(Chap. 39.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the city of Winchester and to
repeal the existing charter of said city and the several acts amendatory there-
of, and all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act so far as they
relate to the city of Winchester. ~ [S B 46]

Approved February 20, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, as follows:

Section 1. The inhabitants of the city of Winchester, within the
boundaries as now established or as hereafter established in the man-
ner provided by law, shall continue to be a body politic and corporate
by the name of the city of Winchester for all purposes for which cities
and towns are incorporated in this Commonwealth; shall continue to
be a body politic in fact and in name, under the style and name of the
city of Winchester, and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the
rights, immunities, powers, and privileges, and be subject to all the
duties and obligations incumbent upon and pertaining to said city as a
municipal corporation ; provided, that the said city of Winchester shall
be and continue liable for all the existing indebtedness, whether fund-
ed or floating, outstanding in the name of the city; and the said city
of Winchester may sue in its corporate name on all bonds, notes, ac-
counts or contracts payable to the city and under the aforesaid name
it shall have perpetual succession; may use a corporate seal; may sue
and be sued; may acquire property within or without its boundaries
for any municipal purpose, in fee simple or lesser interest or estate, by
purchase, gift, devise, lease or condemnation, and may sell, lease,
hold, manage and control such property as its interest may require;
and, except as prohibited by the Constitution of Virginia or restricted
by this charter, the city of Winchester shall have all municipal powers,
functions, rights, privileges and immunities of any name or nature
whatsoever, and it now appearing that the city of Winchester, having
a population in excess of ten thousand, is, under the laws now existing
in the State of Virginia, a city of the first class, it shall enjoy all of the
rights, privileges and immunities of a city of that class now authorized
under the Constitution and statutes of the State of Virginia or that
might hereafter be authorized by any amendment thereto.

ENUMERATED POWERS NOT EXCLUSIVE

Section 2. The enumeration of particular powers by this charter
shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive, but, in addition to the
powers enumerated therein, employed thereby, or appropriated to the
exercise thereof, it is intended that the city of Winchester shall have,
and may exercise, all powers which, under the Constitution of Vir-
ginia, it would be competent for this charter specifically to enumerate.
All powers of the city, whether express or implied, shall be exercised
in the manner prescribed by this charter, or, if not prescribed therein,
then in the manner provided by ordinances or resolutions of the
council.

ADMINISTRATION OF THE CITY

Section 3. The administration and government of said city shall
be vested in a mayor and a board called the common council of Win-
chester, and such other boards and offices as are now, or hereafter
may be provided for. The offices of said corporation shall be a mayor,
judge of the corporation court, clerk of the corporation court, treas-
urer, commissioner of the revenue, attorney for the Commonwealth,
city sergeant, a justice of the peace at large, a police justice, twelve
councilmen, and such other offices as are now provided by general or-
dinances of the city of Winchester and as hereafter may be provided
for and elected by the common council.

THE COUNCIL

Section 4. Creation and members of the city council—Except as
otherwise provided in this charter, all powers of the city shall be
vested in a mayor and a council of twelve members, six elected from
the territory known as the first ward and six elected from the territory
known as the second ward of the city, and the mayor elected at large,
in the manner hereinafter provided. The term of office of the members
of the council and the mayor shall be for a period of four years and
shall begin on the first day of September next following their election.
If a vacancy occur in the council, it shall be filled in accordance with
section twenty-three of this charter. Members of the council shall be
qualified electors of the city and shall not hold any other public office.
A member of the council ceasing to possess any of the qualifications
specified in this section, or convicted of a crime while in office, shall
immediately forfeit his office. The mayor, councilmen and all other
officials elected by the vote of the people shall serve out the present
term for which they have been elected, and no change made in the
compensation of salaried and fee officials during their present term of
office. The mayor shall be a member of the council, with voting
powers of a councilman, but he shall have no veto powers.

POWERS AND DUTIES OF COUNCIL

Section 5. (a) Council shall have, possess and exercise the general
management of the affairs of the city, and shall exercise and perform
all the powers and duties now authorized or imposed by law or special
act, in so far as they are not inconsistent with this charter.

(b) Council shall at its first meeting, or as soon thereafter as
practicable, determine what appointive officers, in addition to any spe-
cifically provided for in this charter, are necessary for the proper and
efficient administration of the city, and shall prescribe the qualifications,
powers and duties of such officers and fix their compensation; and shall
forthwith, or as soon as desirable, make appointments to fill such offices.

(c) Council shall have the right to elect or appoint the chiefs or
heads of departments, and all such other officials and employees au-
thorized by this charter or general law, and remove the same at pleas-
ure; except as to those officers provided for by the general law of Vir-
ginia, or by any special act, and shall have the right to abolish any office
created by them. Council may, by a majority vote of all members
elected to the council, abolish any board or boards and perform all of
the duties now performed by them.

(d) Council is hereby empowered to employ a person, who may or
may not be a resident or qualified voter of this city or this State, to be
known as “city manager,’ and who shall, under the control of the
council, have the general charge and management of the administrative
affairs and work of the city and who shall perform such other duties as
may be required of him. He shall receive such salary as shall be al-
lowed him by such council. Council and its members shall deal with
that portion of the administrative service for which the manager is re-
sponsible, solely through the manager, except for purposes of inquiry.

The city manager shall be appointed for such time as the council
shall provide.

POWERS AND DUTIES OF MAYOR

Section 6. The mayor shall have, possess and exercise the same
rights and powers given him by general law or by special act, except in
so far as the same may be amended or modified by the provision of
this charter, and in addition thereto, he shall sit as a member of the
city council, with the right to vote as such, but the mayor shall not be
clothed with any veto authority.

INVESTIGATIONS

Section 7. The council, or the city manager, if so authorized by the
council, shall have the right to make such investigations relating to
municipal affairs as it may deem necessary, and shall have the power
to summon and enforce attending of witnesses, et cetera.

CHANGE OF CHARTER

Section 8. This charter may be changed by a special act of the
general assembly of Virginia, by the presentation to the general assem-
bly of an ordinance, regularly passed by the city council by the vote of
at least nine of the members elected to the council.

UTILITIES

Section 9. The city shall have the power to furnish all local public
service ; to purchase, hire, construct, maintain and operate or lease pub-
lic utilities ; to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or without
the city limits, land and property necessary for such purposes; pro-
vided, that the power of condemnation shall not extend to the proper-
ties of existing public utilities. And the city shall have full and com-
plete powers to operate any such public utility so acquired so as to en-
joy for its citize*3 fully and completely all benefits to be derived there-
from.

QUARRIES

Section 10. The city shall have authority, through its council or
other governing body, to acquire and own land suitable for stone quar-
ries, or the quarry rights in such lands; to take stone therefrom and to
manufacture the same into crushed stone for its own use, and shall
have further authority to furnish said stone, mix the same with ap-
proved material for laying pavements in the city of Winchester, on its
own account.

TRANSFER OF APPROPRIATIONS

Section 11. Upon the written recommendation of the city manager,
the council may at any time transfer any portion of an unexpended
balance of any appropriation to any other purpose or object. :

CITY PLANNING AND ZONING

Section 12. The city shall have full and complete powers to pass
any ordinances not in conflict with the State laws for planning and
zoning the city for any purpose deemed advisable by the city council,
as completely as if all such purposes are fully set forth specifically
herein.

FLOATING INDEBTEDNESS

Section 13. The city council is authorized to borrow, during each
calendar year, to be repaid during said calendar year, not exceeding
fifty per centum of the anticipated general revenue for that calendar
year for which said borrowing is made. And in this connection, it
shall execute its note or notes, payable within the calendar year, signed
by the mayor, the president of the city council and the city treasurer. |
ADVISORY COM MITTEE

Section 14. The council or the city manager, when so authorized
by the council, may appoint a board or committee of citizens to act in
an advisory capacity, to act in connection with any municipal activity.

BUYING FROM COUNCILMEN

Section 15. The city and none of its departments shall make any
purchases from a city councilman except on a competitive basis, con-
sidering price and quality.

TERMINALS

Section 16. The council shall have full and complete powers to pre-
scribe ordinances for traffic regulations upon the streets and alleys of
the city and it shall have full authority by ordinance to require all pub-
lic conveyances, cabs, buses and trucks, operated by motor or other
power, within the city or in and out of the city, to provide terminals at
such points as shall meet with the approval of the council and to pro-
vide all reasonable regulations governing the same and ‘o pass all regu-
lations deemed necessary and expedient by the city council for the
general welfare of the city and its citizens.

LAYING OUT STREETS

Section 17. No property within the corporate limits of the city or
within two miles of the limits, as now or hereafter established, shall be
laid out with streets or alleys thereon, except upon a plan or plat to be
submitted to the city manager and approved by the council. Said plat
or plan shall, if so approved by the council, be recorded in the clerk’s
office of the corporation court of the city within sixty days after ap-
proval. The council may, after said approval, require the owner to
lay out and establish proper building lines on the platted land and to
show on the plat that all conveyances of lots shown on the plat are to
be made with reference to such building lines, for the benefit of the
respective lot owners of the city. The city shall not be liable for any
accidents or damages which may occur or be sustained upon any such
street, alley, boulevard or way, heretofore or hereafter laid out, until
the same has been finally accepted by the council by proper ordinance.

BOND ISSUES

Section 18. The council may, in the name and for the use of the
city, cause to be issued certificates of debt or bonds for making any
public improvements and for purchasing and acquiring land or other
property for school purposes, for public school buildings and equip-
ment thereof, for fire houses and necessary equipment, for the erection
of necessary buildings, construction of viaducts, streets, drains, sewers,
parks and other public improvements, provided that no such certifi-
cates of debt or bonds shall be issued except by an ordinance adopted
by a majority vote of all members of the council and endorsed by a
majority vote of the qualified voters of the city voting on the question
at an election for such purpose to be called, held and conducted in ac-
cordance with the general laws of the State now made and provided or
hereafter adopted, and provided further that in no case shall the aggre-
gate bonded debt of the city, at any time, exceed eighteen per centum
of the assessed value of the real estate within the city limits, subject to
taxation, as shown by the last preceding assessment for taxes. All
bonds so issued shall be signed by the president of the council and the
treasurer of the city and the seal of the city shall be affixed and attested
by the city clerk. Said bonds shall be sold by resolution of the council
and the proceeds used for the purposes for which issued, under the di-
rection of the council. Every such bond or other obligation issued by
the council hereunder shall state on its face for what purpose or pur-
poses it is issued and the proceeds shall be applied exclusively to the
purpose or purposes for which the same are issued.

REFUNDING BONDS

Section 19. The council shall have authority to issue serial bonds
for the purpose of refunding, so far as is necessary, any bonds of the
city at maturity, but no such refunding bonds shall be issued for a
greater period than ten years, and for a higher rate of interest than six
per centum. Such refunding bonds shall be sold only upon the vote of
at least nine members of the council and the proceeds of such sale used
for the exclusive purpose of paying the maturing bonds. The same
shall be signed in the same manner as other bonds are signed, but no
refunding bonds shall be issued hereunder in excess of fifty thousand
dollars. If the issue desired is to exceed the amount of fifty thousand
dollars, then the same shall be issued only upon the vote of the peopl
as provided for the issuance of bonds generally.

WORKING PRISONERS

Section 20. Subject to the general laws of the State regulating the
working of those convicted of offenses against the State, the council
shall have the power to provide by ordinance for the employment or
the working, either within or without the city limits, or within or with-
out any city prison or jail, of all persons sentenced to confinement in
said prison or jail for the violation of the laws of the State of Virginia,
or the ordinances of the city of Winchester.

PENSION FUNDS

Section 21. The council of said city shall have authority to estab-
lish a fund or funds for the relief or pensions of persons in the service
of said city; to receive gifts, devises and bequests or money or property
for the benefit of such fund or funds; to make contributions of public
monies thereto on such terms and conditions as it may see fit; and to
make rules and regulations for the management, investment and ad-
ministration of such fund or funds.
Section 22. The treasurer of the city of Winchester shall be elected
by the voters at large for a period of four years at the general city
election, to be held in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-three, and
each four years thereafter, his term of office to begin on the first of
January succeeding his election, and he shall receive from the city of
Winchester, as compensation, one and one-fourth per centum of all
city taxes and levies collected and disbursed by him and he shall re-
ceive one-fourth of one per centum upon the amounts disbursed from
the proceeds of any bond issue of the city, and he shall receive one per
centum from the proceeds of any loans negotiated by the city, received
and disbursed by him, during any calendar year to be paid from the an-
ticipated revenue of the city for that calendar year, but in no event shall
his compensation exceed the sum of five thousand dollars per annum
from the city of Winchester.

VACANCIES IN COUNCIL

Section 23. Vacancies in the council shall be filled within thirty
days from the unexpired term, by a majority vote of the remaining
members, provided, however, that if the term of office to be filled does
not expire for two years or more after the next regular election fol-
lowing such vacancy and such vacancy occurs in time to permit it, a
qualified person shall be elected by the qualified voters of the ward in
which the vacancy occurs and shall from and after the date of his
qualification succeed such appointee and serve the unexpired term.

POLICE JUSTICE

Section 24. The common council of the city shall, annually, elect a
police justice, at a salary to be provided for by the common council.

JUDGE OF THE CORPORATION COURT

Section 25. The judge of the corporation court shall have the
qualifications of the judges of other corporation courts of cities of the
first class, except the judge of the circuit court of Frederick county
may, when he resides within the jurisdiction of the corporation court
of the city of Winchester, be eligible to hold the office of the judge of
said corporation court also, and when the office is so held by said cir-
cuit judge the said judge shall receive a salary of eight hundred dollars
a year for his services as judge of said corporation court.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 26. All ordinances of the city of Winchester and all acts of
the general assembly applicable to cities of the first class and not incon-
sistent with this charter shall remain in full force and virtue and all
general laws applicable to cities of the first class and not inconsistent
with any of the provisions of this charter or of any ordinances of the
city shall be applicable to the city of Winchester, and all general laws
of the State of Virginia applicable to cities of the first class shall apply
to the city of Winchester as if fully set forth in this charter, except
where the same may be inconsistent with the specific provisions of this
charter. |

2. Nothing in this charter shall be construed as precluding the city
of Winchester from hereafter adopting by the procedure set forth in
the present Code of Virginia and any amendments thereto, one of the
several plans of government now available for cities of the first class.

3. If any of the provisions of this charter are hereafter declared
to be unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall
not affect any of the other provisions of this charter.

4. An emergency existing due to the transition of the city of Win-
chester from a city of the second class to a city of the first class, this
charter shall be in effect from the date of its passage.