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2007 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 3.03, as amended, 3.04, and 3.07 of Chapter 367 of the Acts of Assembly of 1973, as amended, are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 3.03. ELECTION OF COUNCIL MEMBERS.—On and after July
1, 1992, January 1, 2009, the council of the consolidated city
shall consist of seven eight members, one to be elected from and
by the duly qualified voters of each of the seven boroughs, and a mayor,
elected at large.
All councilmen council members shall be elected
for terms of four years with the Nansemond, Whaleyville and Sleepy Hole
Boroughs electing councilmen council members on the first
Tuesday in May 1992 Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2008,
or as soon thereafter as such elections may be held, and the Suffolk, Holy
Neck, Chuckatuck and Cypress Boroughs electing councilmen council
members on the first Tuesday in May 1994 Tuesday after the first
Monday in November 2010. All councilmen council members
elected prior to the first Tuesday in May 1992 Tuesday after the
first Monday in November 2008, shall serve out their complete four-year
terms. The terms of the three council members scheduled to expire on or the
day before July 1, 2008, shall be extended to December 31, 2008, and the terms
of the four council members scheduled to expire on or the day before July 1,
2010, shall be extended to December 31, 2010. On and after the
effective date of this act, candidates for the office of council member under
the provisions of this charter shall be nominated only by petition in the
manner prescribed by general law. Elections for the office of council
member shall be nonpartisan.
§ 3.04. FILLING VACANCIES. Vacancies Except
for vacancies in the office of mayor, vacancies in the office of councilmen
council member, from whatever cause arising, shall be filled within
sixty days for the unexpired portion of the term by majority vote of the
remaining members of the council, provided that vacancy in the office of councilman
council member elected by and from a borough shall be filled by a
resident of the same borough.
A vacancy in the office of mayor shall be filled by special election conducted as provided by general law.
§ 3.07. MAYOR. On the Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2008, and every four years thereafter, an election shall be held to elect the mayor. All persons seeking to have their names appear on the ballot as candidates for mayor must comply with the provisions of Chapter 5 (§ 24.2-500 et seq.) of Title 24.2 of the Code of Virginia, and must file with their declaration of candidacy a petition containing a minimum of 500 signatures of qualified voters of the city, to include at least 50 qualified voters from each of the seven boroughs.
In the election, the person receiving the most votes citywide shall be elected mayor. The term of the mayor shall be four years. Anyone serving as a member of city council may be a candidate for mayor, but no one may simultaneously hold the office of mayor and any other elected position. In the event any member of council during his or her term of office shall decide to be a candidate for the office of mayor, he or she shall be eligible to do so, but shall tender a resignation as a member of council, such resignation to be effective upon the beginning of the term of the elected mayor. Such resignation shall state the council member's intention to run for the office of mayor, shall require no formal acceptance by the remaining members of council, and shall be final and irrevocable as of the date it is tendered.
At a regular meeting held on the effective date of this
charter or on the first business date after the effective date if it falls on a
Saturday, Sunday or holiday, the council shall choose by a majority vote of all
the members thereof one of its members to be mayor and one to be
vice-mayor. Thereafter at At its first meeting following the
taking of office of councilmen council member after a
councilmanic election, the council shall choose by majority vote of all the
members thereof one of their number to be mayor and one to be vice-mayor
for the ensuing term of two years. The mayor shall preside over the
meetings of the council and shall have the same right to vote and speak therein
as other members. He shall have no veto power. He shall be
recognized as the head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes, the
purposes of military law and the service of civil process. The vice-mayor
shall in the absence or disability of the mayor perform the duties of mayor,
and if a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor the vice-mayor shall become
mayor for the unexpired portion of the term. In the absence or
disability of both the mayor and the vice-mayor, the council shall by majority
vote of those present choose one of their number to perform the duties of
mayor.