Ordinance Number 175268
ORDINANCE NO. 175
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
ESTA$LISHING THE COUNCIL-MANAGER FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT AND REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
IN CONFLICT HEREWITH
The City Council of the City of San Juan Capistrano does
hereby ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. Office Created.
That the office of the City Manager of the City of San Juan
Capistrano be, and the same is hereby created and established. The
City Manager shall be appointed by a majority vote of the City Council.
SECTION 2. Residence. -
Residence in the City at the time of appointment of a City
Manager shall not be required as a condition of appointment, but within
one hundred eighty.(180) days thereafter the City Managermust become
a resident of the City, or the City Council shall declare the office
of City Manager to be vacant.. - --
SECTION 3. Eligibility.- .-._
No person elected as.a Councilman of the City shall, subse-
quent to such election, be eligible for appointment--as-City Manager
until one year has elapsed after such Council membershallhave ceased
to be a member of the City Council.
SECTION 4. Bond.The City Manager shall furnish a corporate surety bond to be
approved by the City Council in such sum as may be determined by the
said City Council and shall be conditioned upon the faithful perform-
ance of the duties imposed upon the City Manager as herein prescribed.
Any premium for such bond shall --be a proper charge against the City of
San Juan Capistrano.
-SECTION-5. Temporary -Manager.
The City Manager shall appoint, subject to the approval of
the City Council, one of the other officers or department heads of
the City to serve as manager pro tempore during any temporary absence
or disability of the City Manager. In case of the apsence or disability
of the City Manager and his failure to appoint a manager pro tempore,
the City Council may designate some qualified City employee to perform
the duties of the City Manager during the period of absence or dis-
ability of said tCity Manager, subject however, to said person furnish-
ing a corporate surety bond conditioned upon faithful -performance of
the duties required to be performed as set forth in Section 4 hereof.
SECTION 6. Compensation.
The City Manager shall receive such compensation and expense
allowances as the City Council shall from time to time determine and
fix by resolution and said compensation and expenses shall be a proper
charge against such funds of the City as the City Council shall designate.
Said City Manager shall be reimbursed for all sums necessarily
incurred or paid by him in the performance of his duties or incurred
when traveling on business pertaining to the City under direction of
the City Council; reimbursement shall only be made, however, when a
verified itemized claim setting forth the sums expended for such busi-
ness for which reimbursement is requested, has been presented to the
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City Council for approval.
SECTION 7. Duties and Powers of City -Manager.
The City Manager shall, as the chief agent and executive
officer of the City Council, be the administrative head of the govern-
ment of the City under the direction and control of the Council except
as otherwise provided in this Ordinance. He shall be responsible for
the efficient and effective administration of all the affairs of the
City which are under his control. In all matters of major importance
such as, but not limited to hiring and firing of department heads,
major municipal programs, fiscal policies, reorganization or substan-
tive change in organizational assignments, and any administrative act
that affects the formulation or implementation of legislative policy,
the City Manager will whenever possible, consult in 4dvance with the
City Council. The purpose of this requirement is to fully inform the
Council and learn of its judgment in the matters being considered. In
addition to his general powers as administrative head, and not as a
limitation thereon, it shall be the City Manager's duty and he shall
have the powers set forth in the following sub -sections:
(a) To see that all laws and ordinances of the City are
duly enforced and that all franchises, permits and privileges granted
by the City are faithfully observed.
(b) To control, order and give directions to all heads of
departments and to subordinate officers and employees of the City
through their department head; transfer employees from one department
to another and to, consolidate or combine offices, positions, departments
or units under his direction; to appoint, remove and demote any and all
officers and employees of the City, except the City Clerk, 'the City
Attorney and the City Treasurer. The City Manager shall also have the
power to appoint an Assistant City Manager subject to the approval of
the City Council.
(c) To exercise control over all departments of government
of the. City and over all appointive officers and employees thereof.
(d) To attend all the meetings of the Council unless excused
therefrom by said Council and to formulate and recommend to the Council
for adoption such policies and ordinances as he deems necessary or
expedient.
(e) To keep the Council at all times fully advised as to the
financial conditions and needs of the City and to prepare and submit
the proposed annual budget and the proposed annual salary plan to the
Council for its approval.
(f) To purchase all supplies for all of the departments or
divisions of said City. No expenditure. shall be submitted or recom-
mended to the Council except on report or approval of the City Manager.
(g) To make investigations into the affairs of the City and
any department or division thereof and any contract or the proper
performance of any obligations running to the City. He shall further
investigate all complaints in relation to matters concerning the adminis-
tration of the City Government and in regard to the service maintained
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by public utilities in said City and to see that all franchises, per-
mits and privileges granted by the City are faithfully performed and
observed.
(h) To exercise general supervision over all public buildings,
public parks and all other public property which is under the control
and jurisdiction of the Council.
(i) The City Manager may attend any and all meetings of any
commissions, boards, or committees hereafter created by the City Council.
At such meetings which the City Manager attends, he shall be heard by
such commissions, boards or committees as to all matters upon which he
wishes to address the members thereof; and he shall inform said members
as to the status of any matter being considered by the City Council,
and he shall cooperate to the fullest extent with the members of all
commissions, boards, or committees appointed by the City Council.
(j) To develop and organize necessary public improvement
projects and programs authorized by the City Council and to aid and
assist the Council and various departments in carrying the same
through to successful conclusion.
(k) To cooperate within lawful limits, with all community
organizations whose aim and purpose is to advance the cultural and
material interests of the City and its people; and to provide them,
within lawful limits, with assistance through the City government.
(1) To perform such other duties pertaining to his position
as the City Council may from time to time reasonably require.
SECTION 8. Agency for Council.
Limitation - The City Manager shall act as the agent for the
City Council in the discharge of its administrative functions, but
shall not exercise any policymaking or legislative functions whatsoever
nor attempt to commit or bind the Council or,any,member thereof to any
action, plan or program requiring official Council action.
SECTION 9. Duties Vested Elsewhere.
It is not intended by this resolution to grant any authority
to, or impose any duty upon the.City Manager which is vested in or
imposed by general law or valid City Ordinance in any other City Com-
mission, board, department, officer or employee.
SECTION 10. Qualifications and Standard of Conduct.
The City Manager shall be chosen by the Council solely on the
basis of his eAcutive and administrative qualifications with special
reference to his actual experience in or his knowledge of accepted
practice in respect to the duties of his office.
In the discharge of his duties as City Manager, the person
holding such position shall endeavor at all times to exercise the high-
est degree of tact, diplomacy, patience and courtesy in his contacts
with the public and with all City Commissions, boards departments,
officers and employees, and shall use his best efforts to establish and
maintain a harmonious relationship between all personnel employed in
the government of the City to the end that the highest possible stand-
ards of public service be continuous.
SECTION 11. Council -Manager Relations.
The City Council and its members shall deal with --the adminis-
271
trative services of the City only through the Cityt Manager, except for
the purpose of inquiry, and neither the City Council nor any member
thereof shall give orders to any subordinates of the City Manager. The
City Manager shall take his orders and instructions from the City Council
only when sitting in a duly held meeting of the City Council and no
individual councilman shall give any orders or instructions to the City
Manager.
SECTION 12. Department Cooperation.
Itshallbe the duty of all subordinate officers and the City
Clerk, City Treasurer and City Attorney, to assist the City Manager in
administering the affairs of the City efficiently, economically and
harmoniously so far as may be consistent with their duties as prescribed
by law and ordinances of the City. $
SECTION 13. Removal.o£ Manager.
The removal of the City Manager shall be -only -upon a three-
fifths (3/5) vote of the whole Council in regular Council meeting, sub-
ject however,.to the provisions ofthenext succeeding sections. In
case of his intended removal by the City Council, the City Manager shall
be furnished with a written notice stating the Council's intention to
remove him and the reason therefor, at least thirty days before the
effective date -of his removal.
SECTION 14, Hearing.
Within seven days after the delivery to the City Manager of
such notice he may, by written notification to the City Clerk, request
a hearing before the City Council. Thereafter, the City Council shall
fix a time for the hearing which shall be held at its usual meeting
place, but before the expiration of the thirty day period, at which the
City Manager shall appear and be heard, with or without counsel.
SECTION 15. Suspension Pending Hearing.
After furnishing the City Manager with written notice of
intended removal, the City Council may suspend him from duty, but his
compensation shall continue until his removal by resolution of the
Council passed subsequent to the aforesaid hearing.
SECTION 16. Discretion of Council.
In removing the City Manager, the City Council shall use its
unqualified discretion and its action shall be final and shall not
depend upon any particular showing or degree of proof at the hearing,
the purpose of which is to allow the City Manager to present to said
City Council his grounds of opposition to his removal prior to its
-- action.
SECTION 17. Limitation on Removal.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this ordinance hereinbefore
enumerated, the City Manager shall not be removed from office during
or within a period of ninety (90) days next succeeding any general
municipal election held in the City at which election a member of the
City Council is elected; the purpose of this provision is to allow any
newly elected member of the City Council to observe the actions and
ability of the City Manager in the performance of the powers and duties
of his office. After the expiration of said ninety -day period afore-
mentioned, the provisions of the preceding section as to the removal
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of said City Manager shall apply and be effective.
SECTION 18. Severability.
If. any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of
this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision or
decisions shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of
this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have
passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause
and phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more section,
subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid.
SECTION 19. Repeal of Inconsistent Laws.
All resolutions, ordinances or parts thereof in conflict with
or inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance are hereby
repealed.
SECTION 20. Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30)
days from and after its passage, and prior to the expiration of fifteen
(15) days after the passage thereof, this Ordinance shall be published
once in the Coastline Dispatch, a local newspaper, together with the
names of the members of the City Council voting for or against the
same.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 28th day of June, 1971,
at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Juan
Capistrano, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCILMEN: BATHGATE, CHERMAK, GAMMELL, THORPE
and FORSTER
NOES: COUNCILMEN: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEN: NONE
Thomas A.YorSter, Mayor
City of San Juan Capistrano
ATTEST:
ty
4erco to iy
San Juan Capistrano
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF SAN JUAf CAPISTRANO )
I, DONALD G. WEIDNER, City Clerk of the City of San Juan
Capistrano, Califonnia, do hereby certify that the attached and fore-
going Ordinance was duly and regularly adopted by said City Council at
a: -regular meeting thereof held on the 28th day of June, 1971
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