Chapter 34

OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Elsmere: Art. I, 7-9-1970 as Ord. No. 104; Art. II, 11-26-1991 as Ord. No. 277. Amendments noted where applicable.]

ARTICLE I

Town Manager

[Adopted 7-9-1970 as Ord. No. 104]

~ 34-1. Creation of office.

  The Office of Town Manager is hereby created.

~ 34-2. Appointment.

     A.     The Town Manager shall be appointed by the members of the Council for an indefinite term. The Town Manager shall be chosen by the Council on the basis of his executive and administrative qualifications in municipal government. He shall be either a graduate civil engineer or its equivalent in experience, or be otherwise qualified by education and experience in municipal administration. He need not be a resident of the town or state at the time of his appointment, but may reside outside the town while in office only with the written approval of the Council.

     B.     In the event of the temporary absence or disability of the Town Manager, by letter filed with the Town Secretary, the Town Manager shall designate, subject to the approval of the Council, a qualified town administrative officer to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Manager during his temporary absence or disability. The Council may revoke such designation at any time.

~ 34-3. Removal from office.

  The Council may remove the Town Manager from office in accordance with the following procedures:

     A.     The Council shall adopt by affirmative vote of four (4) or more of all its members a preliminary resolution which must state the reasons for removal and may suspend the Town Manager from duty for a period not to exceed forty-five (45) days. A copy of the resolution shall be delivered promptly to the Town Manager.

     B.     Within five (5) days after a copy of the resolution is delivered to the Town Manager, he may file with the Council a written request for a public hearing. This hearing shall be held at a Council meeting not earlier than fifteen (15) days nor later than thirty (30) days after the request is filed. The Town Manager may file with the Council a written reply not later than five (5) days before the hearing.

     C.     The Council may adopt a final resolution of removal which may be made effective immediately by affirmative vote of four (4) more of all its members at any time after five (5) days from the date when a copy of the preliminary resolution was delivered to the Town Manager, if he has not requested a public hearing, or at any time after the public hearing if he has requested one. The Town Manager shall continue to receive his salary effective date of the final resolution of removal. The action of the Council in suspending or removing the Town Manager shall not be subject to review by any court, but shall be in the sole discretion of the Council.

~ 34-4. Compensation. [Amended 7-10-1990 by Ord. No. 254]

  The annual compensation of the Town Manager shall be as fixed by the Town of Elsmere Employee Payscale as approved by Council on November 30, 1989, as amended.

~ 34-5. Powers and duties.

  The Town Manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the town. He shall be responsible to the Council for the administration of all town affairs placed in his charge by or under the Charter. He shall have the powers and duties enumerated in the Charter and by ordinance or resolution, and:

     A.     He shall serve as personnel officer with such responsibilities as set by the personnel policy of the Town of Elsmere as set by resolution or ordinance. [Amended 7-10-1990 by Ord. No. 254]

     B.     He shall direct and supervise the administration of all departments, offices and agencies of the town, except the Department of Public Safety and as otherwise provided by the Charter.

     C.     He shall attend all Council meetings and shall have the right to take part in discussion but may not vote.

     D.     He shall see that all laws, provisions of the Charter, franchises and acts of the Council, subject to enforcement by him or by the officers subject to his direction and supervision, are faithfully executed.

     E.     He shall prepare and submit the annual budget and capital program to the Council on or before May 15 of each year.

     F.     He shall submit to the Council and make available to the public a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the Town as of the end of each fiscal year.

     G.     He shall make such other reports as the Council may require concerning the operations of town departments, offices and agencies subject to his direction and supervision.

     H.     He shall keep the Council fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the town and make such recommendations to the Council concerning the affairs of the town as he deems desirable.

     I.     He shall perform such other duties as are specified in the Charter or by ordinance or as may be required by Council in the legal exercise of its duties and functions. [Amended 7-10-1990 by Ord. No. 254]

     J.     [Amended 7-10-1990 by Ord. No. 254] The Town Manager or his designee shall purchase all materials, supplies and equipment and enter into contracts for the furnishing of services for which funds are or have been appropriated by Council, provided that every such purchase and every such contract exceeding the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.) shall be subject to the following requirements:

          (1)     The Town Manager or his designee shall publicly invite sealed proposals or bids for the furnishing of such materials, supplies, equipment and services and shall present all bids received to Council, which shall award the contract for the furnishing of such materials, supplies, equipment or services to the lowest responsible bidder; provided, however, that Council may, in its discretion, reject any bid which it deems insufficient or inadequate, or may reject all bids.

          (2)     If Council rejects all bids, or in the event that no bids are received, it may direct the Town Manager or his designee to solicit new bids or may direct him to obtain the material, supplies, equipment or services on the open market at a price less than the lowest bid received, or at a price prescribed by Council.

          (3)     In cases where the Town Manager or his designee advises Council that it would be useless or inadvisable to solicit bids because of a single source of supply, or because the services required are of a professional nature, Council may waive the requisite of this subsection and approve the purchase of or contracting for such materials, supplies, equipment or services without soliciting bids therefor.

          (4)     In any case where the Town Manager or his designee deems it necessary or desirable, he may, in soliciting bids, require that a bond be posted by all bidders to secure the performance of any contract.

          (5)     The Town Manager may transfer materials, supplies and equipment between departments, offices and agencies, and may sell or otherwise dispose of the same, provided that the value thereof does not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.). In all cases where the value of such materials, supplies or equipment exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000.), prior approval of Council shall be obtained.

     K.     He shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by the Council, not inconsistent with the Town Charter, law or ordinances.

     L.     He shall serve as Chief Code Enforcement Officer and shall have the powers, duties and functions assigned to the position of Code Enforcement Officer as set by ordinance. [Added 7-10-1990 by Ord. No. 254]

~ 34-6. Council not to interfere with appointments or removals.

  No member of the Council and none of the committees of the Council shall attempt to coerce or influence the Town Manager in the appointment or removal of any person to or from office or employment in the administrative service of the affairs of the town under his charge. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the Council and its members shall deal with that portion of the administrative service for which the Town Manager is responsible solely through the Town Manager.

~ 34-7. Creation of departments.

  The Council may establish town departments, offices or agencies in addition to those created by the Charter and may prescribe the functions of all departments, offices and agencies; provided, however, that there shall be no more than twelve (12) departments, offices and agencies, each of which shall be headed by and under the direction and supervision of a single executive who shall be appointed and removed by, and directly responsible to, the Town Manager; provided, however, that offices, commissions, committees and boards appointed or selected by the Council shall not be included in the above numerical limitation. The Town Manager may recommend the creation or abolition of departments, offices and agencies and the transfer of functions between departments, offices and agencies, but where the reassignment of functions does not involve the creation or abolition of a department, office or agency, or the transfer of functions between departments, offices or agencies, he may reassign such functions by written administrative order, a copy of which shall be presented to the Council at its next regular meeting.

~ 34-8. Emergencies.

  In case of accidents or other circumstances creating an emergency, the Town Manager may, with the consent of the Council, award contracts and make purchases for the purpose of repairing damages caused by said accident or meeting said public emergency; but he shall file promptly with the Council a certificate showing such emergency and the necessity for such action, together with an itemized account of all expenditures.

~ 34-9. Investigations by Council.

  The Council shall have power to inquire into the conduct of any office, officer or employee of the town and to make investigations as to municipal affairs, and for that purpose may administer oaths and request the appearance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and other evidence.

~ 34-10. Bond.

  He shall give bond to the Town of Elsmere in such amount and in such form and with such surety as the Council shall approve for the faithful performance of his duties. He shall give over to the Council in case of his resignation or removal from office all books, papers, vouchers, money and other property of whatever kind in his possession belonging to the town. The premium of the bond shall be paid by the town.

~ 34-11. Vacancy in office.

  Any vacancy in the office of Town Manager shall be filled promptly and within sixty (60) days after the effective date of such vacancy, if feasible.

ARTICLE II

Code Enforcement Officer

[Adopted 11-26-1991 as Ord. No. 277]

~ 34-12. Chief Code Enforcement Officer; deputies; appointment.

  The Town Manager shall be the Chief Code Enforcement Officer. The Chief Code Enforcement Officer may employ deputy code enforcement officers as the need arises. The Council must approve any creation of the deputy code enforcement officer position if additional moneys must be allocated to fund the position. In the event that a vote of approval for the allocation of funds for the deputy code enforcement officer position results in a tie, the Mayor, acting as a member of Council, shall break the tie.

~ 34-13. Duties; authority; issuance of citations.

     A.     The code enforcement officers and deputies appointed or employed pursuant to the provisions of this Article may enforce those ordinances pertaining to building, housing, sanitation, zoning, animal control or public health codes and may do so by issuing written citations, in lieu of arrest, to any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other entity, or to the agent for any of the same, for violations of the provisions of the aforesaid ordinances and codes. The issuance of citations pursuant to this section shall also be a procedure in lieu of, and not in addition to, the issuance of a "notice of violation" as may otherwise be provided in any of the aforesaid codes. No citation so issued shall be construed to be a "notice of violation" as that term is used in any of the aforesaid codes.

     B.     The citation for code violations as aforesaid shall require the appearance by the person to whom it is issued in the Justice of the Peace Court on the date or within the time specified in the citation; provided, however, that for certain violations as deemed appropriate by the Chief Code Enforcement Officer, a violator may pay the fines prescribed for the violation as a voluntary assessment, in lieu of a court appearance, either in person or by mailing the citation and the amount of the fine to the Mayor's Court. If the person to whom a citation has been issued fails to appear in answer to the citation or to pay the fine prescribed for the violation on the date or within the time specified in the citation, a warrant for his or her arrest may be issued, and he or she may be found in contempt of the Court.

     C.     A code enforcement officer may lawfully issue a citation as aforesaid to any person he or she has reasonable grounds to believe has committed a violation of any building, housing, sanitation, zoning, animal control or public health ordinance or code provision, whether or not the violation was committed in his or her presence. A citation may be lawfully issued to any person or apparent owner or person in control of any animal he or she has reasonable grounds to believe has committed a violation of the animal control ordinances.

~ 34-14. Limitations of authority.

     A.     Code enforcement officers appointed or employed pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall be authorized to enforce only those provisions of the code and ordinances pertaining to building, housing, sanitation, zoning, animal control or public health.

     B.     Deputy code enforcement officers employed by the Chief Code Enforcement Officer shall be subject to a mandatory training period and written test before being allowed to issue citations without prior approval of the Chief Code Enforcement Officer. All deputy code enforcement officers operate under the direct supervision of the Chief Code Enforcement Officer.

     C.     Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, a code enforcement officer appointed or employed pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall not have jurisdiction outside the limits of the Town of Elsmere.

     D.     Code enforcement officers appointed or employed pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall not be permitted to carry firearms while on duty as code enforcement officers.

~ 34-15. Concurrent powers.

  Code enforcement officers appointed or employed pursuant to the provisions of this Article shall exercise concurrent powers with the Building Inspector and the Plumbing Inspector with respect to the administration and enforcement of the Building Code of and Plumbing Code of the Town of Elsmere, respectively.[1]

~ 34-16. Monthly report.

  The Chief Code Enforcement Officer shall submit to the Council of the Town of Elsmere a monthly report, providing Council with a record of activities of the officer(s).

~ 34-17. Right of entry.

  Subject to the limitations of the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Delaware, the Code Enforcement Officer, or his deputy, in the performance of their duties, may at any reasonable hour, without hindrance, enter, examine and inspect all vessels, vehicles, premises, grounds, structures, buildings and underground passages of every sort, including their contents and occupancies, and may likewise examine, inspect and test any substance, article, equipment or other property.

~ 34-18. Penalties for interference.

  Any person who impedes or interferes with a code enforcement officer in the lawful execution of his or her duties shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.) or by imprisonment for a period not exceeding six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.