1907. Territorial boundaries. Obligations, atc. CHAPTER 5849-(No. 254). AN ACT to Incorporate and Establish a Municipal Gov- Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 2. That the territorial boundaries constituting the municipality known as the town of Sarasota, in the County of Manatee, State of Florida, shall be as follows, to-wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section Twenty (20), Township Thirty-six (36) south, Range Eighteen (18) east, running thence south on the quarter section line to the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section Twenty-nine (29) Township Thirty-six (36) south, Range Eighteen (18) east; thence running west on the quarter section line to the southwest corner of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section Thirty, Township Thirty-six (36) south, Range Eighteen (18) east; thence running north to the channel of Hudson Bayou; thence in a westerly di rection along the center of the channel of Hudson Bayou to the center of the channel of Sarasota Bay, thence in a northerly direction along the center of the channel of said Sarasota Bay to a point due west of the northwest corner of Section Nineteen (19), Township Thirty-six (36) south, Range Eighteen (18) east, which said point may be reached by an extension of the north boundary line of said Section Nineteen to the center of the channel of said Sarasota Bay; thence running east to and along the north boundary line of said Sections Nineteen and Twenty to point of beginning; declaring that the jurisdiction of the town of Sarasota and the authority of its officers shall have full force and effect over all waters included within the boundaries of said town. Sec. 3. That no obligation or contract of said municipality shall be impaired by this change, but all debts, con tracts and obligations shall be obligations upon and enforcible against the new municipality. Sec. 4. That the title, right and ownership of property, uncollected taxes, dues, claims, judgments, decrees and choses in action held or owned by the said municipality of the town of Sarasota shall pass and be vested in the municipal corporation hereby organized to succeed such municipality. 1907. Succession. Sec. 5. That said corporation shall have perpetual suc- Succession. cession, shall sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and shall have a common seal which may be changed by the Town Council at pleasure. rights. Sec. 6. That said corporation may own, purchase, lease, Property receive, acquire, and hold property, real and personal, within the territorial boundaries of said corporation and may own, purchase, lease, receive, acquire and hold property, real and personal, beyond the limits of said corporation to be used for any and all such public purposes as the Mayor and Town Council may deem necessary or proper. Sec. 7. That said corporation is hereby fully empowered Property to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of any and all property, rights. real or personal, which may belong to said corporation to the same extent that natural persons may do. That the Town Council may prescribe by ordinance the manner of making such conveyances. authority. Sec. 8. That the government and corporate authority of Corporate said town shall be vested in a Mayor, a Town Council to consist of five Aldermen, a Clerk, a Treasurer, a Tax Assessor, a Marshal, a Tax Collector and such other officers as may be appointed or elected in pursuance of law and the ordinances of said town. The office of Clerk and Treasurer, or of Marshal and Collector, may be held by one and the same person as the Town Council may by ordinance prescribe. That no person shall be eligible to hold an office herein provided for except he be a citizen and qualified voter of said town; Provided, that these qualifications shall not apply to the office of Marshal, unless he be also Tax Collector. Sec. 9. That the Mayor shall be elected for the term of one year and until his successor is elected and qualified 1907. Election, term, pow ies of mayor by the qualified voters of said corporation. His compensation shall be fixed by ordinance, but shall not be changed during his term of office. He shall have power to preserve ers and du- peace and order and to enforce the ordinances of said corporation. The Mayor shall have jurisdiction over the trial of all offenses against the ordinances of said corporation. He shall see that the ordinances are faithfully executed and the orders of the Council duly observed and enforced. He shall have power by his warrant to have brought before him any person or persons charged with the violations of ordinances. He shall have power to require the attendance of witnesses for or against the accused; to administer oaths, to take affidavits, and to inquire into the truth or falsity of all charges preferred; to decide upon the guilt or innocence of the accused; and to fix the penalty the sentence prescribed by ordinance, to release persons convicted by him and to have and exercise all the powers incident and usual to the due enforcement of his jurisdiction. Power of Mayor to suspend officer. Supervision Approval of ordinances by Mayor. Sec. 10. That the Mayor shall have power to suspend any officer, except Aldermen, for misconduct in office or neglect of duty, reporting his action in writing with the reasons therefor to the next regular meeting of the Council for its approval or disapproval. Sec. 11. That the Mayor shall have general supervision over all city officers and may examine into the condition of the offices, the books and records and papers thereof and therein, and the manner of conducting official business. He shall report to the Town Council all violations or neglect of duty on the part of any official that may come to his knowledge. Sec. 12. That every ordinance passed by the Town Council, before becoming a law, shall be presented to the Mayor under the certificate and seal of the Clerk. If the Mayor approve the same, he shall sign it and return to the Clerk, but if not, he shall return it to the Clerk with his objections in writing at or before the next regular meeting of the Council for reconsideration, and if the Council shall pass the ordinance by a two-thirds vote of all members present, it shall go into effect. If the Mayor shall fail to return any ordinance or shall return the same unsigned without objections in writing at or before the next regular meeting of the Council after its passage, he shall be deemed to have approved the same and it shall become a law without his signature. 1907. Mayor. Sec. 13. That the Mayor shall communicate from time Duty o to time to the Council such information and recommend such measures touching the public service as he may deem proper and shall perform such duties as the ordinances may prescribe. Sec. 14. When in his opinion the public good requires, Special pothe Mayor may appoint and discharge special policemen licemen, etc. and detectives. Sec. 15. That the Mayor may call special meetings of the Special Council and when called, he shall state the objects for meetings of which called, and the business of such meeting shall be confined to the subjects so stated. Mayor. Sec. 16. That the Mayor may be impeached by the Coun- Impeachcil for misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in office, ment of for drunkenness, habitual intoxication or gross immorality. Should charges be preferred against the Mayor, the Council shall furnish him with a copy of the articles of impeachment and shall proceed without unnecessary delay to investigate and decide them. It shall require a twothirds vote of the entire Council to remove him from office. sence of Sec. 17. In the case of the death or absence of the Mayor, In case of or his inability from any cause to discharge the duties of death or abthe office of Mayor, the President of the Council, or in Mayor. his absence the acting President of the Council, shall discharge the duties of Mayor as Mayor pro tempore, or until the office of Mayor shall be filled. Sec. 18. That should there occur a vacancy in any of the vacancies. offices of said municipality, except Aldermen or Mayor, it shall be the duty of the Council to fill said vacancy as soon as possible by appointing a qualified elector of said municipality, who shall hold the office for the unexpired term. office of Sec. 19. Should the Mayor's office become vacant by Vacancy in death or resignation, or should there occur a vacancy in Mayor. the Council, the Clerk shall immediately certify such fact to the Mayor, who shall immediately issue his proclamation calling for a special election to be held to fill such vacancy or vacancies; Provided, that in case there shall 1907. office of Mayor. be not more than three months intervening between said vacancy and the next general election of officers, there Vacancy in shall be no election to fill such vacancy under the provisions of this section. Said election shall be held not less than fifteen or more than thirty days from the issuance of said proclamation, which said proclamation shall be published in some newspaper published in said municipality at least three times, or by posting the same at three public places in said municipality, one of which shall be the postoffice, for at least ten days before said election. Aldermen. Proviso. Rules, regulations, etc., meetings. of Council. Sec. 20. That the Council shall be composed of five Aldermen, who shall be elected for a term of two years at a general election of the qualified electors of said munici pality; Provided, that the Town Council shall have power to divide the territory embraced in the corporate limits of Sarasota into as many wards as they may deem proper and shall provide for the election of an equal number of Aldermen from each of said wards by the qualified electors of the said wards respectively, together with the election of one or more Aldermen at large by the qualified electors of the entire town of Sarasota. Sec. 21. The Council shall be the judges of the qualiregarding fication, election and returns of its own members. It may and members enact rules of procedure and may prescribe penalties for the nonattendance or disorderly conduct of its members and enforce the same. Two-thirds of its members concurring, it may expel a member for improper conduct in of fice. A majority of the members of the Council shall be necessary to form a quorum for the transaction of business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time, and under the provisions of ordinances or rules of procedure, may compel the attendance of absent members by the imposition of fines and penalties. Meetings. Power of Council to create offices, etc. Sec. 22. That the Council may hold meetings at such times as it may determine, holding not less than one regular meeting per month. Sec. 23. That the Council shall have power and is hereby authorized to create such offices and provide by ordinance for the election or appointment of all such additional officers and employees as may in their judgment be neces sary for the good government of said municipality. The Council shall have power to abolish at any time any office |