Title 35 — Title 35 CITIES AND TOWNS
49 chapters · 1,261 sections in this title.
RCW 35.18.010 The council-manager plan.
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Under the council-manager plan of city government, the councilmembers shall be the only elective officials. The council shall appoint an officer whose title shall be "city manager" who shall be the chief executive officer and head of the administrative branch of city or town gove…
RCW 35.18.020 Number of councilmembers—Wards, districts—Terms—Vacancies.
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(1) The number of councilmembers in a city or town operating with a council-manager plan of government shall be based upon the latest population of the city or town that is determined by the office of financial management as follows:(a) A city or town having not more than two tho…
RCW 35.18.030 Laws applicable to council-manager cities—Civil service.
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A city or town organized under the council-manager plan shall have all the powers which cities of its class have and shall be governed by the statutes applicable to such cities to the extent to which they are appropriate and not in conflict with the provisions specifically applic…
RCW 35.18.035 Second-class cities, parking meter revenue for revenue bonds.
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See RCW 35.23.454.
RCW 35.18.040 City manager—Qualifications.
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The city manager need not be a resident. He or she shall be chosen by the council solely on the basis of his or her executive and administrative qualifications with special reference to his or her actual experience in, or his or her knowledge of, accepted practice in respect to t…
RCW 35.18.050 City manager—Bond and oath.
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Before entering upon the duties of his or her office the city manager shall take the official oath for the support of the government and the faithful performance of his or her duties and shall execute and file with the clerk of the council a bond in favor of the city or town in s…
RCW 35.18.060 City manager—Authority.
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The powers and duties of the city manager shall be:(1) To have general supervision over the administrative affairs of the municipality;(2) To appoint and remove at any time all department heads, officers, and employees of the city or town, except members of the council, and subje…
RCW 35.18.070 City manager—May serve two or more cities.
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Whether the city manager shall devote his or her full time to the affairs of one city or town shall be determined by the council. A city manager may serve two or more cities or towns in that capacity at the same time.[ 2009 c 549 s 2023; 1965 c 7 s 35.18.070. Prior: 1943 c 271 s …
RCW 35.18.080 City manager—Creation of departments.
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On recommendation of the city manager, the council may create such departments, offices and employments as may be found necessary and may determine the powers and duties of each department or office.[ 1965 c 7 s 35.18.080. Prior: 1943 c 271 s 16; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 9198-25.]
RCW 35.18.090 City manager—Department heads—Authority.
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The city manager may authorize the head of a department or office responsible to him or her to appoint and remove subordinates in such department or office. Any officer or employee who may be appointed by the city manager, or by the head of a department or office, except one who …
RCW 35.18.100 City manager—Appointment of subordinates—Qualifications—Terms.
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Appointments made by or under the authority of the city manager shall be on the basis of executive and administrative ability and of the training and experience of the appointees in the work which they are to perform. Residence within the city or town shall not be a requirement. …
RCW 35.18.110 City manager—Interference by councilmembers.
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Neither the council, nor any of its committees or members shall direct or request the appointment of any person to, or his or her removal from, office by the city manager or any of his or her subordinates. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the council and its members shall deal …
RCW 35.18.120 City manager—Removal—Resolution and notice.
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The city manager shall be appointed for an indefinite term and may be removed by a majority vote of the council.At least thirty days before the effective date of his or her removal, the city manager must be furnished with a formal statement in the form of a resolution passed by a…
RCW 35.18.130 City manager—Removal—Reply and hearing.
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The city manager may, within thirty days from the date of service upon him or her of a copy thereof, reply in writing to the resolution stating the council's intention to remove him or her. In the event no reply is timely filed, the resolution shall upon the thirty-first day from…
RCW 35.18.140 City manager—Substitute.
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The council may designate a qualified administrative officer of the city or town to perform the duties of manager:(1) Upon the adoption of the council-manager plan, pending the selection and appointment of a manager; or(2) Upon the termination of the services of a manager, pendin…
RCW 35.18.150 Council—Eligibility.
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Only a qualified elector of the city or town may be a member of the council and upon ceasing to be such, or upon being convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or of violating the provisions of RCW 35.18.110, he or she shall immediately forfeit his or her office.[ 2009 c 5…
RCW 35.18.160 Council—Authority.
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The council shall have all of the powers which inhere in the city or town not reserved to the people or vested in the city manager, including but not restricted to the authority to adopt ordinances and resolutions.[ 1965 c 7 s 35.18.160. Prior: (i) 1943 c 271 s 9, part; Rem. Supp…
RCW 35.18.170 Council meetings.
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The council shall meet at the times and places fixed by ordinance but must hold at least one regular meeting each month. The clerk shall call special meetings of the council upon request of the mayor or any two members. At all meetings of the city council, a majority of the counc…
RCW 35.18.180 Council—Ordinances—Recording.
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No ordinance, resolution, or order, including those granting a franchise or valuable privilege, shall have any validity or effect unless passed by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the members of the city or town council. Every ordinance or resolution adopted shall b…
RCW 35.18.190 Mayor—Election—Vacancy.
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Biennially at the first meeting of the new council the members thereof shall choose a chair from among their number who shall have the title of mayor. In addition to the powers conferred upon him or her as mayor, he or she shall continue to have all the rights, privileges and imm…
RCW 35.18.200 Mayor—Duties.
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The mayor shall preside at meetings of the council, and be recognized as the head of the city or town for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law.He or she shall have no regular administrative duties, but in time of public danger or emergency, if …
RCW 35.18.210 Mayor pro tempore.
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In case of the mayor's absence, a mayor pro tempore selected by the members of the council from among their number shall act as mayor during the continuance of the absence.[ 1969 c 101 s 2; 1965 c 7 s 35.18.210. Prior: 1955 c 337 s 11; prior: 1943 c 271 s 8, part; Rem. Supp. 1943…
RCW 35.18.220 Salaries.
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Each member of the council shall receive such compensation as may be provided by law to cities of the class to which it belongs. The city manager and other officers or assistants shall receive such salary or compensation as the council shall fix by ordinance and shall be payable …
RCW 35.18.230 Organization on council-manager plan—Eligibility.
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Any city or town having a population of less than thirty thousand may be organized as a council-manager city or town under this chapter.[ 1965 c 7 s 35.18.230. Prior: 1959 c 76 s 2; 1943 c 271 s 1; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 9198-10.]
RCW 35.18.240 Organization—Petition.
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Petitions to reorganize a city or town on the council-manager plan must be signed by registered voters resident therein equal in number to at least twenty percent of the votes cast for all candidates for mayor at the last preceding municipal election. In addition to the signature…
RCW 35.18.250 Organization—Election procedure.
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Upon the filing of a petition for the adoption of the council-manager plan of government, or upon resolution of the council to that effect, the mayor, only after the petition has been found to be valid, by proclamation issued within ten days after the filing of the petition or th…
RCW 35.18.260 Organization—Ballots.
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At the election for organization on the council-manager plan, the proposition on the ballots shall be: "Shall the city (or town) of . . . . . . adopt the council-manager plan of municipal government?" followed by the words:"For organization as a council-manager city or town . . .…
RCW 35.18.270 Organization—Election of council, procedure.
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If the majority of the votes cast at a special election for organization on the council-manager plan favor the plan, the city or town shall elect the council required under the council-manager plan in number according to its population at the next municipal general election. Howe…
RCW 35.18.280 Organization—Holding over by incumbent officials and employees.
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Councilmembers shall take office at the times provided by RCW 35.18.270 as now or hereafter amended. The other city officials and employees who are incumbent at the time the council-manager plan takes effect shall hold office until their successors have been selected in accordanc…
RCW 35.18.285 Organization—First council may revise budget.
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If, at the beginning of the term of office of the first council elected in a city organized under the council-manager plan, the appropriations for the expenditures of the city for the current fiscal year have been made, the council, by ordinance, may revise them but may not excee…
RCW 35.18.290 Abandonment of council-manager plan.
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Any city or town which has operated under the council-manager plan for more than six years may abandon such organization and accept the provisions of the general laws then applicable to municipalities upon the petition of not less than twenty percent of the registered voters ther…
RCW 35.18.300 Abandonment—Method.
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The sufficiency of the petition for abandonment of the council-manager form of government shall be determined, the election ordered and conducted, and the results declared generally as provided for the procedure for reorganizing under the council-manager plan so far as those prov…
RCW 35.18.310 Abandonment—Special election necessary.
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The proposition to abandon the council-manager plan must be voted on at a special election called for that purpose at which the only proposition to be voted on shall be: "Shall the city (or town) of . . . . . . abandon its organization under the council-manager plan and become a …
RCW 35.18.320 Abandonment—Effect.
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If a majority of votes cast at the special election favor the abandonment of the council-manager form of government, the officers elected at the next succeeding biennial election shall be those then prescribed for cities or towns of like class. Upon the qualification of such offi…