ordinances, standards
and regulations in force for distribution or sale at their approximate
cost.
The ordinances of the city shall be codified and published in
book or pamphlet form at least every 10 years unless the Commission,
by use of a loose-leaf system, provides for keeping the Code up-to-date.
Titles, enacting clauses and emergency sections may be omitted from
the Code; and temporary and special ordinances and parts of ordinances
which are to be repealed by the code, shall be omitted from the Code.
The ordinances and parts of ordinances included in the Code may be
revised, rearranged and reorganized; and the code may contain new
matter, provision of the state constitution and law applicable to
the city and this charter. A copy of the published Code shall be filed
in the office of the City Clerk after the Commission adopts the Code
by ordinance, but the Code need not be enrolled in the book of ordinances.
