**The Charter of the City of Colusa**

# **The Charter of the City of Colusa** ### **August 2022 Revision** --- ## **ARTICLE I - CITY OF COLUSA** ### Section I - Position of the City The City of Colusa shall be an operating municipality under the jurisdiction of the County of Sonoma, Niles. The City of Colusa shall have its own government and government officials as a political municipal entity. ### Section II - Jurisdiction and City Sovereignty The City of Colusa, shall hold jurisdiction within an area that is established by the Government of the County of Sonoma and State of Niles. All laws and ordinances enacted by the City shall hold full precedent within its jurisdiction and shall only be effective within the limits of the jurisdiction. Should there be contest over the Cities jurisdiction with another entity, the City shall maintain its sovereignty where it shall turn to the County of Sonoma to resolve the contest. ### Section III - Legal Precedent The City of Colusa shall abide by all laws enacted by the District Court, Niles Supreme Court, Sonoma County, and Niles State Assembly, should it be directed to. No law enacted by the City of Colusa may defy any laws enacted by its overseeing bodies. --- ## **ARTICLE II - CITY CHARTER** ### Section I - Legal Position All laws approved by the City shall be required to be adhered to within this Charter. No individual or entity shall be above the law enacted by the City, regardless of the individual's status or authority. Individuals and entities who violate the laws established in this Charter shall be prosecuted in accordance with the law. ### Section II - Ratification The Charter shall be ratified upon vote by the State Assembly. ### Section III - Amendments Amendments to the City Charter shall be conducted by the State Assembly, with a vote of a majority of elected members necessary to amend the Charter. ### Section IV - Nullification The City Charter may not be nullified without an existing or newly adopted charter being in place to replace it. Upon a revision or newly adopted version of the City Charter becoming law, all prior versions and revisions shall immediately be considered void. ### Section V - Nullification by Overseeing Bodies Should an overseeing body nullify an Article(s) or Section(s), of this Charter, the rest of the City Charter will remain in effect without consequence. Should an overseeing body nullify the entirety of the City Charter, the prior version that was adopted as law shall automatically become the active Charter of the City of Colusa. Should the Supreme Court or District Court find any Article(s) or Section(s) to be illegal and strike it down due to illegality or any just reason. The rest of the City Charter shall remain in effect. Should the Supreme Court or District Court nullify the entirety of this Charter, the prior version that was adopted as law shall automatically become the active Charter of the City of Colusa. --- ## **ARTICLE III - CITY COUNCIL** ### Section I - Council Information The City Council of the City of Colusa shall consist of the office of the Mayor, City Council, and any other offices established under the direct control of the Mayor. The City Council of the City of Colusa consists of the Mayor, and 5 Councilmembers. The Mayor shall act as the chair of the City Council. Council Committees are, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Public Safety Committee: a) The public safety committee acts as a council body tasked with the review of the Colusa Police Department and Sonoma County Fire Department operations within the City of Colusa. The committee will review policies while addressing concerns of the residents of Colusa. The committee will hold bi weekly meetings overseen by the Committee Chair and Committee Vice Chair. The Chair and Vice Chair shall be members of the City Council. There shall be no more than five (5) committee members. Committee members shall be residents appointed by the Chair and Vice Chair who shall serve a term of four (4) months. Any and all committees must be approved and officialized by the Mayor of Colusa. ### Section II - Office of the Mayor The Mayor’s Office shall consist solely of the Mayor. The Mayor shall act as the Chairman of the City of Colusa, City Council. The Mayor shall serve a term of four (4) months, unless they take office in the middle of a term, in which they shall complete the term they took office in. The Mayor shall hold office until a successor is elected or is re-elected into office. There is no restriction to the amount of times one may hold the office of the Mayor. ### Section III - Mayoral Authority The Mayor holds the executive authority of the City of Colusa and shall be responsible to maintain and manage the City Council of the City of Colusa. The Mayor is obligated to ensure that the laws of the City are being executed faithfully through supervision and management of the City Council. The Mayor shall hold the ability to propose the legislation to the City Council in the form of Ordinances for the City Council to pass. ### Section IV - Mayoral Review The Mayor shall retain the ability to sign and/or veto actions of the City Council, unless the action pertains to its own functions and officials, those which pertain to amendments and ratifications of the City Charter or those which solely pertain to a confirmation, an impeachment or an expulsion. Ordinances and other non exempted actions by the City Council shall either be signed or vetoed by the Mayor. The Mayor has four (4) days upon an Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council being proposed to them to sign or veto it. If the Mayor does not sign or veto an Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council within four (4) days of it being proposed to them, the Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council shall be approved as law. Should the Mayor sign the Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council it shall pass the review of the Mayor and become official law of the City of Colusa. Should the Mayor veto the Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council it shall be sent back to the City Council. The City Council may then choose to overturn the veto of the Mayor through a unanimous (5/5) vote of all of its members not counting the Mayor, whereas the Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council shall be treated as if it passed the review of the Mayor. The City Council may instead choose to amend the Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council and pass it again, putting it back up to the review of the Mayor or retire the Ordinance or other non exempted action by the City Council altogether. ### Section V - Mayoral Election The Board of Elections shall be responsible for hosting all Mayor elections of the City of Colusa, when those are necessary. Only citizens of the State of Niles may run as a candidate for the position of Mayor of the City of Colusa. Candidates for the position of Mayor of the City shall be required to follow all laws established by the City of Colusa and any additional rules established by the Board of Elections. Should they not meet these requirements, they shall be disqualified from the election and shall no longer be considered a candidate for the position of Mayor. There shall only be one (1) position open at an election for the position of Mayor of the City of Colusa. In the case there is only one (1) candidate who meets the requirements to run in the election, then they shall automatically be elected into the position of Mayor of the City of Colusa. If there are multiple eligible candidates, a public vote, which shall be accessible to all residents of the City of Colusa and possibly other citizens of the State of Niles, shall be held to determine the winner of the elections. This winner shall be elected into the position of Mayor of the City of Colusa. The electoral system used for the election shall be single-member plurality voting, meaning that the candidate with the most votes overall wins the election. Should two or more candidates obtain an equal amount of votes and should there be candidates with less votes, then there shall be a runoff election, in which the candidates with the same amount of votes are the only candidates that may be voted on. Should all candidates in an election or multiple candidates in a runoff election obtain an equal amount of votes, then the City Council shall vote on the candidates that obtained the same amount of votes, with the winner needing to obtain a simple-majority (1⁄2) of the votes. ### Section VI - Succession Should the office of the Mayor of the City of Colusa become vacant during a term, due to the resignation of the Mayor, impeachment, or other events all Ordinances passed by the City Council must be frozen and only be sent to the Mayor when the office of the Mayor is filled. The Board of Elections shall host Mayoral elections for the position of Mayor of the City of Colusa. ### Section VII - City Council’s Authority The City Council shall hold the legislative power of the City. The City Council holds the ability to vote on Ordinances and other proposals proposed to it and shall be the body that decides the legislature of the City. All Ordinances, except Emergency Acts, shall be required to pass the City Council before becoming law. City Council Members hold the ability to propose legislation to the City Council in the form of Ordinances for the City Council to pass. ### Section VIII - Legal Process All Ordinances, except Emergency Acts, are required to go through a process to become official Law of the City of Colusa. If this process is not followed for an Ordinance it shall not be considered law in the City of Colusa and shall be void. Before an Ordinance may be considered law, it shall be known as a proposal. Proposals must first be sent to the City Attorney’s Office for review. The City Attorney’s Office must complete the reviewal process within five (5) days of being proposed to them, unless written notice is delivered to the Mayor or Designatee that the legislation to be reviewed will require additional time due to length, staffing or research requirements associated with it. Upon completion the proposal shall be sent to the City Council. Should the City Attorney’s Office deny the proposal shall either be retired or the disapproval may be vetoed by the Mayor with justifiable reason upon which it shall be sent to the City Council. Should the City Attorney’s Office lack the staff to process the proposal at the time of submission, this step shall be bypassed and the proposal shall be sent to the City Council immediately without review. Upon being forwarded to the City Council, the proposal is required to pass the City Council, it shall be sent to the office of the Mayor of the City of Colusa for review. Should the proposal not pass the City Council, it shall fail and be retired. ### Section IX - Sessions of the City Council Meetings of the City Council to discuss proposals, other actions, duties, committee assignments shall be known as City Council sessions. The Mayor may preside over sessions or may designate a member of the City Council to do so in their absence. Such declarations must be made in writing and published at least twenty-four hours prior to the Session start time. The individuals presiding over a session shall be known as the Presiding Officer. Every session is required to have a Presiding Officer present for it to start and only one individual may act as the Presiding Officer at a time, should a Presiding Officer need leave early for a session, he may appoint a different member to serve in his place during the remainder of the session. For a session to take place a quorum of at least half (½) of the incumbent Council Members, not including the Presiding Officer should they be a Council Member, has to be met. In the case that the amount of Council Members for quorum after the beginning of the session, the session may be halted for a maximum of sixty (60) minutes until a quorum is met or the session must be adjourned. In the instance a Presiding Officer is not present during an active session, the session must be halted for a maximum of thirty (30) minutes until a Presiding Officer is once again present. Should a Presiding Officer still not be present after halting the session for the maximum time allowed, the session must be adjourned. The Mayor shall also have the ability to amend or nullify these floor rules. Should there be a conflict between these individuals regarding floor rules, the Mayor shall be the individual whose decision has priority and their decision shall be implemented. Sessions of the City Council may be hosted in a ROBLOX game or the City of Colusa Discord. The Mayor or designatee must create and publish for all members of the public to access an agenda at least 48 hours prior to the start of the Session and must not make changes to that agenda after that time. All sessions and votes must be accessible to the public, unless at such a time when the City Council has voted on restricted access to the session or vote. ### Section X - City Council Vote The City Council may vote on proposals or other matters during sessions. The Mayor shall determine what proposal or other matter is to be discussed and/or voted on a week (7 days) in advance to the session. Before voting starting on a proposal or another matter the Presiding Officer shall open the floor for debate. A proposal for an Ordinance shall pass the City Council with a simple majority (½) vote, except when such a proposal was denied by the City Attorney’s Office and such a denial was then overturned. In this case a proposal shall pass the City Council with a super majority (⅘) vote. Other matters that are not specified by law to require an amount of votes to pass the City Council shall pass the City Council with a simple majority (½) vote. Those with the authority shall deliver a vote of Aye, meaning in favor of the matter, Nay meaning they are not in favor of the matter, or Abstain, meaning they do not have an opinion on the matter. The Presiding Officer of a session shall not have the ability to vote on a matter, except to end a tie. Should the vote still remain tied after a vote by the Presiding Officer, the present Council Members, excluding the Presiding Officer should they be a Council Member, shall vote, but without the ability to Abstain. If the vote ends up a tie, the Presiding Officer may break such a tie with a vote Aye or Nay. ### Section XI - City Ordinances All Amendments, Bills, and Acts shall be referred to as Ordinances of the City of Colusa. Once a proposal becomes an Ordinances, it may not be edited or amended in any way, except through the Amendment process or a separate Ordinance that amends the original Ordinance and is written into law. An Ordinance may not be deleted, unless nullified by an Ordinance. A proposal may be edited by the Chief Sponsor(s) of the proposal before it begins the process of law as stated in Section 10 of this Article. This can be done through other regulated methods through approved legislation. ### Section XII - Council Resolutions The City Council retains the ability to propose Resolutions. A Resolution shall solely relate to the operations or affairs of the City Council which may only be used to pose regulations on matters pertaining to the City Council. A Resolution shall hold equal stature held by Ordinances and shall follow the same proposal process, except for the Mayoral Review. Other laws that amend or nullify a Resolution or multiple Resolutions shall not be required to go through review by the Mayor. Resolutions shall be in effect immediately after passing the City Council. Any resolution found to be unlawfully or not passed in legitimate governmental interest may be declared void by the City Attorney. ### Section XIII - City Council Elections The Board of Elections shall be responsible for hosting all City Council elections of the City of Colusa, when those are necessary. Only citizens of the State of Niles may run as a candidate for a position of Council Member of the City of Colusa. Candidates for the position of Council Member shall be required to follow all laws established by the City of Colusa and any additional rules set by the Board of Elections. Should these requirements not be met they shall be disqualified for the election and shall no longer be considered a candidate. City Employees of the City of Colusa or any other municipality shall not be allowed to hold elected office within the City of Colusa and must vacate their position to be eligible. The amount of positions open shall be equal to that of vacant positions within the City Council. At the start of a term, there shall be five (5) open positions. In the case of the number of candidates who meet the requirements to run in an election is equal to the amount of empty seats those candidates shall be elected into the position of Council Members. If there are more eligible candidates than positions open, a public vote, which shall be accessible to all residents of the City of Colusa and other citizens of the State of Niles shall be held to determine the winner(s) of the election. The winner(s) shall be elected into the position of City Council Members. The system used for the election shall be plurality voting, meaning the candidates with the most votes win the election and the empty position(s). Should a candidate or multiple candidates, with the other candidate or at least on of the other candidates being the candidate with the tenth (10th) most votes, obtain equal amount of votes as the candidate with the ninth (9th) most votes, a runoff election shall be held, in which these candidates are the only candidates that may be voted. Should all candidates in an election or multiple candidates in the runoff election obtain an equal amount of votes then the incumbent City Council shall vote on the candidate(s) that obtain the equal amount of votes. In such a case, the City Council shall use the single transferable vote electoral system. The City Council shall rank the candidates in order of preference. A quota of the votes cast divided by the available seats plus one is needed to be elected. If a candidate is or multiple candidates are elected and there are still open seats, surplus votes for this candidate or these candidates are then transferred to other candidates proportionally based on the next indicated choice on their ballots. If no candidate is elected based on first preference, then the candidate with the least amount of first preference votes shall be eliminated and surplus votes for this candidate are then transferred to other candidates proportionally based on the next indicated choice on their ballots. This process shall repeat until all the available seats are filled by elected candidates or until the amount of available seats is equal to the amount of remaining candidates. ### Section XIV - Emergency Nominations Should the City Council consist of two (2) or less Council Members during a term, the Mayor may nominate an individual or multiple individuals for the position of City Council Members, known as an emergency nomination. The Mayor may only nominate citizens of the State of Niles. The Mayor may nominate as many individuals as there are vacant positions within the City Council at a time for the position of City Council Member. The Mayor may at any time retract a nomination, except for when such a nomination has already been voted on by the incumbent City Council, when such a nomination is being voted on by the incumbent City Council or when the nominated individual has taken office. The incumbent Council Member(s) of the City Council have to confirm the nomination with a supermajority (4⁄5) vote. Once the nomination has been confirmed by the incumbent City Council, the nominated individual shall temporarily gain the position of City Council Member for a period of no longer than one month (31) days. The Mayor may specify how long an individual shall be a temporary City Council Member and has the ability to dismiss temporarily serving City Council Member, that the Mayor nominated. If the vote for the nomination instead fails the incumbent City Council, the individual shall not gain the position of City Council Member and may not be nominated again during the same vacancy or vacancies within the City Council, however the Mayor is permitted to nominate an individual whose nomination they retracted earlier in the case that this nomination was not voted on by the incumbent City Council or in the case that this individual has not taken office. The Mayor may also instead nominate another individual. Should there be no incumbent Councilmen within the District Council Member at the time an emergency nomination is made, the nominated individual shall immediately temporarily gain the position of City Council Member and take office upon the Mayor nominating them. --- ## **ARTICLE IV - IMPEACHMENT** ### Section I - Impeachment Impeachment shall be the process of removing a government official from elected office within the City’s Government, while also giving them the ability to provide a rebuttal. Impeachments may be initiated by the Mayor, and the City Council. The City Council shall retain the ability to vote on impeachments. The Mayor, City Council Members, and City Manager may be impeached. ### Section II - Impeachment Process An impeachment shall be proposed to the City Council like a normal Ordinance would. An impeachment proposal shall need to be reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office, and must be approved by the City Attorney. A civil officer may only be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, failed to execute their duties properly, been inactive without notice, betrayed the trust of the public, or committed another harmful, or otherwise atrocious act against the City of Colusa, Sonoma County, or State of Niles. During the designated City Council session an impeachment hearing shall be held. During the impeachment trial, the individuals(s) who initiated the impeachment and proposed it shall first be given the opportunity to provide a statement regarding the impeachment. Next the individual who the impeachment was proposed against shall be given the opportunity to provide a statement(s) regarding the impeachment, which shall be their defense. The right to make these statements may be waived under their right protected by the fifth (5th) amendment of the United States Constitution. The City Council shall then vote on the impeachment. Should the individual being impeached hold the ability to vote on impeachments, they shall lose this ability and they may not vote on their own impeachment. If the impeachment passes the City Council, the individual shall be regarded as impeached and shall be removed from their position specified within the impeachment proposal. An impeachment of the Mayor, City Manager, or a City Council Member shall need a supermajority (⅘) vote to pass. If the impeachment fails the City Council it shall be retired and the individual shall hold their position(s). Should one of the parties not be present at the impeachment trial, they shall automatically waive their right to make a statement. The accused shall have the right to seven days notice before the date and time of the hearing. If the Presiding Officer of the sessions, who shall need to announced to both parties at least forty-eight (48th) hours in advance of the session, is notified at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the session that one of the parties is not able to attend the session in which the impeachment trial shall take place, the session shall be postponed or the impeachment trial shall take place at a later City Council session. ### Section III - Articles of Impeachment An impeachment that is drafted and proposed to the City Council shall need the following information to be considered, discussed and voted on by the City Council: the name of the individual who is being impeached, the reason for the impeachment, and the name(s) of the sponsor(s) of the impeachment. It shall be presented only in PDF form, on legal size paper with a light tan background. Title fonts shall not exceed 18 points, subtitle fonts not more than 14 point and body font shall be no less than 11 point but no more than 12 point. Times New Roman or Century family typefaces must be used. --- ## **ARTICLE V - STATE OF EMERGENCIES** ### Section I - Declaration of a State of Emergency The Mayor shall have the ability to declare an emergency, known as a State of Emergency (SoE). An emergency may be declared to respond to a legitimate emergency that proves to be a threat, crisis or other type of risk that threatens the wellbeing of the residents of the City of Colusa. The Mayor may not declare a State of Emergency to use as political leverage and it shall be illegal to declare a State of Emergency to blackmail, coerce or harm the residents of the City of Colusa. ### Section II - Active Period Upon the Mayor declaring an emergency, the State of Emergency shall be active for at most forty-eight (48) hours. The Mayor may at any point retract a State of Emergency and/or end the period in which a State of Emergency is active. The City Council retains the ability to extend the period in which a State of Emergency is active. The City Council may extend this period through a simple majority (1⁄2) vote, with a maximum extension of seventy-two (72) hours per vote. Furthermore, the City Council retains the ability to overturn or end a State of Emergency with a super-majority (4⁄5) vote. A State of Emergency shall automatically end if the period in which it is active expires without the State of Emergency being extended. The Mayor may not declare a new or another State of Emergency for the same reason. ### Section III - Emergency Powers While a State of Emergency is active, the Mayor may direct the City Manager to redirect, and repurpose assets, and resources of the City for better use, and to improve the situation at hand. --- ## **ARTICLE VI - MUNICIPAL DEPARTMENTS** ### Section I - City Manager's Office Oversees city operations, managing the departments and directly supervising communications and intergovernmental relations. ### Section II - City Attorney's Office Provides legal advice and representation to the City Council, the city manager, the departments and boards and commissions. The City Attorney shall not be utilized as private counsel in official capacity. The City Attorney shall have the power to propagate any regulation related to the legal conduct of the City. ### Section III - City Clerk's Office Facilitates communication, information sharing and participation by citizens in municipal government, while providing a necessary link between the legislative and administrative functions of the city. ### Section IV - City Planner's Office Offers permit(s) for land and building development. Ensures construction is safe and aligned with relevant codes. ### Section V - Department of Parks and Recreation Manages and maintains the city's parks and trails, and provides recreation programs for residents. ### Section VI - Department of Public Works Provides drinking water, wastewater, storm and surface water and solid waste, ensuring these services are dependable and of good value, and maintains a safe, efficient and balanced transportation network for all residents. ### Section VII - Colusa Police Department Provides a safe place to live and work through law enforcement, focused on reducing crime, and the fear of crime, while protecting property and preserving life. --- ## **ARTICLE VII - SIGNATURES** **warlock_jkl** City Manager **caisse1** City Mayor **FrancisHUnderwood** State Governor **ElloM8HowAreYou** Co-Author ---