(a)   The Board of Commissioners shall consist of five Commissioners, who shall be elected as provided herein, and may be referred to in the ordinances of the City as the “Commissioners”, “Governing Body”, “Board of Commissioners” or “Commission”.

(b)   Those governing body positions with terms that would have expired in April 2017, shall expire on the second Monday in January of 2018, when the city officials elected in the November 2017 general election take office. Those governing body positions with terms that would have expired 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.

(c)   General elections shall take place on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November 2017, and succeeding elections will be held every two years for all such governing body positions whose terms have expired. The governing body shall consist of five commissioners to be elected to terms as set forth herein.  The commissioners shall be residents and qualified electors of the City of Ottawa, Kansas.  

(d)   Elections for any city office will be non-partisan.

(C.O. No. 20-15; C.O. No. 22-23)

At general city elections there shall be elected two commissioners for a four-year term and one commissioner for a two-year term. The candidates receiving the largest and second largest number of votes, respectively, shall be elected for a four-year term and the candidate receiving the third largest number of votes shall be elected for the two-year term.

(C.O. No. 20-15)

Any person desiring to become a candidate for city office elected at large shall file with either the City Clerk or county election officer, before the filing deadline, established in K.S.A. 25–205, and amendments thereto, a declaration of candidacy on a form furnished by the county election officer as specified by the secretary of state. The nomination petition must be signed by one percent of the qualified electors of the City of Ottawa.

(C.O. No. 20-15)

No distinction shall be made in title or duties among the commissioners.

(C.O. No. 20-15)

The commission shall choose its own chair and vice chair annually and determine its own order of business. The chair shall have the title of Mayor during the year of his or her office, to the end that the city shall have an official head on formal occasions. The vice-chair shall have the title of Mayor pro tem.  The Mayor shall have such other duties as shall be imposed upon that office by the laws of the state, which shall not be inconsistent with the city manager form of government.  In the absence of the Mayor from any meeting of the Governing Body, the Mayor pro tem shall preside, and in the absence of the Mayor from the city or his or her inability to perform any of the duties imposed upon the office by the ordinances of the city or laws of the State of Kansas, the Mayor pro tem shall exercise the duties of the office of Mayor to the end that the city has an official head on such occasions.

(C.O. No. 20-15)

The Board of Commissioners shall determine its own order of business.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1007)

Regular meetings of the Board of Commissioners shall be held on the first and third Wednesday of each month, and Regular Work Study Sessions each Monday.  The time of the day of such meetings shall be established by resolution.  If a meeting should fall upon a holiday recognized by the City, such meeting will be canceled or rescheduled as determined by the Governing Body with proper notification.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1009)

A.    A call for a Special Meeting of the Board of Commissioners shall contain substantially the following:

1.    Time and date of the meeting;

2.    Place of the meeting;

3.    Purpose for which the meeting is called; and

B.    A place for acknowledgment of receipt of notice and/or an acknowledgment of service of such notice together with time and date of such service.

C.    A call for a Special Meeting of the Board of Commissioners must be evidenced by the signature of a majority of the Commission on the form provided for that purpose.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1009)

The Board of Commissioners shall provide for such offices as shall be necessary to carry out the provisions of State Statutes relating to the Commission-Manager plan of government.  The Board of Commissioners shall authorize the salaries of all officers and employees as annually provided in the adopted City budget and pay and position classification plan.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1010)

The Board of Commissioners shall appoint a Manager as provided in Section 2-202 and shall be responsible for her/his efficient administration of the City’s business.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1010)

No member of the Board of Commissioners shall be directly responsible for the conduct of any Department of the City or the direction of any Department Head or any employee in the execution of any official duty, except at the express direction of the City Manager.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1011, 12-1014)

Administrative Departments of the City shall be created by the Board of Commissioners as the public business may demand.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 12-1015; see also 2-301 et seq.)

A.    In the case of any vacancy for any cause in the office of mayor or any commissioner, the remaining members of said Commission shall within sixty days after the occurrence of said vacancy elect by majority vote some suitable person to fill the vacancy until the next regular city election, at which time a successor shall be elected to fill the unexpired term, provided there is any portion of said term unexpired. 

B.    The resignation of the mayor or any commissioner shall be made in writing and submitted to the City Commission. If the Mayor or any Commissioner shall move his or her residence from the territorial limits of the City, such removal shall be deemed to create a vacancy in that office.

C.    If a majority of the City Commission cannot agree upon a qualified person, between two finalists to fill a vacancy, then the tie shall be broken by lots being cast between the two individuals. The method and type of lots shall be determined by the Mayor, or Mayor pro tem if the Mayor is absent.

(Code 2015; C.O. No. 21-15)

In the event of a catastrophe due to any cause, including warfare, accident, explosion or criminal attack, resulting in the death or obvious incapacity or unavailability of all members of the Board of Commissioners, the City Manager shall appoint qualified persons to fill all vacancies on the Board of Commissioners with interim successors within five days after his determination that a catastrophe has occurred.  If the City Manager is unable to make such determination and appointments due to death or his obvious incapacity or unavailability, the City Clerk shall make such appointments in the City Manager’s stead.  Such named interim successors shall serve on the Commission until new commissioners are elected at the next regular City election.

(Code 1982; K.S.A. 48-931 et seq.; K.S.A. 48-1206; see also Ch. 2)