CITY COUNCIL POLICY
SUBJECT: ELECTION OF MAYOR AND VICE MAYOR AND DAIS SEATING ORDER NO.: A- 6 Pa ge 1 of 4
PURPOSE:
T
o establish a Council Procedure for the annual election of Mayor and Vice Mayor and the Councilmember seating arrangement at the dais.
DEFINITIONS:
Fo
r purpose of this policy, Councilmember rank and seniority shall be determined as follows:
Th
e “Highest Ranking Member” shall mean the member who has served on City Council for the greatest number of consecutive days in the immediately preceding ten (10)0F 1 years and who was
elected by the voters during the current term of office . For purposes of determ ining the number of consecutive days served, the first day of service shall be the date the Councilmember was first sworn in as a Councilmember in the immediately preceding ten (10) years.
If t
wo or more Councilmembers have served for the same number of consecutive days in the immediately preceding ten (10) years, the “Highest Ranking Member” shall mean the member who has served on City Council for the greatest number of consecutive days in the immediately preceding ten (10) years and received the highest number of votes in the election that initiated their current consecutive years of service.
F
or purposes of this policy, “S eniority” shall be determined by number of consecutive days of service in the immediately preceding ten (10) years and , if necessary to break a tie, then by the number of votes received in the election that initiated the Councilmembers’ current consecutive years of service. A Councilmember who returns to City Council after a break in service of any duration starts over for purposes of determining Seniority.
POLICY:
1. Election Process
a. Pursuant to Section 505 of the City Charter, the Council shall elect one member s to serve as Mayor and one member to serve as Vice Mayor, both for one-year terms, at 1 T en (10) years rather th an eight (8) years has been used to account for the fact the Charter Section 500 permits Councilmember s who have been appointed or elected to fill a n unexpired term of not more than two years in length to serve two additional consecutive four-year terms, and, therefore, a Councilmember appointed to fill a vacancy may serve up to ten (10) consecutive years.
Attachment 1
CITY COUNCIL POLICY
SUBJECT:
ELECTION OF MAYOR AND VICE MAYOR
NO.: A-6
the first Council meeting in January of each year. The elections shall be listed consecutively on the agenda with the election for Mayor listed on the agenda immediately before the election for Vice Mayor.
b. After the Mayor or City Clerk opens the agenda item, the Mayor shall open the floor for public comment on both positions.
c. At the close of the public comment period, the floor shall be open for a nomination for Mayor pursuant to the Informal Rotation outlined in section 2 of this policy . A motion and a second for the member next in the rotation shall be made and a vote will be in order. Upon receiving a majority vote of the Council, that member will be selected for Mayor.
d. The Council may determine by majority vote that it will entertain additional nominees. If more than one nomination is made, each Councilmember shall vote for one nominee of their choice by ballot. Ballots will be collected, and the City Clerk will publicly announce each Councilmember’s vote. The nominee receiving a majority vote of the Council will be selected for Mayor. In the event no nominee receives a majority vote , the Councilmembers will vote again until one nominee receives a majority vote.
(i). After the election of Mayor, the same process shall be followed for the election of Vice Mayor, beginning with the nomination process described in subsection c. above.
(ii). The Council may, by majority vote, utilize another procedure for the election of Mayor and Vice Mayor provided that public participation in the process is not diminished.
2. Informal Rotation
a. The following will provide historical guidance for the rotation of the seats of Mayor and Vice Mayor in the City of Mountain View. The rotation system outlined is not mandatory. Rather, it is designed to provide guidance to the Council in selecting the Mayor and Vice Mayor.
b. The Vice Mayor succeeds to the Mayor’s position.
CITY COUNCIL POLICY
SUBJECT:
ELECTION OF MAYOR AND VICE MAYOR
NO.: A-6
c. The Highest Ranking Member of the Council who has not yet served as Mayor in their current consecutive years of service and has not been recalled in the preceding four (4) years rotates into the position of Vice Mayor. If all elected Councilmembers have served as Mayor during their current years of service, then the Highest Ranking Member shall rotate into the position of Vice Mayor regardless of prior service as Mayor.
d. One year of service as a past or present member of the Mountain View City Council is recommended to be eligible for the position of Mayor. If all eligible Councilmembers have served as Mayor once in the preceding 10 years, then the Councilmember who has had the greatest number of days between the conclusion of their service as Mayor and the date of the nomination shall serve as Mayor.
e. If all current Councilmembers have served as Mayor in their current consecutive years of service, then any incoming elected Councilmember is eligible for election to the Vice Mayor position. If there is more than one incoming elected Councilmember, they will rotate in as Vice Mayor and then Mayor based on Seniority. Once a Councilmember’s position in the Mayor/Vice Mayor rotation is established, it does not change regardless of whether a newly elected Councilmember receives more votes than a Councilmember reelected to a consecutive term.
f. If the Mayor or Vice Mayor seat becomes vacant during the one -year term for that office, the Council will determine the eligibility for filling the vacancy, taking into consideration the length of time remaining in the term and the wishes of the members in the rotation to fill the vacancy. A Councilmember who fills a vacancy for fewer than 183 days shall not be deemed to have served as either Mayor or Vice Mayor for the purpose of the Informal Rotation.
g. Councilmembers elected to a term of less than four (4) years shall be placed in rotation immediately behind members previously elected or appointed and those elected to a full term at the same election. If more than one member is elected, they shall be placed in the rotation according to the length of term and number of votes, as applicable.
3. Dais Seating Order
CITY COUNCIL POLICY
SUBJECT:
ELECTION OF MAYOR AND VICE MAYOR
NO.: A-6
a. Effective January 15, 2024: a fter the meeting at which selection of Mayor and Vice Mayor took place, the newly elected Mayor shall be seated in the middle position the dais. The Vice Mayor shall be seated to the Mayor’s right, and the Immediate Past Mayor shall be s eated to the Mayor’s left. The remaining Councilmembers shall be seated according to their seniority with the next most senior member sitting to the Vice Mayor’s right, second most senior member sitting to the Immediate Past Mayor’s left and so on.
Audience
4th Senior 2nd Senior Past Mayor Mayor Vice Mayor 1st Senior 3rd Senior
Revised: __________
Revised: January 3, 2019, Resolution No. 18291
Revised: November 19, 2002, Resolution No. 16749
Effective Date: November 23, 1999, Resolution No. 16428