CHARTER
OF THE
CITY OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

ARTICLE II - THE CITY COMMISSION

SECTION 4.   NUMBER; SELECTION; TERM.
The city commission shall have five (5) members, one of whom shall be the Mayor who shall be separately nominated and elected as Mayor, elected from the city at-large in the manner provided in Article IV of this Charter, for a term of four (4) years or until their successors have been elected and take office as provided in Section 14 herein.
(Amended 5-7-02)

SECTION 5.   QUALIFICATIONS.
Each member of the city commission, for at least one year prior to his (her) [sic] election shall have been and during his (her) [sic] term of office shall continue to be a resident of the city. He (she) [sic] shall hold no other municipal employment or elective public office. If a member of the city commission shall cease to possess any of these qualifications or shall be convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, his (her) [sic] office shall immediately become vacant.

SECTION 6.   SALARY; BOND; PENALTY FOR ABSENCE.
The annual salary of members of the city commission shall be $2,500.00 until changed by ordinance, but no ordinance shall affect the salary of a member of the city commission during the term for which he was elected or appointed at the time of adoption of such ordinance.

Each member of the city commission shall give bond in the sum of $10,000.00 with a bonding company regularly accredited to do business in the State of Ohio as surety thereon, to the approval of the finance director; and the premium of each such bond shall be paid by the city.

For each absence from a regular meeting of the commission, in excess of five (5) in any calendar year, there shall be deducted a sum equal to two percent (2%) of the annual salary of such member. Absence from five (5) consecutive regular meetings shall operate to vacate the seat of a member of the city commission unless the absence is excused by the commission by resolution setting forth such excuse and entered upon the journal.

SECTION 7.   PRESIDING OFFICER; MAYOR.

The mayor shall be the president of the city commission, shall preside at meetings of the city commission, shall have equal voting privileges as other members of the city commission, shall exercise ceremonial functions on behalf of the city, and shall be recognized as the head of the city government by the governor for purposes of military law. The mayor shall have no regular administrative duties. The mayor shall take command of the police, and govern the city by proclamation during times of public danger or emergency, and the mayor shall be the sole determiner of what constitutes a public danger or emergency. The term of the mayor shall be four (4) years.

The city commission shall appoint one of its members, not including the mayor, to be assistant mayor. The mayor shall have a vote on this apointment. The assistant mayor shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor. Unless otherwise provided in this charter, the term of office of the assistant mayor shall be two (2) years.
(Amended 5-7-02.)

SECTION 8.   POWERS.

All powers of local self-government of the city and the determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the city commission.

SECTION 9.   APPOINTMENT OF CITY MANAGER.

The city commission shall appoint an officer of the city who shall have the title of city manager and shall have the powers and perform the duties in this Charter provided. He shall be chosen solely on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to his actual experience in, or his knowledge of, accepted practice in respect to the duties of his office as herein set forth. At the time of his appointment, he need not be a resident of the city or state, but during his tenure of office he shall reside within the city.

SECTION 10.   REMOVAL OF THE CITY MANAGER.

The city commission shall appoint the city manager for an indefinite term and may remove him by a majority vote of its members. If the city manager is removed by such vote, the city commission shall cause to be paid him forthwith any unpaid balance of his salary and his salary for the next thirty (30) days following such removal.

SECTION 11.   VACANCIES IN THE OFFICES OF MAYOR OR COMMISSIONER

Vacancies in the city commission shall be filled within thirty (30) days by vote of the majority of the remaining commission members. Such person so chosen shall serve until the next regular municipal election occurring not less than one hundred (100) days after his selection. At such election, a successor shall be elected to serve for the unexpired term, if any; if not, for a full term.

If more than three (3) vacancies occur at one time, the remaining commissioner, if there is one, and the members of the Civil Service Commission shall, within thirty (30) days of the creation of such vacancy, by majority vote, elect such number of persons as may be necessary to create a city commission of two (2) members. Thereafter, the remaining vacancies shall be filled as set forth in this section.

If such vacancies are not filled within the time specified, the vacancies shall be filled by lot as follows:

At the regular city commission meeting after the expiraton of said thirty (30) day period, each remaining commissioner shall place in nomination the name of a person to fill the vacancy; thereupon the city law director shall draw from the said lot a name, and such person shall be the commissioner to fill the vacancy first created.

After the commissioner so selected has been duly qualified and sworn into office, the then commissioners shall fill the remaining vacancies, if any, within fifteen (15) days by the vote of the majority of such commissioners.

If the remaining vacancies are not filled within said fifteen (15) day period, they shall be filled by lot as follows:

At the regular city commission meeting after the expiration of said fifteen (15) day period, each remaining commissioner shall place in nomination the name or names of persons equal to the number of existing vacancies; thereupon the city law director shall draw from said lot the name of such nominees equal in number to existing vacancies. The name first drawn shall be the commissioner for the vacancy first created; the second name for the remaining vacancy, if any.

All such selections shall be for the terms set forth in the first paragraph fo this Section 11, and all such persons shall be qualified as set forth in Section 5 hereof.

In the event there is a vacancy in the office of mayor, the assistant mayor shall thereafter become the mayor and shall serve in that capacity for the unexpired term of the mayor. The vacancy in the city commission thus created would be filled as set forth previously in this section.

SECTION 12.   CREATION OF NEW DEPARTMENTS; CHANGE OF DUTIES.

The city commission by ordinance may create, change and abolish offices, departments or agencies, other than offices, departments and agencies established by this Charter. The city commission by ordinance may assign additional functions or duties to offices, departments or agencies established by this Charter, but may not discontinue or assign to any other office, department or agency any function or duty assigned by this Charter to a particular office, department or agency.

SECTION 13.   CITY CLERK.

The city commission shall elect an officer of the city who shall have the title of city clerk, shall give notice of its meetings, shall keep the journal of its proceedings, shall authenticate by his signature and record in full, in a book kept for the purpose, all ordinances and resolutions, and shall perform such other duties as shall be required by this Charter or by ordinance.

SECTION 14.   MEETINGS OF THE CITY COMMISSION.

At eight o'clock p.m. on the second day of January following a regular municipal election, or if such day be Sunday or Monday, on the day following, the city commission shall meet at the usual place for holding meetings of the legislative body of the city, at which time the newly-elected commissioners shall assume the duties of their office. Thereafter, the city commission shall meet at such times as my be prescribed by its rules, but not less than forty-eight (48) times in any calendar year with no meeting more than two weeks following the immediately preceding meeting.
(Amended 11-8-77)

SECTION 15.   SPECIAL MEETINGS.

The mayor, any two (2) members of the city commission, or the city manager, may call special meetings of the city commission upon at least twelve (12) hours written notice to each member, served personally or left at his usual place of residence.

SECTION 16.  RULES OF PROCEDURE; JOURNAL.

The City Commission shall determine its own rules and order of business. All meetings of the City Commission, except executive sessions, are open to the public. The City Commission shall keep a journal open to the public of all meetings, except executive sessions, of the City Commission.
(Amended 5-8-90.)

SECTION 17.   ORDINANCES.

In addition to such acts of the city commission as are required by statute or by this Charter to be by ordinance, every act of the city commission establishing a fine or other penalty or providing for the expenditure of funds or for the contracting of indebtedness shall be by ordinance. The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be: "Be it ordained by the city commission of The City of Springfield, Ohio."

SECTION 18.   ORDINANCE ENACTMENT.

Each ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed form, and shall not contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly stated in the title; but general appropriation ordinances may contain the various subjects and acts for which moneys are to be appropriated.

Before passage, each ordinance shall be read by title only at two meetings of the commission not less than one week apart. Provided, however, that upon request by two commissioners such ordinance shall be read in its entirety. Emergency ordinances need only be read once before passage and such reading shall be by title only. Provided, however, that such an emergency ordinance, upon request by one commissioner, shall be read in its entirety once before passage.
(Amended 11-8-77.)

SECTION 19.   EMERGENCY MEASURES.

All ordinances and resolutions passed by the City Commission shall be in effect fourteen (14) days from and after the date of their passage, except the City Commission may, by an affirmative vote of four (4) of its members, pass emergency measures to take effect at the time indicated therein.

An emergency measure is an ordinance or resolution for the immediate preservation of the public peace, property, health or safety or providing for the usual daily operation of a municipal department, in which the emergency is set forth and defined in the preamble thereto.

Ordinances appropriating money may be passed as emergency measures, but no measure making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise or other special privilege, or regulating the rate to be charged for its service by any public utility, except modification or establishment of bus or transit routes shall ever be so passed.
(Amended 11-8-77.)

SECTION 20.   RECORD AND PUBLICATION.

After final passage, every ordinance and resolution shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and shall be authenticated by the signatures of the presiding officer and the city clerk.

At least three correct copies of every ordinance of a general or permanent nature, in the form in which it has been passed shall be made available to public inspection in the office of the city clerk and a notice describing such ordinance in brief and general terms and stating that such ordinance is available for personal inspection at the office of the city clerk, shall be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city within ten (10) days after the final passage of such ordinance.
(Amended 11-8-77.)

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