CHAPTER IV.
OFFICERS, THEIR OATHS AND BONDS.
Sec. 37. Officers—their terms of service, etc.
Unless otherwise specifically provided, every municipal officer
elected by the Council shall hold his office for two years.
The term of all officers so elected shall commence as soon as
they have qualified and given bond as required. Vacancies occurring
in such office shall be filled by the Council at the first
regular meeting thereafter, or at a special meeting held for that
purpose; provided, that notice of such meeting and the purpose
thereof shall have been given, as far as possible, to all members
of the Council. All persons elected or appointed to fill a vacancy
shall hold office only during the unexpired term of the
office in which such vacancy occurs.
Sec. 38. Same—terms of service; salaries, etc.
Every officer elected or appointed by the Council shall hold
his office until his successor shall have been elected and shall
have qualified and given bond, unless he be sooner removed, and
shall receive for his services such compensation as the Council
may allow, but no payment shall be made to any officer who
is in arrears to the city, or in default in rendering any account
or report required of him.
Sec. 39. Same—appointment of substitute during inability
to serve.
If any officer elected by the Council be at any time unable, by
reason of sickness or other unavoidable cause, to discharge the
duties of his office, he may, in writing, appoint a substitute to
act for him during such inability, and he and his sureties shall
be liable for the conduct of such substitute while in office. No
such appointment shall be valid until ratified by the Council,
and the fact of such ratification shall be endorsed on such appointment
by the president of the Council. Nothing herein shall
be construed to effect the right of the Mayor to remove any officer
appointed by the Council; provided, that in the appointment
of substitutes, this section shall not apply to the office of
Police Justice.
Sec. 40. Same—removal of for malfeasance, etc.
For malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incapacity, or
any other good cause, the Mayor may remove from office any
officer elected or appointed by the Council. (Charter, Sec. 30.)
Sec. 41. Same—oaths of office.
Every person elected or appointed to any office in the city
shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take the oath
of office, as prescribed for all other officers, by the laws of Virginia,
and qualify before the Corporation Court, or the judge
thereof in vacation, and a certificate of such oath shall be filed
by them with the Clerk of the Corporation Court, and in the
cases of the Mayor and aldermen a certificate of such oath having
been taken shall be filed by them, respectively, with the
Clerk of the Council who shall enter the same upon the journal.
(Charter, Sec. 7.)
If any person elected or appointed to any office in the city
neglect to take such oath for ten days after the commencement
of the term for which he was elected, his office shall be deemed
vacant and the Council shall proceed to fill the vacancy as prescribed
in section 37 of these ordinances. (Charter, Sec. 7.)
Sec. 42. Same—pay of suspended officers.
Any officer who shall be suspended by the Mayor shall forfeit
his salary from the day of his suspension until he is reinstated
or discharged, and shall only receive the pro-rata part of his
pay for the time he may have actually served; provided, however,
if the suspension is not sustained, the officer so suspended
is to receive his pay in full, the same as if no suspension had occurred.
Ses. 43. Same—their terms of service, vacation, etc.
The superintendents of such departments as require the regular
employment or working of a force of hands shall not be absent
from the city without the consent of the chairman of the
committee having charge of such department together with the
approval of the Mayor and without a corresponding deduction
of salary for the time lost, except in case of sickness when they
shall, upon the certificate of a physician, and upon a two-thirds
vote of the Council, be allowed half pay not exceeding thirty
days in any one year.
A vacation of ten days in each year shall be allowed the superintendents
of departments as above described without loss of
pay, at such time as will not be detrimental to the public service
and as may be agreed upon by the chairman of the committee in
charge of such department together with the approval of the
Mayor.
Sec. 44. Same—official bonds.
The penalties of the official bonds of the following officers
shall be, respectively, as herein enumerated, to wit:
| Mayor |
$ 2,000 |
| Auditor and Clerk |
5,000 |
| Treasurer |
25,000 |
| Commissioner of the Revenue |
3,000 |
| City Engineer |
3,000 |
| Street Commissioner or Foreman |
1,000 |
| Chief of Police |
1,000 |
| Superintendent of Water and Sewers |
1,000 |
| Superintendent of Gas and Light |
1,000 |
| Assistant Superintendent of Gas and Light |
500 |
| Overseer of the Poor |
1,000 |
| Superintendent of Cemeteries |
1,000 |
| Sergeant |
2,000 |
| Constable |
2,000 |
Every official bond required by the ordinances of the city shall
be given in such guaranty company as will be satisfactory to the
Finance Committee, and shall be made payable to the City of
Charlottesville, with condition for the faithful discharge of the
duties of the office to which the person giving it has been elected
or appointed.
The cost of all official bonds shall be at the expense of the city.
Any person elected or appointed to any office who shall for ten
days after the beginning of the term for which he was elected
or appointed, neglect to give such bond and security as may be required
of him, shall thereby vacate his office. (Charter, Sec. 7.)
The Finance Committee shall report to the Council all official
bonds given as required by this section for entry upon its journal
and the bonds shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the
Corporation Court.
Sec. 45. Same—salaries to be fixed by the council.
The salaries of all officers who shall receive stated compensation
for their services from the city, shall be fixed by the Council; but
no salary of any officer elected by a vote of the people or appointed
or elected by the Council, or the judge of the Corporation
Court, shall be diminished or increased during his term of office.
The salary of the Police Justice shall not be less than $200 nor
more than $600 per annum. (Charter, Sec. 31.)
Sec. 46. Same—annual reports.
All reports of the city officers required to be made by the Council
shall be submitted in writing at the regular meeting of the
Council in September of each year, showing the operations, receipts
and disbursements of their respective departments, for the
previous fiscal year, and containing a statement of such city property
and the approximate value thereof, other than stationery, as
may be in their possession when such reports are made; also such
recommendations as may be deemed proper.
Sec. 47. Same—receipts by, for official property.
Every officer of the city, when entering upon the duties of his
office, shall file with the City Auditor an itemized receipt for all
personal property furnished him by the city, specifying in detail
the cost or estimated value. He shall also be responsible for the
safe-keeping of such property as he may receive from the city;
and at the expiration of his term of office, shall surrender the
same to the city in as good condition as when received by him, save
reasonable wear and tear.
