Garrett Park                                    2165

cil shall be open to the public, and the rules of the council shall provide
that residents of the Town shall have a reasonable opportunity to be
heard in regard to any municipal question.

Section 54-9. Council to be Judge of Qualifications of Its Members.

The council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of
its members.

Section 54-10. Presiding Officer of Council.

The mayor shall preside at meetings of the council. The mayor may
take part in all discussions, but he shall have no vote except in case of a
tie. The council shall elect from among its members one member who shall
serve as acting mayor in the absence of the mayor.

Section 54-11. Quorum.

Three members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the trans-
action of business, but no ordinance or resolution shall be approved with-
out the favorable votes of at least three members of the council.

Section 54-12. Rules and Order of Business; Journal.

The council shall determine its own rules and order of business. It
shall keep a journal of its proceedings and enter therein the yeas and nays
upon final action of any question, resolution, or ordinance, or at any other
time if required by any one member. The journal shall be open to public
inspection.

Section 54-13. Vacancies in Council or Office of Mayor.

In case of a vacancy on the council or in the office of mayor for any
reason, the council shall elect, by majority vote of the remaining members,
some qualified person to fill the vacancy until the next general election.
The results of such vote shall be recorded in the journal.

Section 54-14. Ordinances; Publication; Effective Date.

(a)   Passage.—No ordinance shall be passed at the meeting at which
it is introduced. At any regular or special meeting of the council, held
not less than six (6) or more than sixty (60) days after the meeting at
which an ordinance was introduced, it shall be passed, or passed as
amended, or rejected, or its consideration deferred to some specified future
date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in cases deemed by the mayor to be
of an emergency nature, the provision that an ordinance may not be
passed at the meeting at which it is introduced may be suspended by the
affirmative votes of four (4) members of the council.

(b)   Publication.—Each ordinance shall be posted in a public place
within the Town, and/or a summary thereof published in a newspaper
of general circulation within the Town.

(c)   Effective date.—Every ordinance, unless it be passed as an
emergency ordinance, shall become effective at the expiration of twenty
(20) calendar days following passage by the council. An emergency ordi-
nance shall become effective on the date specified in the ordinance.

(d)   Filing of ordinances.—Ordinances shall be permanently filed by
the clerk-treasurer and shall be available for public inspection.