Chap. 73.—An ACT to Amend the Charter of the City of Alexandria.

Approved February 20, 1871.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the limits of the city of Alexandria shall be as follows: begin-
ning on the Potomac river at a point distant northerly in the
direction of Fairfax street, five hundred and ninety-five feet
nine inches from the north line of Montgomery street, as now
established in said city, and extending into said river, and run-
ning thence westerly and parallel with said north line to a point
at which this course will intersect a line one hundred and twen-
ty-three feet five inches west of, and running parallel to the
western line of West street, as now established, when ex-
tended; thence southerly, parallel with West str eet, to the
north line of Cameron street, as now established ; thence west-
erly in the direction of the north line of Cameron street, ex-
tending to a point in a line with the west line of the lot of the
late Francis Peyton, on which he resided; thence southerly,
parallel with West street, to the south line of King street, ex-
tended thence in a straight line to a point in the line dividing
the counties of Fairfax and Alexandria from each other, ten
feet west of Hooff’s run; thence southerly with said line into
the Potomac river; thence up the said river to the begin-
ning.

2. That said city shall be divided into four wards. The first
ward shall comprise all that part of the said city lying east of
the middle of Pitt street, and south of a line drawn from the
river Potomac to the middle of Pitt street, parallel to and equi-
distant from King and Prince streets. The second ward shall
comprise all that part of said city lying east of the middle of
Pitt street, and north of the said line between King and Prince
streets. ‘The third ward shall comprise all that part of said
city lying west of the middle of Pitt street, and north of the
line drawn from the middle of Pitt street to the western limits
of the city, parallel to and equi-distant from King and Prince
streets; and the fourth ward shall comprise all that part of
said city lying south and west of the two last mentioned lines
respectively. When any house or lot shall be situated partly
in two wards, it shall be considered as lying in that ward in
which the greater part thereof shall be. The city council shall
have power, from time to time, to alter the boundaries of the
wards, and to increase their number, designating the additional
wards in numerical order.

3. The jurisdiction of the said city council shall extend over
the harbof of Alexandria, and over vessels of every descrip-
tion which may arrive and be in the harbor, or be at anchor in
any part of the river Potomac below Pearson’s island; and,
also, their jurisdiction shall extend over the house in the vi-
cinity of the city for the accommodation of the poor and others,
and over the grounds thereto belonging, and over all persons
who may be sent or placed there by the consent or authority
of the city council, and on their way to and from the same un-
til they be regularly discharged. And be it further enacted
by the general assembly, That the jurisdiction of the corpora-
tion court for the city of Alexandria shall be, and the same is
hereby extended over the house and grounds, as well as the
persons, hereinbefore mentioned, for all criminal and civil pur-
poses, and for the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus; and
that all writs, summons, and process to enforce said jurisdic-
tion, which may issue from the said court or clerk’s office
thereof, and returnable thereto, may be directed to, served, and
returned by the sergeant for the said city of: Alexandria, and
proceedings therein may be considered and determined by said
corporation court.

4. The city council of Alexandria shall be formed of two
distinct branches; one of these shall be called the common
council, and shall consist of four members from each ward, to
be elected annually; the other shall be called the board of
aldermen, and shall consist of two members from each ward,
to be elected fortwo years. Upon the assembling of the mem-
bers of the board of aldermen, so elected, they shall be divided
into two equal classes, one of each class from each ward, to be
numbered by lot. The term of service of the members of
the first class shall expire with that of the members of the
common council first elected under this act, and of the mem-
bers of the second class at the expiration of one year there-
after, and this alternation shall continue, so that one half the
members of the board of aldermen, one from each ward, may
be chosen every year.

5. The acts of the city council shall be signed by the presi-
dent of each branch, and shall be presented to the mayor for
his approbation, who, if he objects thereto, shall, within three
days after it shall be presented to him for his assent, return it
to that branch of the city council in which it originated, with
his objections in writing, and if a majority of the whole num-
ber of the members of each branch shall be of opinion that
the law ought to be passed, it shall, notwithstanding the objee-
tions of the mayor, become a law, and be signed by him. The
clerk of each branch of the city council shall record in a book
to be kept by him for the purpose, all the proceedings of his
branch, and shall deliver a copy of them to the public printer,
to be published for the information of the people; and the
clerk of the common council shall also record in a book to be
kept by him for that purpose all the laws of the corporation,
and shall turnish a copy of every law for publication as afore-
said. The city council shall have authority to adopt such
rules and to appoint such officers and clerks as they may deem
proper for the regulation of their proceedings and for the
convenient transaction of business; to compel the attendance
of absent members; to punish its members for disorderly be-
havior; and, by a two-thirds vote of the members of the
branch in which it occurs, expel a member for malfeasance or
misfeasance in office.

6. When any vacancy. shall occur in either branch, by death,
resignation, removal from the ward, or failure to quality, or
from any other cause, the branch in which such vacancy occurs
shall order an election to fill the vacancy until the next regular
election.

City officers.

7. In case a vacancy shall occur in the oflice of mayor, the
city council shall elect a qualified person to supply the vacancy
for the unexpired term.

8, The city council may elect all officers and clerks, other
than those prescribed by the constitution, that they may deem
proper for the good government of the city, not heretofore
provided for, and define their powers, and prescribe their du-
ties and compensation, and may take from any of the officers
so elected, bonds, with sureties, in such penalties as to the city
council may seem fit, payable to the city by its corporate name,
with condition for the faithful performance of said duties. All
officers elected by the council may be removed from office at
its pleasure. Each board may remove all officers elected by
such board.

9. In case of the absence or inability of the mayor, the presi-
dent of the board of aldermen shall possess the same powers and
discharge the municipal duties of the mayor during such ab-
sence or inability. In the event of the absence or inability of
the president of the board of aldermen, then the president of
the common council shall possess and exercise the same powers.

10. Every male citizen of the United States who is twenty-
one years old, and who shall have been a resident of this state
for twelve months, and of this city for three months next pre-
ceding any election, and who is a registered voter in, and a
resident of, the ward in which he offers to vote, shall be enti-
tled to vote on all questions submitted to the people at such
election: provided, that no officer, soldier, seaman, or marine
of the United States army or navy, shall be considered a resi-
dent of this city by reason of being stationed here: and pro-
vided also, that the following persons shall be excluded from
voting, to wit: 1. Idiots and lunatics. 2. Persons convicted
of bribery in any election, embezzlement of public money,
treason, or felony. 3. No person who, while a citizen of this
state, has, since the adoption of the constitution, fought a duel
with a deadly weapon, sent or accepted a challenge to fight a
duel with a deadly weapon, either within or beyond the boun-
daries of this state, or knowingly conveyed a challenge, or
aided or assisted in any manner in fighting a duel, shall be al-
lowed to vote, or hold any office of honor, profit, or trust, un-
der this charter.

11. The members of the common council, elected as afore-
said, or a mafority of them, shall, on the first day of July of
each year, assemble themselves at the council chamber, or any
other place which shall be hereafter fixed for their meeting,
and shall choose a member of their own body to be president
of the said common council, to whom shall be administered, by
any justice of the peace for the city of Alexandria, an oath or
affirmation for the faithful pertormance of the duties of his of.
fice, whereupon the said president shall administer the oath of
office to the other members of the council; and shall have,
while they are in session, the same power which is at present
exercised by the president of the present common council upon
like occasions, and shall convene the common council when-
ever, in the opinion of four of the members, expressed to him
in writing, or whenever, in his opinion, the good of the city
may require it; and the authority of said common council
shall continue one year, er until others are chosen and qualified
in their stead; and the members of the board of aldermen,
elected as aforesaid, or any five of them, chosen at the first
election held under this charter, and thereafter, those holding
over, or any three of them, with those elected, or any three of
them, shall, on the first day of July after their election, in each
year, assemble themselves in the chamber of the board of al-
dermen, or any other place which may be agreed upon for their
meeting, and shall organize in like manner with the members
of the common council, and the president of the said board of
aldermen shall have like power, while the said board is in ses-
sion, with the president of the common council, and he shall
convene the city council whenever, in the opinion of'two mem-
bers of each board, expressed to him in writing, or whenever,
in his opinion, the good of the city may require it, and the au-
thority of the said board of aldermen shall continue until others
are qualified in their stead, and no longer.

12. The common council and board of aldermen so elected,
together, and those thereafter to be elected, and their succes-
sors, shall be, and are hereby made a body politic and corpo-
rate, by the name of the city council of Alexandria, and by
the said name shall have perpetual succession with capacity to

urchase, take, possess and enjoy lands and tenements, goods
and chattels, either in fee, or lesser estate therein, and the
same to give, grant, let, sell, assign, or transfer, and to plead
and be impleaded, prosecute and defend all causes, complaints
and actions real, personal or mixed, and to have a common
seal, and perpetual succession, and all the estate, rights and
credits now or heretofore vested in the common council of
Alexandria, shall be vested in the said city council, when elected,
and may be recovered in their name for the use of the said
city and in like manner all claims and demands against the
common council of Alexandria, prior to the operation of the
present act, may be prosecuted and recovered against the
aforesaid city couneil, and process served upon the mayor, or
the president of the board of aldermen, or of the common
council, shall be deemed suflicient.

13. The jurisdiction of the said city council shall extend to
the limits hereinbefore prescribed. ‘The concurrence of a ma-
jority of the whole number of members of each branch of the
city council shall be necessary for the passage of any law,
order, or resolution, or for repealing, altering or revoking the
same, and no bill or act, creating a new law, or amending, or
altering an existing law, shall be passed at the same session on
which it is presented, unless it shall receive the votes of three-
fourths of the members of each branch of the city council.
14. The said city council shall have power to erect werk
houses, houses of correction, and other public buildings for the
benefit of said city, to pave, make and repair the streets and
highways, to make all laws which they shall conceive requisite
for the preservation of the health of the inhabitants, and for

_ the regulation of the morals and police of the city, and to en-

le]

force the observance of these laws by reasonable penalties and
forfeitures to be levied upon the goods and chattels of the
offender, and where no goods or chattels can be found, by con-
finement to labor for a period not exceeding three months, and
they shall have power to raise money by taxes for the use and
benefit of said city : provided, that such laws shall not be re-
pugnant to, or inconsistent with the laws and constitution of
the state, or of the United States. The said city council shall
whenever they deem it proper, have power to open, extend,
regulate, pave and improve the streets within the limits of the
city, provided they make to the person or persons who may
be injured by such opening or extension just and adequate
compensation out of the funds of the corporation.

15. They shall have power to hold and keep within the said
city, market days, and from time to time to prescribe rules
and regulations for the government of the market, to provide
for the establishment, maintenance and superintendence of
public schools, and for the registering of births, marriages and
deaths, and shall have power to preserve the navigation of the
Potomac river within their jurisdiction, to erect, repair and
regulate public wharves, deepen docks and basins, and to limit
the extent of private wharves into the harbor; to restrain and
prohibit the keeping of tippling houses, and all kinds of gam-

- ing, to provide for licensing, taxing and regulating auctions,

theatres and public shows and amusements; to regulate party
and other walls and fences, and to determine by whom they

- shall be kept in repair; to direct in what part of the city

buildings of wood shall not be erected, and to-regulate the
size of bricks to be used or made, and shall have power to re-
strain and prohibit nightly and disorderly meetings, to cause
and provide for the removal of all such paupers, vagabonds
and otber persons as may not be legally entitled to residence
within the said corporation, to punish by fine or penalty of
prosecution, any minor or apprentice guilty of any breach of
any law of the corporation, and unless such fine or penalty
with the costs of prosecution be paid by the parent, guardian
or master of such minor or apprentice, by confinement to labor
for a limited time, not exceeding three months for any one
offence, to regulate by law the inspection of domestic spirits
and tobacco, measuring and inspection of wood and bark, lum-
ber, grain, coal, beef, pork, guano, butter and lard, hay, fodder
and straw, and shall have power to fix the compensation, and
prescribe the powers and duties of all officers of the corpora-
tion, whose powers and duties are not herein prescribed; to
pass all laws not inconsistent with the laws and constitution
of this state, or of the United States, which they may conceive
requisite for the prevention and removal of nuisances; and
pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution
the powers granted by this act.

16. The council shall cause to be annually made up and en-
tered upon its journal, an account and estimate of all sums
which are or may become lawfully chargable on the said city
which ought to be paid within one year; and it shall order a
city levy of so much as in its opinion is the amount which may
be raised from licenses and other sources.

17. The levy so ordered may be upon all free male persons

residing in said city who have attained the age of twenty-one
years, on dogs, and on all real estate within said city, which is
not exempted from state taxation, and on all other subjects in
said city that may at the time be assessed with state taxes.
_ 18. Whenever any business or occupation is pursued within
the city for which a license is required, the city council may
require a license to be paid on the same, and may impose a tax
thereon for the use of the city, and the council may, in any case
in which it sees fit, require from the person so licensed, a bond,
with sureties, in such penalty, and with such conditions as it
may think proper. Said city council may also grant or refuse
licenses to owners or keepers of wagons, drays, carts, omni-
buses, hacks, and other wheeled carriages, kept or employed in
said city for hire, or as carriers for the public, and may require
the owners or keepers of wagons, drays, and carts using them
in the city, to take out a license therefor, and may require
taxes to be paid thereon, and subject the same to such regula-
tions as they may deem proper.

19. The revenue from these and other sources shall be col-
lected, paid over, and accounted for, at such times and to such
person as the city council shall order.

20. The collector or collectors of the corporation shall have
power to collect the tax bills, gas bills, fines, and levies due
the city, and shall have power to distrain and sell therefor, in
like manner as the officer charged with the collection of the
state revenue, and shall have, in all other respects, the same
powers as such state officers to enforce the payment and col-
lection thereof, and he or they shall be entitled to such com-
pensation as may be allowed by the city council. He and his,
or they and their, sureties shall be liable to all the fines, penal-
ties, and forfeitures that such state officer is legally liable to
for any failure or dereliction in office, to be recovered in the
same manner, and before the same courts, that said fines, pe-
nalties, and forfeitures are now recovered in against such state
officer.

21. The said collector or collectors shall make report, in wri-
ting, under oath, to the auditor, on the first Monday in each
month, or oftener, if required by the committee of finance of
the city council, the amount of all moneys by him or them col-
lected; and shall pay the same into the city treasury within
five days thereafter; and at the end of each fiscal year, he or
they shall submit to the city council a statement of all moneys
by. him or them collected during the year, and the particular.
warrant, assessment, or account upon which collected; and the
balance of moneys uncollected on the warrants or bills in his
or their hands, shall be returned to the auditor, and a copy of
his or their account shall also be filed with the auditor of the
city.

22. The said collector or collectors shall be prohibited from
keeping the moneys of the city in his or their hands, or in the
hands of any person or corporation to his or their use, beyond
the time prescribed for the payment of the same into the city
treasury; and any violation of this provision, shall subject him.
or them from immediate removal from office, by a vote of the
city council. In case of his or their removal, a suitable person
shall be appointed by the city council to fill said office or offices
for the unexpired term.

23. Said collector or collectors may, with the consent of the
city council, appoint a deputy or deputies, who may be re-
moved from office by tue said collector or collectors, or by the:
city council. During the continuance in office of the said col-
lector or collectors, his or their deputy or deputies may dis-
charge any of the duties of the office of collector, but the
collector or collectors and his or their sureties shall be liable
therefor.

24. There shall be a lien on real estate for the city taxes
assessed thereon and all lawful city charges against the same,
from the commencement of the year for which they are as-
sessed. The city council may require real estate in the city,
delinquent for the non-payment of taxes, to be sold for said
taxes, with interest thereon at the rate of twelve per centum per
annum, and such per centum as they may prescribe for charges..
Such real estate shall be sold, and may be redeemed under the
provisions hereinafter made. _

25. The collector or collectors of city taxes shall, under the
direction of the city council, cause a notice of the time and
place of such sale to be published in one or more daily news-
papers published in said city, at least ten days previous to
such sale; and he or they shall also cause to be published in
said newspapers, on some day not more than twenty days nor
less than ten days previous to such sale, a list of the several
parcels of real estate so to be sold, describing therein
each parcel of real estate inthe same manner as the same is
described in the assessment rolls in which the said tax or
assessment is imposed thereon, together with the name of the
person to whom each parcel is assessed, and the amount of
the tax or assessment thereon. |

26. If such tax or assessment, and the per centage, interest,
and expenses aforesaid, be not paid previous to the day for
which said sale was advertised, or on some day immediately
thereafter, to which said sale may be adjourned, the collector
or collectors shall proceed to make sale, accordingly, of the
said several parcels of real estate, or s0 much thereof as may
be necessary, to the highest bidder; and the sale may be ad-
journed from day to day until it shall be completed. On such
sale the collector or collectors shall execute to the purchaser
a certificate of sale, in which the property purcnased shall be
described, and the aggregate amount of tax or assessment
with charges and expenses specified; but the collector or col-
lectors shall not for himself or themselves, either directly or
indirectly, purchase any real estate so sold.

27. If at any such sale, no bid be make for any such parcel
of land, or such bid shall not be equal to the tax or assessment,
with interest and charges, then the same shall be struck off to
the city. On such sale, the collector or collectors shall execute
to the city a certificate of sale, in which the property purchased
shall be described, and the aggregate amount of tax or assess-
ment, with charges and expenses specified, and shall deposit
such certificate with the auditor.

28. The owner of any real estate so sold, his heirs or assigns,
or any person having aright to charge such real estate for a
debt, may redeem the same by paying to the purchaser, his
heirs or assigns, within two years from the sale thereof, the
amount for which the same was sold, and such additional taxes
thereon as may have been paid by the purchaser, his heirs or
assigns; or if purchased by the city, with such additional sums
as would have accrued for taxes thereon, if the same had not
been purchased for the city, with interest on the said purchase
money and taxes, at the rate of twelve per centum per annum
from the time that the same may have been so paid, or the
same may be paid within the said two years to the city trea-
surer in any case in which the purchaser, his heirs or assigns,
may refuse to receive the same, or may not reside or cannot be
found in the city of Alexandria.

29. Any infant, married woman, insane person, or person im-
prisoned, whose real estate may have been so sold, or his or
her heirs, may redeem the same ‘by paying to the purehaser,
his heirs or assigns, within two years after the removal of the
disability, the amount for which the same was so sold, with the
necessary charges incurred by the purchaser, his heirs or as-
signs, in obtaining the title under the sale, and such additional
taxes on the estate as may have been paid by the purchaser,
his heirs or assigns, and the appraised value of any improve-
ment that may have been made thereon, with interest on the
said items at the rate of twelve per centum per annum from
the time the same may: have been paid. Upon such payment,
within two years after the removal of such disability, the pur-
chaser, his heirs or assigns, shall, at the cost of the original
owner, his or her heirs or assigns, convey to him or them, by
deed, with special warranty, the real estate so sold.

30. The purchaser of any real estate sold for taxes and not
redeemed, shall, after the expiration of two years from the
sale, obtain from the city auditor a deed conveying the same,
wherein shall be set forth what appears in his office in relation
to the sale. When the purchaser has ‘assigned the benefit of
his purchase, the deed may, with his assent, evidenced by his
joining therein, or by a writing annexed thereto, be executed
to his assignee. If the purchaser shall have died, his heirs or
assigns may move the court of hustings of said city to order
the auditor to execute a deed to such heirs or assigns.

31. When the purchaser of any real estate sold for taxes,
his heirs or assigns, shall have obtained a deed therefor, and
within sixty days from the date of such deed shall have caused
the same to be recorded, such estate shall stand vested in the
grantee in such deed as was vested in the party assessed with
the taxes, on account whereof the sale was made, at the com-
mencement of the year for which the said taxes were assessed,
notwithstanding any irregularity in the proceedings under
which the said grantee claims title, unless such irregularity ap-
pear on the face of the proceedings; and if it be alleged that
the taxes, for the non-payment of which the sale was made,
were not in arrear, the party making such allegation must
establish the truth thereof by proving that the taxes were
paid.

32. In case any real estate, struck off to the city, as herein-
before provided, shall not be redeemed within the time speci-
fied, the city auditor shall, within sixty days after the expira-
tion of two years from the sale, cause to be recorded such
certificates of sale, with his oath that the same has not been
redeemed, and thereupon the said corporation, or their assigns,
shall acquire an absolute title to the same in fee. The said cer-
tificate may be aeknowledged, or proved and recorded in the
same manner that deeds are recorded; and the said certificate,
or the record thereof, or a copy of said record, duly authenti-
cated, shall, in all courts and places, be presumptive evidence
of the facts therein stated, and of the regularity and correctness
of such sale, and of all proceedings prior thereto.

33. The city council shall have power to specially tax a lot
adjoining a street on whieh paving is done or curbstone put
down (whether on the side-walk or carriage-way), not exceed-
ing two-thirds of the expense of the curbstone or paving on
that half of the street opposite such lot.

34. The mayor of the city of Alexandria shall be annually
elected by the qualified voters, at the times and places and in
the manner that members of the city council are elected: pro-
vided, that the present incumbent of said office, shall hold his
office for the time for which he was elected under the existing
laws. He shall hold his office for one year, and until a succes-
sor is chosen and qualified in his stead, at the expiration of
which period he may be re-elected for two terms successively,
and no longer, until he shall have been out of office for one
year. He shall before he enters upon the duties of his office,
take an oath or affirmation in the presence of the city council
faithfully to execute his said office, which shall be recorded in

‘its book of proceedings. He shall see that the laws of the
corporation be duly executed; and in the event of the removal
of any officer by his order, he shall communicate the fact, with
his reasons therefor, to the city council without delay, that the
vacancy may be filled. He shall have power to convene the
city council whenever, in his opinion, the good of the commu-
nity may require it; and he shalllay before the city council,
from time to time, in writing, such alterations in the laws of

the corporation as he shall deem necessary or proper. He
shall have and exereise all the powers of a justice of the peace
within the said city, and shall receive for his services annually a
just and reasonable compensation, to be allowed and fixed by the
city council, which shall not be increased or diminished during
the period for which he shall have been elected. . The election
of mayor and members of the board of alderman, and com-
mon council, shall be held on the fourth Thursday in May,
eighteen hundred and seventy-one, and on the fourth Thursday
in May in every succeeding year thereafter at such places and
by such persons as the city council shall select.

35. All laws or parts of laws, orders or resolutions now in
force, passed by the city council of Alexandria under and in
pursuance of former charters, not in conflict with this charter,
or the laws of this state, or of the United States, are con-
tinued in full force.

36. This act shall be in force from its passage.