hereof); and which shall not be increased or diminished during their term of office. ers to be exer 5. All the corporate powers of said corporation shall Corporate pow be exercised by said council, or under their authority, cised by counexcept where otherwise provided. cil. Qualifications 6. The mayor and councilmen must at the time of for office of their election be entitled to vote for the members of the mayor aud common council of said city. councilmen. Mayor's term 7. The term of office for the mayor shall be one year, office. and until his successor shall have been elected and qualified, as hereinafter provided. officers. Qualifications. 8. There shall be a treasurer, city clerk and city other elective assessor elected by the qualified voters of said city, and who at the time of their election shall be entitled to vote for members of its said common council. They shall hold their office for the term of one year, and until their Term of office. successors shall be elected and qualified; and shall Compensareceive such compensation (subject to the provisions and tion: not to be the maximum amounts prescribed by section twenty hereof) as the said council may determine, and which shall not be increased or diminished during their term of office. increased, etc. when and elected at. Terms of councilmen so elected. 9. The first election under this act shall be held on First election; the second Tuesday in June, anno domini one thousand where held; eight hundred and ninety-five, at such place in each officers to be ward as may be designated by the common council of the city; at which election a mayor, four councilmen from each ward, a treasurer, a city clerk and a city assessor shall be elected; six of the councilmen (two from each ward) shall be elected to serve for the term of one year; and six councilmen (two from each ward) shall be elected to serve for the term of two years, to be designated on the ballots; and annually thereafter there shall be an election on the first Thursday in April, at Annual elecwhich election a mayor for the term of one year, six officers elected councilmen (two from each ward) for the term of two years, and also a treasurer, city clerk and city assessor for the term of one year, shall be elected. Councilmen shall be elected by wards so that the voters shall vote for councilmen only of the ward in which such voters may reside. And if the number of wards at any time be Provisions if increased, as provided by section three of this act, wards be inthere shall be elected as provided herein four council- creased. men from each ward, to be classified as to their terms of office by the council making changes in wards and tion: terms of thereat. number of Who may vote. Who not to vote. Vote by ballot. Duties of council boundaries thereof, but so that after the first year of such changes, two councilmen shall be elected for each ward for the term of two years. 10. Every male person residing in said city and not disqualified as hereinafter stated, shall be entitled to vote for all officers elected under this act, and also at all elections of said city held by the corporate authorities thereof; but no person who is a minor, or of unsound mind, or a pauper, or who is under conviction of treason, felony or bribery in an election, not having been pardoned or punished therefor, or who has not been a resident of this state for one year, and of the city of Huntington for sixty days, and of the ward in which he offers to vote for ten days next preceding such offer, shall be entitled to vote at any election held under this act while such disability continues. 11. At all elections the vote shall be given by ballot, and in the manner prescribed by the general election law of the state as to the holding of elections in municipalities; and the common council of said city shall perform the duties in relation to such elections as are required by general law of the state from county courts concerning general elections held in the state and said county; and for the preservation of the purity of the ballot and for the prevention of fraud in relation thereto, the provisions of chapter five of the code of West VirWhat laws to ginia, concerning offenses relating to elections, so far as the same are practicable, shall govern the elections held in and for said city; and the penalties therein prescribed for offences relating to elections shall be enforced against the offenders at such corporate elections, and said chapter shall have the same force and effect, as if it were specially applicable to such corporate elections. apply. Contested elections: by whom decided. How heard and determined. 12. Whenever two or more more persons shall receive an equal number of votes for the same office, the common council under whose direction such election may have been held, shall decide by a majority of all the members elected which of such persons shall be returned as elected, and shall make return accordingly. 13. All contested elections shall be heard and decided by the common council for the time being, and the contest shall be made and conducted in the same manner as provided for in such contests for county and district offices; and the common council shall conduct their proceedings in such cases as nearly as practicable in conformity with the proceedings of the county court in such cases. 14. Whenever a vacancy shall occur from any cause in the office of mayor, councilman, treasurer, city clerk or city assessor, the council for the time being shall by a majority vote of all the members elected, fill the vacancy until the next general election, at which time a successor shall be elected by the qualified voters of said city. Vacancies; how filled. 15. There shall be a police judge, chief of police, officers apcommissioner of streets, city attorney, city physician, pointed. city engineer, wharfmaster, weighmaster, inspector of buildings, lights and water, and cemetery sexton, appointed by the common council, who at the time of their appointment shall be entitled to vote for members of the said council, and who shall hold their office for the term of one year and until their successor shall be appointed and qualified: Provided, That a person ap- Officers appointed to fill a vacancy in any office mentioned in this pointed to fill section, shall only hold the office for the unexpired term vacancies, of his predecessor. term of. officers; how The council shall also have authority to provide by Authority to ordinance for the appointment of such other officers as appoint other shall be necessary and proper to carry into full force and when. and authority, power, capacity or jurisdiction which is or shall be vested in the said city, or in the council, or in the mayor, or any officer thereof, and to grant to such other officers so appointed the power necssary and proper to carry into full effect the object and purposes of their said appointments. The additional officers so provided for by ordinance shall hold their offices at the pleasure of the council. Powers granted such officers; term of. of all officers; pensation; 16. The council shall by ordinance define the duties council to deof all officers appointed by them as aforesaid (subject to fine the duties the provisions of sections twenty-six, twenty-seven, how. twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, thirtytwo, thirty-three, thirty-four and thirty-five of this act); To allow comand allow reasonable compensation, subject to the max- when paid. imum amounts of certain officers as set forth in section twenty of this act, which shall be monthly salaries, and not otherwise, except as to the collection of taxes and Exceptions. as to wharfmaster and weighmaster, and cemetery sexton, and as to any additional officers which may be provided for by ordinance pursuant to the preceding section; and which compensation shall not be increased or Compensation diminished during the term of the officers so appointed. not to be in creased, etc. 17. The council shall require and take from all offi- Bonds; from cers elected or appointed as aforesaid, whose duty it what officers shall be to receive its funds, assets or property or have taken. Conditions of bonds. charge of the same, such bonds, obligations or other writings as they shall deem necessary and proper to insure the faithful performance of their several duties. 18. All bonds, obligations or other writings taken in pursuance of any provisions of this act, shall be made payable to "The City of Huntington," and the respective persons and their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns bound thereby, shall be subject to the same proceedings on said bonds, obligations and How enforced. Other writings, for enforcing the conditions of the terms thereof, by motion or otherwise, before any court of record held in and for the county of Cabell, that collectors of county levies and other sureties are or shall be subject to on their bonds for enforcing the payment of the county levies. Removal of officers. What officers hold at pleas 19. The mayor, treasurer, city clerk, and city assessor may be removed from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetency to perform the duties required of their office, and gross immorality, by a vote of threefourths of all the members elected to the common council, but no elective officer as aforesaid shall be removed until he shall have been served with a notice thereof in writing, specifying the charges and reasons for such removal, for at least ten days prior thereto. All appointive officers provided for by this act, may ure of council. be removed from office at the pleasure of the council, two-thirds of all the members elected to the council concurring in such removal: Provided, That such appointive officer shall not be removed before receiving notice as provided in the case of elective officers aforesaid. Salaries of officers for first year. Maximum sal aries there after. 20. The common council of said city shall provide for and fix the compensation and salaries to be paid to the councilmen and officers elective and appointive aforesaid; which, in the case of councilmen and elective officers for the first year next after the time this act takes effect and becomes operative, shall be paid as follows: To each councilman, five dollars a month; to the mayor, fifty dollars a month; to the treasurer, seventy-five dollars a month; to the city clerk, fifty dollars a month: to the city assessor, thirty-five dollars a month; and which in the case of councilmen and certain officers, elective and appointive, after this act shall have taken effect and become operative, shall not exceed the following rates: To each councilman, eight dollars a month; to the mayor, sixty dollars a month; to the treasurer, one hundred dollars a month; to the city clerk, sixty dollars a month; to the city assessor, forty dollars a month; to the police judge, sixty dollars a month; to the commissioner of streets, sixty dollars a month; to the city solicitor, sixty dollars a month; to the city physician, forty dollars a month; to the chief of police, eighty dollars a month. when taken 21. The mayor and conncilmen, and all the other Oath of office; officers provided for by this act, shall, before entering and before upon the duties of their offices, and within one month whom. from the date of their election or appointment, take the oath prescribed by law for all officers of this state, and make oath or affirmation that they will truly, faithfully and impartially, to the best of their ability, skill and judgment, discharge the duties of their respective offices, so long as they continue therein. Said oath or affirmation may be taken before any person authorized to administer oaths under the laws now in force, or before the mayor or the city clerk of said city. The oath to be taken as aforesaid shall be certified in writing by Oaths to be certhe person administering the same, which writing shall tified and filed. be properly signed by the person taking the oath; and the person so administering the same shall cause said. certificates to be filed with the city clerk of said city, and shall be allowed for his said services the sum of fifty Fee for admincents for each certificate, to be paid by the person taking the oath as aforesaid. istering. deemed to have 22. Every person elected or appointed under the When officer provisions of this act, shall be deemed to have duly qualified. qualified when the provisions of the next preceding sections shall have been fully complied with. elected coun 23. When a majority of the newly elected council- When newly men shall have been so qualified, they shall enter upon cilmen to enter the duties of their said offices and supersede the former upon their ducouncilmen. officers to enter 24. The mayor and other officers provided for in this When other act, shall enter upon the duties of their offices as soon upon their duas they are qualified, and shall continue therein until long continue. their successors are elected and qualified. ties, and how ify of person 25. If any person elected to the office of mayor, Ineligibility or councilman, treasurer, city assessor, or city clerk, shall failure to qualnot be eligible to such office under the provision of this elected. act, or shall fail to qualify as herein required, the council for the time oeing shall declare his said office vacant, and shall proceed to fill the vacancy as required by this act. |