718 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 407

newspaper, the qualified voters of the town shall elect a
Mayor and Treasurer to serve the term of one year, and
shall elect four Councilmen, two from each ward, to be
voted for by the qualified voters of each ward, one from
each ward to serve for the term of two years and one from
each ward to serve for the term of one year. At the first
meeting the Mayor and Councilmen shall designate the time
to be served by each Councilman. At each successive an-
nual election the qualified voters of each ward in which
there is a vacancy shall elect a Councilman to serve for two
years, after notice printed in the same county newspaper.
The Mayor and Treasurer must continually reside in said
town, and each councilman in his respective ward during
their term of office, and they shall receive no compensation
for their services.

Section 403. That the Mayor and Town Council shall
meet in some convenient place in said town, on or before
the first Monday in August of each year, and as often
thereafter as may be necessary in the discharge of their
duties, provided, however, that they shall meet not less
than once in every month. The Majority shall form a
quorum for the transaction of business; and upon each
action taken the yea and nay vote of each Councilman and
the Mayor shall be recorded opposite his name. The Mayor
and Council shall pass rules and regulations consistent with
the provisions of this Act for their own government while
in session. Any Councilman absent from three consecu-
tive meetings, without excuse, shall constitute a vacancy.
In the event of a vacancy in the office of Mayor,
Councilman or Treasurer, or if at any election of
officers held under this Charter, any two or more candidates
for the same office shall have the highest and equal number
of votes, the Mayor and Town Council, or a majority of
them, shall elect a Mayor, Councilman or Treasurer, as the
case may be, (in the case of a Councilman, from the ward
in which the vacancy or tie election occurred) to hold office
until his successor shall have been elected at the next regu-
lar town election, and shall have qualified. The new or in-
coming Mayor and Town Council shall elect the officers to
hold office in the cases of tie elections. In the case of a
vacancy in the first year of a councilman's term, or of a tie
election in the office of councilmen, the successor so elected
at the next regular town election shall hold office only for
the one year being the unexpired balance of the original
term. The Mayor shall preside at the meeting of the Coun-
cil and shall call meetings from time to time as he may