A CHARTER ORDINANCE EXEMPTING THE CITY OF GAS, KANSAS, FROM K.S.A. 15-201, AS AMENDED, AND PROVIDING SUBSTITUTE AND ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS ON THE SAME SUBJECT, RELATING TO THE ELECTION OF MAYOR AND FIVE COUNCILMEN, THE VOTE, THEIR TERMS OF OFFICE, QUALIFYING, FAILURE TO QUALIFY OR ACCEPT OFFICE, FILLING VACANCIES AND CERTIFICATES OF ELECTION.

Be It Ordained by the Governing Body of the City of Gas, Kansas:

Section 1. The City of Gas, Kansas, by the power vested in it by article 12, section 5, of the Constitution of the State of Kansas, hereby elects to make inapplicable to it and exempts itself from K.S.A. 15-201, as amended, which applies to said city but not uniformly to all cities, and provide substitute and additional provisions on the same subject as hereinafter provided.

Section 2. A regular city election shall be held on the first Tuesday in April of each odd-numbered year. At the regular city election in 1977, there shall be elected a mayor and five councilmen. At said election the candidates for councilmen receiving the two (2) highest number of votes shall be declared elected for a term of four (4) years. The candidates for councilmen receiving the next three (3) highest number of votes shall be declared elected for a term of two (2) years. The candidate elected mayor shall be declared elected for a term of four (4) years. Succeeding elections for all such offices shall be for four-year terms. At such succeeding elections the candidates for councilmen receiving the two (2) or three (3) (as the case may be) highest number of votes shall be declared elected. Whenever there is a tie vote for two or more candidates and it is necessary to determine which candidate receives the office, the winner shall be determined by lot by the board of canvassers. The city clerk shall, within five (5) days after the canvass of the returns and determination by the board of canvassers of the persons elected, deliver to each such person a certificate of election, signed by such clerk and sealed with the seal of the city, and such certificate shall constitute notice of election. The terms of the officers shall begin at the first regular meeting of the council in May following their election in April and they shall qualify by taking the oath of office and otherwise, if there be other qualifications prescribed, at any time after receiving notice of election and before or at the beginning of said meeting. If any person elected to the office of councilman does not qualify within the required time, he shall be deemed to have refused to accept the office and a vacancy shall exist. In case of a vacancy in the office of councilman occurring by reason of failure or refusal to qualify, resignation, death, removal from the city, removal from office, or becoming mayor by reason of being president of the council when a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor, the mayor shall appoint, with the consent of a majority of the remaining councilmen, some suitable elector of the city to fill the vacancy until the expiration of the term of such office. In case of a vacancy in the office of mayor occurring by resignation, death, removal from office, removal from the city, or refusal or failure to qualify, the president of the council, or in the case of the mayor-elect’s refusal or failure to qualify, the new president of the council, shall become mayor until the expiration of the term, and a vacancy shall occur in the office of the councilman becoming mayor.