MEMORANDUM
TO:
Bowie City Council
CC: David J. Deutsch, City Manager
FROM: Robert H. Levan, City Attorney
DATE: December 11, 2003
SUBJECT: Proposed Charter Amendment Resolutions CAR-1-03, CAR-2-03 and CAR-3-03
Attached are three proposed Charter Amendment Resolutions designed to amplify
the Bowie City Charter which relate to qualifications for holding office.
CAR-1-3 and CAR-2-03 would require that no person may hold office as either
Councilmember or Mayor who has been convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor
involving a crime of violence.
As the Council may be aware, the Maryland Constitution specifies that felony
convictions automatically disqualify members from holding or continuing to
hold office. The Constitution does not address misdemeanors.
CAR-3-03 adds a fairly typical requirement to the Charter which mandates that
elected members regularly attend meetings of the body. The Resolution amends
the section “Meetings” by adding a requirement that members who
miss three consecutive advertised meetings of the Council, unless excused
by the Council, may be removed from office.
We recommend passage of the Resolutions.
RESOLUTION
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BOWIE, MARYLAND
AMENDING SECTION 4, “QUALIFICATIONS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS” OF THE
CITY CHARTER TO PROHIBIT PERSONS FROM SERVICE AS COUNCILMEMBERS WHO HAVE BEEN
CONVICTED OF A FELONY OR A MISDEMEANOR INVOLVING A CRIME OF VIOLENCE.
WHEREAS,
pursuant to Md. Code Ann., Article 23A, §§ 11-18, the City Council
of the City of Bowie, Maryland (hereinafter, “the City”) has the
authority to amend the City’s Charter, in accordance with the procedures
set forth therein; and
WHEREAS, the City Charter sets forth, in Section 4, “Qualifications
of Councilmembers”, the qualifications for service on the Council; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to add a qualification
prohibiting membership on the Council to those persons convicted either of
a felony, or a misdemeanor involving a crime of violence; and
WHEREAS, the City Council deems it to be in the best interest
of the City and its residents to amend Section 4 to add this requirement as
a qualification for service on the City Council.
Section 1: NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland, that Section 4 of the Charter of the City of Bowie is amended as follows:
Sec. 4. Qualifications of Councilmembers.
Each Councilmember shall be at least eighteen years of age, shall have resided in the City at least one (1) year immediately preceding the date of election, [and] shall be a qualified voter in the City AND SHALL NOT HAVE BEEN CONVICTED OF EITHER A FELONY, OR A MISDEMEANOR INVOLVING A CRIME OF VIOLENCE. Each Councilmember shall be a resident of the council district which the candidate seeks to represent at the time of filing for candidacy and during the full term of office.
Section 2: BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Charter Amendment Resolution is adopted
this ______ day of December, 2003, and that the amendment to the Charter of
the City of Bowie, hereby proposed by this enactment, shall be and become
effective fifty (50) days after its passage by the City unless petitioned
to referendum in accordance with Article 23A, § 13, of the Annotated
Code of Maryland within 40 days following its passage. A complete and exact
copy of this Resolution shall be posted in the City Hall building for forty
(40) days following its passage by the City. and a fair summary of the Charter
Amendment shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in
the City not less than four (4) times at weekly intervals, also within the
forty (40) days following it passage by City.
Section 3: BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that as soon as the Charter
Amendment Resolution hereby enacted becomes effective, either as herein provided
or following referendum, the Bowie City Manager shall send to the Department
of Legislative Services, the following information concerning the Charter
Amendment Resolution: (i) the complete text of this Resolution; (ii) the date
of referendum election, if any, held with respect thereto; (iii) the number
of votes cast for and against this Resolution by the Council of the City of
Bowie or in a referendum; and (iv) the effective date of the Charter Amendment.
Section 4: BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Manager of
the City of Bowie, Maryland be, and hereby is specifically directed and instructed
to carry out the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 as evidence of compliance
herewith; and said City Manager shall cause to be affixed to the minutes of
this meeting an appropriate Certificate of Publication of the newspaper in
which the fair summary of the Charter Amendment shall have been published,
and shall further cause to be completed and executed the Certificate of Effect.
INTRODUCED by the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland
at a Special Meeting on the ____ day of December, 2003.
PASSED by the Council of the City of Bowie, Maryland at a
Special Meeting on the ____ day of December, 2003.
WITNESS: THE CITY OF BOWIE, MARYLAND
__________________________
Pamela A. Fleming, City Clerk
______________________________
G. Frederick Robinson,
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND SUFFICIENCY:
______________________________
Robert H. Levan, City Attorney