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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 851 ORDINANCE NO. 851 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL CITY AMENDING SECTION 2.04.180 OF THE CATHEDRAL CITY MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE ROTATION APPOINTMENT OF THE MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO TEM WHEREAS, the voters of the City of Cathedral City approved a charter for the City at the November 2016 City Council meeting; and WHEREAS, Section 603 of the Charter provides the honorary positions of mayor and mayor pro tern shall be an appointed rotating position, appointments shall be made annually at the first meeting in December, and the process for appointment of the mayor and mayor pro tern shall be set by ordinance; and WHEREAS, on March 8, 2017, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 790 adding section 2.04.180 to the Cathedral City Municipal Code providing for the orderly succession of the positions of mayor and mayor pro tern; and WHEREAS, this Ordinance makes clarifying edits to section 2.04.180 to address potential scenarios that were not contemplated at the time Ordinance No. 790 was adopted. NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL CITY DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1 AMENDMENT OF SECTION 2.04.180 OF THE CATHEDRAL CITY MUNICIPAL CODE Section 2.04.180 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code is amended in its entirety to read as follows: "2.04.180 Appointment of mayor and mayor pro tem A. The purpose of this section is to implement a rotating system for appointing council members to the honorary positions of mayor and mayor pro tem pursuant to Section 603 of the City Charter. The appointment of individuals to serve as mayor and mayor pro tem must follow the requirements of this section. B. At the first city council meeting in December of each calendar year, the city council shall approve a council rotation list and appoint council members to serve as mayor and mayor pro tern based on the approved rotation list. The rotation list shall be prepared in accordance with the following: 1 . The current mayor pro tern shall succeed to the position of mayor. The outgoing mayor shall go to the bottom of the rotation list, except that in a regular election year any newly-elected first-term council member (not an incumbent re- RIV#4834-6486-8328 vl -1- elected to serve) shall be placed behind the outgoing mayor on the rotation list. The council member in third positon on the rotation list shall move into the mayor pro tern position. 2. If an individual is appointed to fill, or a special election is held to fill, a council vacancy, the appointed or elected individual shall be placed at the bottom of the rotation list. Any council members who were below the outgoing council member on the rotation list shall move up one spot. 3. A council member shall not serve as mayor or mayor pro tern during their first year on the City Council. C. In the event that there are two or more new council members who join the council at the same time, for the purposes of this section their placement on the rotation list shall be determined by drawing cards. One suit from a standard deck of playing cards will be utilized, with no jokers and aces high. Seniority will be determined by the cards drawn, with the highest card being the most senior. This draw shall only be done once, and the seniority determined by the draw will apply to the council members for so long as the subject council members are on the city council. D. If at any point in time a council member serving as mayor or mayor pro tern resigns from the position, is removed from the position, or their seat becomes vacant, the position shall be filled in the same manner as the annual appointments. At the first council meeting in December thereafter, the process for selecting a new mayor and mayor pro tern shall be modified as follows: 1. If the council member serving as mayor has only served a partial term, as defined below, that council member shall continue to serve as mayor and the annual rotation will not occur. 2. If the council member serving as mayor pro tern has only served a partial term, that council member shall continue to serve as mayor pro tem unless there is an outgoing mayor, in which case the council member serving as mayor pro tern shall succeed to the position of mayor. If the mayor pro tern rises to the position of mayor then the annual rotation will occur to fill the mayor pro tern position. If the mayor pro tern does not rise to the position of mayor then the annual rotation will not occur. 3. For the purposes of this paragraph D, a "partial term" shall mean the vacancy in the position of mayor or mayor pro tern occurred, as a matter of law, more than thirty (30) calendar days after the first council meeting in December at which the mayor and mayor pro tem positions were appointed according to this section. E. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a council member may refuse to serve as mayor or mayor pro tem. If a council member refuses to serve in either position, the selection of mayor and mayor pro tem shall continue as provided for in this section but removing the refusing council member from their spot in the rotation and placing them at the bottom of the list. RIV#4834-6486-8328 vl -2- F. Notwithstanding anything else in this section, the city council may select any member to serve as mayor or mayor pro tem by any other lawful means by a three-fourth (3/4ths) majority vote of the membership (e.g., four (4) votes if there is a full five (5) member council, three (3) votes if there is one (1) seat vacant on the council, three (3) votes if there are two (2) seats vacant on the council)." SECTION 2 SEVERABILITY The City Council declares that, should any provision, section, paragraph, sentence or word of this Ordinance be rendered or declared invalid by any final court action in a court of competent jurisdiction or by reason of any preemptive legislation, the remaining provisions, sections, paragraphs, sentences or words of this Ordinance as hereby adopted shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION 3 EFFECTIVE DATE This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after its second reading and adoption by the City Council. SECTION 4 POSTING The City Clerk shall, within fifteen (15) days after passage of this Ordinance, cause it to be posted in at least three (3) designated public places; shall certify to the adoption and posting of this Ordinance; and shall cause this Ordinance and its certification, together with proof of posting, to be entered in the Book of Ordinances of this City. SECTION 5 CERTIFICATION The foregoing Ordinance was approved and adopted at a meeting of the City Council held on the 29th day of September, 2021 by the following vote: Ayes: Councilmembers Ross, Lamb and Carnevale; Mayor Pro Tern Gutierrez and Mayor Gregory Noes: None Abstain: None Absent: None fie, 1 0,1 `r : mon. r ry, Mayor ATTEST: A Tracey Marti: -z, Cit Clerk RIV#4834-6486-8328 vl -3- APPROVED AS TO FORM: y Eric S. Vail, City Attorney RIV#4834-6486-8328 vl -4-