CHAPTER 428

AN ACT to amend and reenact §§ 5, 7, 14, 15, 27 and 52 of Chapter
34, Acts of Assembly of 1918, approved February 7, 1918, as
heretofore amended, which chapter provided a charter and
special form of government for the City of Norfolk, which sec-
tions relate to the composition of the Council, vacancies in the
Council, legislative procedure, emergency measures, ballots and
method of voting in recall elections, and the creation of de-
partments, respectively; and to provide the conditions upon
which this Act shall become effective.

[S 254]

Approved April 6, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections five, seven, fourteen, fifteen, twenty-seven and
fifty-two of chapter thirty-four, Acts of Assembly of nineteen
hundred eighteen, approved February seven, nineteen hundred
eighteen, as heretofore amended, which chapter provided a charter
and special form of government for the City of Norfolk, be amended
and reenacted so as to read as follows:

§ 5. Composition of Council.—Until the first day of Septem-
ber, 1952, the Council shall consist of five members as provided
by this section before the effective date of this amendment, and
the three members to be elected at the regular municipal election
of councilmen to be held on the second Tuesday in June, 1950, shall
be elected in the manner and for the term provided by this section
before the effective date of this amendment.

On and after September 1, 1952, the Council shall consist of
seven members who shall be elected on a general ticket at large
and shall serve for a term of four years from the first day of
September next following their election and until their successors
shall have been duly elected and qualify; provided, however, that
the three councilmen in office on the effective date of this amend-
ment whose terms of office expire on September 1, 1954, shall con-
tinue in office until the expiration of their terms; and provided,
further, that at the regular municipal election for the election of
councilmen to be held on the second Tuesday in June, 1952, there
shall be elected four councilmen, and of the four elected the three
candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall serve for
a term of four years from the first day of September next following
their election, and the candidate receiving the next highest number
of votes shall serve for a term of two years from the first day of
September next following his election; and provided, further, that
at the regular municipal election for the election of councilmen to
be held on the second Tuesday in June, 1954, and every four years
thereafter, there shall be elected four councilmen to serve for a
term of four years from the first day of September next following
their election, and at the regular municipal election for the elec-
tion of councilmen to be held on the second Tuesday in June, 1956,
and every four years thereafter, there shall be elected three coun-
cilmen to serve for a term of four years from the first day of
September next following their election. Any member of the coun-
cil shall be subject to recall in accordance with the provisions of
this charter.

The council shall be a continuing body and no measure pend-
ing before such body shall abate or be discontinued by reason of
the expiration of the term of office or removal of the members of
said body or any of them.

§ 7. Vacancies.—Any vacancy in the Council, except as other-
wise provided in this Charter, shall be filled by the remaining
members. No person shall be deemed to be elected unless he shall
have received at least four votes in his favor. If by reason of resig-
nation, death, or other circumstances, except in the case of vacan-
cies resulting from a recall election, four or more vacancies exist or
occur at the same time in said Council, then the members of the
Board of Sinking Fund Commissioners, and the members of the
Civil Service Commission shall at once convene in joint session, a
majority of each of said boards being required to constitute such
joint board, and by a majority vote of the members of said joint
board present, forthwith make such number of appointments as
may be necessary to constitute a Council of three qualified mem-
bers, which three members shall at once proceed to fill the remain-
ing vacancies, as herein provided. And if in any case the Council
shall fail to fill a vacancy therein for a period of thirty days after
the happening of the same, such vacancy shall be filled by said
joint board as provided herein. The City Clerk shall act as the
Clerk of the joint board so constituted, and shall cause his certifi-
cate of its action to be entered on the journal of the Council.

If the term of office so filled, either by the Council or by said
joint board, does not expire for two years after the next regular
election of councilmen following such vacancy, and such vacancy
occurs in time to permit it, an additional councilman shall then be
elected; and of those councilmen elected at such election. the one
having the lowest vote shall, from and after the date of his qualifi-
cation, succeed such appointee, and serve the unexpired term. In
the event of more than one vacancy to be filled by election, the
same provision shall apply. The foregoing provisions of this sec-
tion are subject to the further provision that any vacancy result-
ing from a recall election shall be filled in the manner provided in
such case.

§ 14. Legislative procedure.—Except in dealing with question
of parliamentary procedure the Council shall act only by ordi-
nance or resolution which shall be introduced in writing and all
ordinances except ordinances making appropriations, or author-
izing the contracting of indebtedness or issuance of bonds or other
evidences of debt, shall be confined to one subject, which shall be
clearly expressed in the title. Ordinances making appropriations
or authorizing the contracting of indebtedness or the issuance of
bonds or other obligations and appropriating the money to be raised
thereby shall be confined to those subjects respectively. Nothing
herein shall be construed to prevent the Council from authorizing
in and by the same ordinance the making of any one public im-
provement and the issue of bonds therefor.

The enacting clause of all ordinances passed by the Council
shall be, “Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Norfolk”;
the enacting clause of all ordinances submitted to popular election
by the initiative shall be, “Be it ordained by the people of the City
of Norfolk”. No ordinance, unless it be an emergency measure,
shall be passed until it has been read at two regular meetings not
less than one week apart, or the requirement of such reading has
been dispensed with by the affirmative vote of five of the members
of the Council. No ordinance or section thereof shall be revised
or amended by its title or section number only, but the new ordi-
nance shall contain the entire ordinance, or section as revised or
amended. The ayes and noes shall be taken upon the passage of
all ordinances or resolutions and entered upon the journal of the
proceedings of the Council, and every ordinance or resolution shall
require, on final passage, the affirmative vote of at least four of
the members. No member shall be excused from voting except on
matters involving the consideration of his own official conduct, or
where his financial interests are involved.

In authorizing the making of any public improvement, or the
acquisition of real estate or any interest therein; or authorizing
the contracting of indebtedness or the issuance of bonds or other
evidences of indebtedness, (except temporary loans in anticipation
of taxes or revenues or of the sale of bonds lawfully authorized) ;
or authorizing the sale of any property or rights in property of the
City of Norfolk, or granting any public utility franchise, privilege,
lease or right of any kind to use any public property or easement
of any description or any renewal, amendment or extension thereof,
the Council shall act only by ordinance; provided, however, that
after any such ordinance shall have taken effect, all subsequent
proceedings incidental thereto and providing for the carrying out
of the purposes of such ordinance may, except as otherwise pro-
vided in this charter, be taken by resolution of the Council.

§ 15. Emergency measures.—All ordinances and resolutions
passed by the Council shall be in effect from and after thirty days
from the date of their passage, except that the Council may, by the
affirmative vote of five of its members, pass emergency measures to
take effect at the time indicated therein. An emergency measure is
an ordinance or resolution for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, property, health or safety, or providing for the usual
daily operation of a municipal department in which the emergency
is set forth and defined in a preamble thereto. Ordinances appro-
priating money for any such emergency may be passed as emergency
measures, but no measure providing for the sale or lease of city
property, or making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise or
other special privilege, or regulating the rate to be charged for its
service by any public utility, shall be so passed.

§ 27. Ballots and method of voting.—The ballots at such
recall election shall conform to the following requirements. With
respect to each person whose removal is sought, the question shall
be submitted:

“Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of council-
man by recall?”

Immediately following each such question, there shall be
printed on the ballots the following:

“f] Yes
[1] No”

The squares to be printed in such ballots shall not be less than
one-quarter nor more than one-half inch in size. Any person voting
at any such election shall, as to each question submitted upon
which he wishes to vote, place a check (\/) or a cross mark:
(<< or +) or a line (—) in the square before the appropriate word
indicating how he desires to vote. In any such election if the
majority of the votes cast on the question of the removal of any
councilman are affirmative, such councilman shall be deemed re-
moved from office upon the ascertainment and certification of the
results of such election by the commissioners of election, and the
vacancy or vacancies caused by such recall shall be filled by the
remainder of the council, according to the provisions of section
seven of this charter. If, however, an election is held for the recall
of more than three councilmen, candidates to succeed them for
their unexpired terms shall be voted upon at the same election, and
shall be named by petitions signed, dated and verified in the manner
required for petitions presenting the names of candidates for the
council at a regular municipal election for the election of council-
men similar in form to such petitions, and signed by a least two
hundred and fifty qualified voters, and filed with the clerk of the
corporation court of said city at least thirty days prior to the hold-
ing of such recall election; but no such nominating petition shall
be signed or circulated until after the time has expired for signing
the copies of the petition for the recall, and no signatures thereon
antedating such time shall be counted. The person or persons
nominated by such petition shall file with the clerk of the corpora-
tion court of the said city his or their acceptance of such nomination
at least twenty days prior to the date of holding such recall elec-
tion, and the filing of such acceptance shall be equivalent to notice
of candidacy under the election laws of the State, and no other
notice of such candidacy need be filed. Candidates shall not be
named to. succeed any particular councilman, but, if only one coun-
cilman is removed at such election, the candidate at such election
receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to
fill the vacancy, and if more than one councilman is removed at
such election, the candidates receiving the highest number of votes,
equal in number to the number of councilmen removed, shall be
declared elected to fill the vacancies, and among the successful can-
didates those receiving the greater number of votes shall be declared
elected for the longer term.

§ 52. Creation of departments.—The following administrative
departments are hereby created:

(a) Department of Law;

(b) Department of Public Works;

(c) Department of Public Welfare;

(d) Department of Public Safety ;

(e) Department of Finance.

The council may, by ordinance adopted by the affirmative vote
of at least five of its members, create new departments or sub-
divisions thereof, combine or abolish existing departments, and
distribute the functions thereof, or establish temporary depart-
ments for special work.
At the head of each department there shall be a director; pro-
vided, that until the council shall otherwise provide by ordinance
adopted by the affirmative vote of at least five of its members, the
city manager shall be the director of the department of public
safety, and of the department of finance.

The director of each department shall be chosen on the basis
of his general executive and administrative ability and experience,
and of his education, training and experience in the class of work
which he is to administer.

The director of each department, except the department of
law, shall be appointed by the city manager, and may be removed
by him at any time.

The directors of the several departments shall be immediately

responsible to the city manager for the administration of their
respective departments, and their advice, in writing, may be re-
quired by him on all matters affecting their departments. They
shall prepare departmental estimates, which shall be open to public
inspection, and they shall make all other reports and recommenda-
tions concerning their departments at stated intervals, or when
required by the city manager, under such rules and regulations as
he may prescribe.
2. The foregoing provisions of this act shall not become effective
except as hereinafter provided. At the general election to be held
on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nineteen hun-
dred fifty the question of whether the foregoing provisions of this
act shall become effective shall be submitted to the qualified voters
of the city. It shall be the duty of the regular election officers of
the city to cause to be printed and distributed in the manner pre-
scribed by law for printing and distributing other ballots the re-
quisite number of ballots, for the submission of the foregoing ques-
tion, which ballots shall be separate from any other ballots to be
used in said election. The said ballots shall be in the following
form:

“Shall the Norfolk Charter be amended to increase the Council
to Seven Members?

[_] For Charter Amendments
[] Against Charter Amendments”’

Voters shall vote said ballot by putting a check (\’) or a
cross mark (X or +) or a line (—) in the square opposite the
question for or against which he wishes to vote.

All persons qualified to vote in said general election shall be
qualified to vote on said amendments.

If a majority of the qualified voters voting at said election
shall vote in favor of said charter amendments, then said charter
amendments shall become effective as of September 1, 1952, except
the amendment of Section 5, Composition of Council, which sec-
tion, as herein amended, shall become effective as of February l,
1952.

If a majority of such voters voting at such election shall vote
against the charter amendments, then none of the provisions of
this act shall become effective.