SB 178

Abstract

This Act makes the following changes to the Charter of the City of New Castle: 1. Changes the offices of City Clerk and City Treasurer to appointed offices rather than elected offices. This change is consistent with many other Delaware municipalities and supported by the lack of citizen interest in holding these offices with very few contested elections for these positions in the past 20 years. 2. Requires a super majority of Council to remove an appointed City Clerk or City Treasurer to help assure the independence of these offices and insulate them from removal on purely political grounds. 3. Authorizes the creation of other appointive offices by ordinance or resolution. 4. Adopts a "resign to run" provision whereby elected City officials desiring to run for a different City office must resign their current position. 5. Adopts an oath of office which an elected official must take before assuming office. 6. Declares a particular Councilperson's or the Mayor's office vacant due to the failure of an office holder to attend 3 or more consecutive regular monthly meetings of Council, or more than one-third of Council's regular monthly meetings in any consecutive 12 month period. 7. Requires a special election to fill vacancies in elective positions if the next scheduled general election in the City is more than 6 months away instead of having Council fill the vacancy by appointment. 8. Removes the ability of a Councilperson to participate in Council meetings via teleconference. 9. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.