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<baltimore-city-law heading="Rule 5-11 Council Member Vacancy">
  <section prefix="Rule" num="5-11" heading="Council Member Vacancy">
    <para num="(a)">Scope. This rule applies whenever a vacancy of an individual member occurs in the Council.</para>
    <para num="(b)">Nominating Committee.<para num="(1)">Within 7 days after a vacancy occurs, the President shall appoint a Nominating Committee of at least 13 members, but no more than 25, as provided in this Rule.</para>
      <para num="(2)">At least a majority of the members of the Committee shall be residents of and registered voters in the district in which the vacancy occurred. Of these:<para num="(i)">at least a majority of the members shall be selected from the Presidents, or the Presidents’ designees, of community, neighborhood, or improvement associations listed with the Department of Planning for areas within the vacant district;</para>
        <para num="(ii)">at least one member shall be an individual between 18 and 24 years of age;</para>
        <para num="(iii)">at least one member shall be 65 or older;</para>
        <para num="(iv)">no association may have more than one representative on the Committee; and</para>
        <para num="(v)">3 shall be representatives of businesses or business organizations located within the vacant district.</para>
      </para>
      <para num="(3)">2 members of the Committee shall be members of the City Council, each from a district that abuts the vacant district.</para>
      <para num="(4)">The President shall appoint the Chair of the Nominating Committee from among the Committee’s members.</para>
      <para num="(5)">Members serving on the Nominating Committee may not be appointed to fill a vacancy.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(c)">All actions to be in public.<para num="(1)">All interviews, meetings, deliberations, votes, decisions, and other actions of the Nominating Committee shall be conducted in sessions open to the public, with reasonable advance public notice of those sessions, as provided in the State Open Meetings Act.</para>
      <para num="(2)">The President shall publish on the City Council’s website the:<para num="(i)">names and affiliations for all Nominating Committee members;</para>
        <para num="(ii)">application rules and procedures for prospective Councilmembers; and.</para>
        <para num="(iii)">contact information for the Committee.</para>
      </para>
    </para>
    <para num="(d)">Public hearing.<para num="(1)">The Nominating Committee shall hold a public hearing in connection with the filling of the vacancy which:<para num="(i)">all applicants shall introduce themselves; and</para>
        <para num="(ii)">the public has the opportunity to testify.</para>
      </para>
      <para num="(2)">The hearing shall be held within 30 days after the vacancy occurs.</para>
      <para num="(3)">Public notice of the hearing shall be given at least 7 days before it is held; and the Office of Council Services shall ensure that the hearing has been advertised by the Council President’s Office and certify to the Council that the hearing has been advertised.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(e)">Applicants. Applicants shall:<para num="(1)">possess the qualifications specified in Article III, § 1 {“Legislative Department; Qualification and salary of members”} of the Charter; and</para>
      <para num="(2)">submit an application to the Nominating Committee in the form prescribed by the President or the President’s designee, at least 14 days before the day of the public hearing.</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(f)">Interviews. After the public hearing required by subsection (d) of this Rule, the Nominating Committee may conduct additional hearings with any applicant who appeared at the subsection (d) hearing.</para>
    <para num="(g)">Report to Council. Within 30 days of the public hearing, the Nominating Committee shall report to the Council the name of the individual it recommends to fill the vacancy. This recommendation shall be made by a majority roll call vote of the entire Nominating Committee membership. This vote shall be taken at a meeting, publicly advertised on the City Council’s website, at which a majority of all Committee members are present.</para>
    <para num="(h)">Action by Council.<para num="(1)">The vote of the Council on the Committee’s nomination shall be taken by roll call.</para>
      <para num="(2)">If the Council rejects the Committee’s nomination, the Committee shall:</para>
    </para>
    <para num="(i)">promptly reconvene for further deliberations; and</para>
    <para num="(ii)">return with a further recommendation by the next meeting of the Council.</para>
  </section>
</baltimore-city-law>
