A CHARTER ORDINANCE EXEMPTING THE CITY OF VALLEY FALLS, KANSAS, FROM THE PROVISIONS OF SECTIONS 7, 8, AND 44, CHAPTER 274, SESSION LAWS OF 1968, (NOW K.S.A. 25-2107, 25-2108, 15-201 and 15-204), RELATING TO THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS, THEIR TERMS OF OFFICE, TRANSITIONS TO NOVEMBER ELECTIONS, THE FILLING OF GOVERNING BODY VACANCIES, AND NOMINATION PETITIONS; AND, PROVIDING SUBSTITUTE AND ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS ON THE SAME SUBJECT; AND REPEALING CHARTER ORDINANCE NO.1A.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF VALLEY FALLS, KANSAS:

SECTION 1. The City of Valley Falls, Kansas, a mayor-council city of the third class, by the power invested in it by Article 12, section 5 of the constitution of the State of Kansas hereby elects to exempt itself from and to make inapplicable to it section 7, 8, and 44 of Chapter 274, Session Laws of 1968 (Now K.S.A. 25-2107, 25-2108 and 15-201) and provides substitute and additional provisions therefore as hereinafter provided.

SECTION 2. Those governing body positions with terms expiring in April 2017, shall expire on the Second Monday January of 2018, when the city officials elected in the November 2017 general election take office. Those governing body positions with terms expiring in April 2019, shall expire on the second Monday in January of 2020, when the city officials elected in the November 2019 general election take office.

SECTION 3: General elections shall take place on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November 2017. Succeeding elections will be held every two years for all such governing body positions whose terms have expired. A mayor and two council members shall be elected at one election, and the remaining three council members shall be elected at the succeeding election. The mayor and all council members shall have four-year terms. There shall be no primary election for city officers.

SECTION 4. All elections for the City of Valley Falls, Kansas shall be nonpartisan.

SECTION 5. The mayor shall appoint by and with the consent of the council, a municipal court judge, a chief of police, a city clerk, a city treasurer, a city attorney, a fire chief and such other officers as they may deem necessary. Offices so appointed and confirmed will hold their offices at the pleasure of the mayor and council, and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The appointment(s) thereafter shall be made at the second regular meeting of the governing body in January of each year.

SECTION 6. In case of a vacancy in the council occurring by reason of resignation, death, or removal from office or from the city, the mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the remaining council members, shall appoint an elector to fill the vacancy until the next election for that office. In case any person elected as a council member neglects or refuses to qualify within 30 days after election, the council member shall be deemed to have refused to accept the office and a vacancy shall exist. The mayor may, with the consent of the remaining council members, appoint a suitable elector to fill the vacancy.

SECTION 7. In case of a vacancy in the office of mayor, the president of the council shall become mayor until the next regular election for that office and a vacancy shall occur in the office of the council member becoming mayor.

SECTION 8. In accordance with K.S.A. 25-205, and amendments thereto, any person may become a candidate for city office elected at large by having had filed on their behalf, a nomination petition or a declaration of candidacy, accompanied by any fee required by law. The nomination petition must be signed by five (5) of the qualified electors of the City of Valley Falls to avoid a fee.

(01-18-2017)