present at such canvass; the result of which election, so far as the city officers are concerned, shall, within five days after such canvass, be certified to the city clerk, the form of such certificate to be, as nearly as may be, as required by law when such county clerk certifies the result of elections for state officers. Any person so shown to be elected shall, on such certificate, receive from the city clerk a certificate of his election Provided, that the election of any such person may be contested in the mode and manner provided by the general laws of the state for contesting elections, as nearly as may be.

§ 11. In case of a vacancy in any office, to fill which, under this act, an election is to be held, the city clerk shall notify such vacancy to the county clerk, and the officer to be elected, and the time fixed for such special election, whereupon the county clerk shall call a special election to fill such vacancy, which such special election shall be held and the return made and the votes canvassed as nearly as may be, as in the case of an election to fill a vacancy in a county office, except that the city clerk shall be notified to be present at such canvass as provided in the next preceding section of this act. The result of such election shall be certified to the city clerk and the certificate issued, and the election contested (if contested) as provided in the next preceding sec tion of this act. The expenses of such special election shall be paid by said city.

§ 12. Every person elected or appointed to fill a vacancy, shall hold his office and discharge the duties thereof for the unexpired term, with the same right and subject to the same liabilities as the person whose office he may be elected or appointed to fill.

ARTICLE IV.

COMMON COUNCIL.

SECTION 1. The legislative powers of any city reorganizing under this act shall be vested in a common council, consisting of a board of councilors and a board of aldermen.

§ 2. Each branch of the common council shall elect, annually, from among its members, a president of the board, who shall preside over their deliberations and appoint all standing committees; and in the absence of the president, a president pro tem. shall preside. The city clerk shall act as clerk for each board, and shall have such assistance as shall be furnished.

§ 3. Each board may determine its own rules of proceeding, and prescribe the punishment of its members for non-attendance or disorderly conduct, and enforce the same; two-thirds of its members concurring may expel a member for improper conduct while in office. It shall require a majority of all the members elect to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but a smaller number may adjourn, from time to time, and may compel the attendance of absent members. § 4. Each board shall keep a correct journal of its proceedings, and publish the same as may be prescribed by ordinance; and all the city printing shall be done in conformity with such ordinances as the common council shall enact.

§ 5. The two branches of the common council shall hold their meetings in separate rooms. They shall assemble on the first Monday in

December next after their election, and shall meet regularly thereafter, at least once in each week, unless otherwise ordered by ordinance. § 6. No member of either branch of the common council shall receive any compensation whatsoever for his services as such officer. § 7. All legislative powers of any such city shall be vested in the common council composed of the board of councilors and board of aldermen, to be exercised by concurrent action, each board as hereby constituted having a negative vote upon the proceedings of the other, and the mayor having a veto power as herein provided; but no ordinance, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of said boards is necessary, having passed one board, shall be finally acted upon by the other board until after a lapse of at least three days from such passage, unless by the unanimous vote of the members of such other board, to be taken by yeas and nays and entered upon the record.

§ 8. All appropriation bills or ordinances, and all ordinances or resolutions imposing taxes or certifying amounts to be raised by taxation, shall originate in the board of aldermen, but the board of councilors may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills or ordinances. All other ordinances, orders or resolutions may originate in either branch; and a majority of all the members in each branch, authorized by law to be elected, shall be necessary to pass such other ordinances, order or resolution, unless otherwise herein provided.

§ 9. The common council shall have power to pass all ordinances, orders and resolutions necessary and proper to carry out the provisions of this act, or any law of the state, special or general, relating to such city.

§ 10. Both branches of the common council shall at all their meetings sit with open doors.

§ 11. The yeas and nays shall be taken upon the passage of all ordinances, joint resolutions and propositions to create any liability against the city, or for the expenditure or appropriation of its money and for the sale of any city or school property, (and in all other cases at the request of any two members), and shall be entered on the record; and a majority of all the members elected in each branch shall be necessary to the passage of any such ordinance or proposition.

§ 12. No vote of either branch of the common council shall be reconsidered after the adjournment of the session at which such vote was taken, except at the next regular meeting.

§ 13. The common council shall have the power to fix and establish the amount of salary to be paid to any and all city officers, (except members of the common.council,) and also to firemen and policemen, in the annual appropriation ordinance, or by some ordinance passed prior to the passage of such annual appropriation ordinance; and the salaries or compensation thus fixed and established or allowed, and the payment of which is so provided for, shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term of such officer, except in the case of those firemen and policemen who are appointed during good behavior, and whose compensation having been at any time fixed, shall not, during the period of one year thereafter, be increased or diminished: Provided, however, that the salaries of the employees shall be fixed by the officers or commissioners by whom they are employed, except as herein otherwise provided: And, provided, further, that the aggregate salaries of the employees shall not exceed the aggregate amount appropriated by the common council for

such purpose: And, provided, further, that no officer elected or appointed shall receive, as salary or compensation, a greater sum than $5,000 per year. And such officers or commissioners, except where herein otherwise specifically provided, shall have power to appoint and remove, at their pleasure, all the employees and appointees of their respective departments.

§ 14. The common council shall have power by ordinance, from time to time, to require other and further duties to be performed by any officer of the city than those herein prescribed, not inconsistent with this act; and to provide for the giving of a bond by any person appointed to any office in such city (whose bond is not herein specifically provided for), for the faithful performance of the duties of such office: such bonds to be in such amount and to be approved in such manner as such ordinance shall prescribe. The common council shall have power to provide for and to fix places for the holding of one or more police courts in the city; and the mayor may, with the approval of the board of councilors, designate from among the justices of the peace in such city one or more to act as police justices to hold court at such designated places. § 15. The common council of any city organized under this act shall not have power to levy a tax exceeding one and one-half (13) per cent. per annum upon the assessed value of the property in said city, for all purposes: Provided, however, that this restriction shall not be construed to prevent the levying of special assessments, or to take away any powers vested in such city, by its former charter, to provide for special and unforeseen emergencies.

§ 16. That whenever, by the charter of any city which may be organized under this act, in force at the time of such organization, any special powers are conferred upon the finance committee of the common council or city council of such city, or any duties are imposed upon such committee, in such case all such powers and duties shall devolve upon the finance committee of the board of aldermen under this act; and whenever by such former charter the examination of reports, the adjustment of accounts and approval, sanction of or consent to loans, and the signing of certificates or other evidence of indebtedness, are provided to be done by the finance committee of the common council, the same shall, under this act, be done by the finance committee of the board of aldermen.

ARTICLE V.

OFFICERS-MAYOR.

SECTION 1. The chief executive officer of any city re-organizing under this act, shall be styled the mayor, who shall be elected for two years and until his successor has been elected and qualified, as hereinbefore provided.

§ 2. No person shall be eligible to the office of mayor who is not at least thirty years of age, and who has not been a bona fide resident of the city at least three years preceding his election, or who at the time of his qualification holds any other public office.

§ 3. The mayor shall, at least once in each year, give to the common council information, in writing, of the state of the corporation, and such other information as the said council may need; and may recommend to the council such measures as he may deem expedient. He shall have

a general supervision of all the officers of the city, and see that the provisions of this act and all laws and ordinances relating to such city are enforced.

§ 4. Every order, ordinance, or resolution, passed by the common council, shall be approved by the mayor before it shall take effect; and every vote for the payment of money or creating or affecting any liability for or against such city before it shall take effect shall also be approved by the mayor. If he disapprove it, he shall, with his objections in writing, return the ordinance, resolution, order or vote, vetoed, within five days after its passage, to the city clerk, who shall present it to the board in which it originated, at its next regular meeting, and if passed by that board over the mayor's veto, it shall be sent to the other board for its action thereon; but each board concurring, by a twothirds majority vote of all its members authorized to be elected, shall be necessary to pass the same over the mayor's veto : Provided, however, if the mayor fails to return any order, ordinance or resolution, as aforesaid, he shall be deemed to have approved the same, and it shall take effect and become a law without further action of the council.

§ 5. The mayor alone shall have power to call special sessions of the common council, whenever in his judgment he may deem it necessary; and such meeting shall be called by a notice to each of the members of said council, served personally, or left at his usual place of abode, and when so called he shall state in the call the object for which they are to be convened, but no business shall be transacted at such special meeting other than that for which such meeting was called.

§ 6. When any vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor, from any cause whatsoever, such vacancy shall be filled by a new election, to be called by order of the common council, within ten days after the happening of such vacancy: Provided, six months or more of the term of office shall then remain unexpired; if less than six months of the term shall remain unexpired, the president of the board of councilors shall thereupon become acting mayor for the unexpired portion of said term. § 7. In case the mayor shall be unable to perform the duties of his office by reason of absence or sickness, he may, by writing signed by him and filed with the city clerk, appoint the president of the board of councilors to discharge the duties of mayor, and upon such appointment, the said president of the board of councilors shall be vested with all the powers and perform all the duties of mayor until the mayor shall resume his office, or until the vacancy shall be filled by a new election.

§ 8. It shall and may be lawful for the mayor of the city, whenever any annual appropriation bill or ordinance providing for the municipal expenditures is submitted to him for approval or disapproval, to veto any one or more items or appropriations contained in such bill or ordinance, or to veto or approve the entire bill or ordinance. If he shall veto only a part of such bill or ordinance and approve the remainder, the part approved shall be as valid as if the whole ordinance had been approved; and he shall report to such legislative authority his reasons for vetoing the part of the ordinance vetoed, and the same proceedings shall be had, as to the items or parts vetoed, as is by law provided to be had when there is a veto of the bill or ordinance as a whole.

§ 9. All officers of the city who are not herein required to be elected by the people, or whose appointment is not herein otherwise provided

for, shall be nominated, and by and with the consent of a majority of the board of councilors, appointed by the mayor at the first meeting of said board succeeding each biennial election, or as soon thereafter as may be, and the officers so appointed shall hold their offices for two years, unless sooner removed, and until their successors are appointed and qualified; and in case of a vacancy occurring in any such office, then an appointment may, in like manner, be made by the mayor to fill such vacancy, and the person so appointed shall hold the office until the expiration of the original term.

§ 10. The mayor shall have power to remove (subject to the disapproval thereof by the board of councilors, as herein provided,) any officer of the city appointed by himself, or by any prior mayor thereof, whenever he shall be of opinion that the interests of the city demand such removal; but when he shall so remove any such officer, he shall communicate in writing his reasons for such removal to the board of councilors at their next regular meeting following such removal; and if two-thirds of all the members elected to said board shall, at that meeting or at the next regular meeting, by a vote taken by yeas and nays and entered on the record, disapprove of such removal, then such removal shall be of no force and effect; but it is hereby provided, that such removal, until disapproved by the said board of councilors, shall work a suspension from office of the officer so removed, and the mayor may appoint a suitable person to perform the duties of the officer removed, during such suspension, and may take bonds from said appointee for the faithful performance of his duties while holding such office.

§ 11. The mayor shall have power to release or pardon any person convicted of any violation of any city ordinance, and in cases where a fine is imposed and has not been paid, he may remit the whole or any part thereof.

§ 12. The mayor shall order a detail of one or more policemen to attend upon each board of common council, when in session, and execute their lawful orders.

CITY COMPTROLLER.

§ 13. The city comptroller shall exercise all powers and perform all the duties conferred and prescribed in the charter of any city re-organized under this act at the time of the adoption of this act by such city, and shall report annually, on or about the first day of April, to the common council, a statement, in detail, of the expenses of the city during the preceding year, and likewise a detailed estimate of the revenue necessary to be raised for the ensuing year; and the fiscal year of the city shall commence on the first day of April. He shall, in said report, class the different objects and branches of said city expenditure, giving, as nearly as may be, the amount required for each; and for this purpose he is authorized to require of all city officers and heads of departments their statements of the condition and expenses of their respective departments and offices, with any proposed improvement and the probable expense thereof, of contracts already made and unfinished, and the amount of any unexpended appropriations of the preceding year. shall also, in such report, show the aggregate income of the preceding fiscal year from all sources; the amount of liabilities outstanding upon which interest is to be paid, and of bonds and city debts payable during the year, when due and where payable, so that the common council may

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