The City Manager shall be the chief executive and administrative officer of the City. The Council, by a majority vote, shall appoint a City Manager within a reasonable time whenever a vacancy exists in such position. Such appointment shall be without definite term and shall be at a salary to be fixed by Council. The manager shall be appointed without regard to any consideration other than his fitness, competency, training and experience as a manager. At the time of his appointment, he need not be a resident of the City or state, but during tenure of office he shall reside within the City. No member of the Council shall be appointed manager during the term for which he shall have been elected, nor within one year after the expiration of his term.

The Council may appoint an acting City Manager during the period of vacancy in the office, or during the absence or disability of the City Manager. Such acting City Manager shall, while he is in such office, have all responsibilities, duties, functions and authority of the City Manager.

The City Manager shall be responsible to the Council for the proper administration of all affairs of the City placed in his charge, and to that end he shall have the power and duty and be required to: (a) be responsible for the enforcement of the laws and ordinances of the City; (b) hire, suspend, transfer and remove City employees; (c) make appointments on the basis of executive and administrative ability and of the training and experience of such appointees in the work which they are to perform; (d) cause a proposed budget to be prepared annually and submit it to the Council and be responsible for the administration of the budget after its adoption; (e) prepare and submit to the Council as of the end of the fiscal year a complete report on finances and administrative activities of the City for the preceding year, and upon request of the Council make written or verbal report at any time concerning the affairs of the City under his supervision; (f) keep the Council advised of the financial condition and future needs of the City, and make such recommendations to the Council for adoption as he may deem necessary or expedient; (g) exercise supervision and control over all executive and administrative departments except as otherwise herein provided and recommend to the Council any proposal he thinks advisable to establish, consolidate or abolish administrative departments; (h) be responsible for the enforcement of all terms and conditions imposed in favor of the city in any contract or public utility franchise, and upon knowledge of any violation thereof, report the same to the Council for such action and proceedings as may be necessary to enforce the same; (i) attend Council meetings and participate in discussions with the Council in an advisory capacity without right to vote; (j) establish a system of accounting and auditing for the City which shall reflect, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, the financial condition and financial operation of the City; (k) provide for engineering, architectural, maintenance and construction services required by the City; and (l) perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this Charter, or by ordinance, or required of him by Council which are not inconsistent with this Charter.

The Council at a regular or special meeting may, upon the vote of the majority of the entire Council, remove the City Manager from office. Upon such termination the Council may in its discretion provide termination pay.

Neither the Council, its members, the mayor, nor any council committee shall dictate the appointment of any person to office by the city manager except as otherwise provided in this Charter or in any way interfere with the city manager or other city officer to prevent him from exercising his judgment in the appointment or employment of officers and employees in the administrative service. Except for the purpose of inquiry, the council, its members, the mayor and any council committee shall deal with the administrative service solely through the city manager and neither the council, its members, the mayor, nor any council committee thereof shall give orders to any of the subordinates of the city manager.

The Manager with the approval of Council shall appoint a City Clerk, who shall be custodian of the City seal and who shall keep a journal of Council proceedings and record in full all ordinances, motions and resolutions. The Clerk shall have power to administer oaths and take acknowledgments under seal of the City, and shall perform such other duties as required by this Charter, the Council, or the Manager. The Manager, with the approval of City Council, can remove the City Clerk in a manner similar to which he or she is appointed.

All City officials and employees dealing directly with municipal funds or substantial inventories of materials and supplies shall post bond in an amount and under such conditions as required by Council, and at the expense of the City.

(a) The administrative functions of the City shall be performed by the departments existing at the time this Charter is adopted and such departments as the Council may hereafter establish by ordinance, upon recommendation of the City Manager. The Council may, by ordinance, upon recommendation of the City Manager, consolidate or merge any departments, whether set forth in this Charter or established by ordinance.

(b) All departments of the City, except as otherwise provided in this Charter, shall be under the supervision and control of the City Manager, and he shall have the right to divide with Council approval such departments into separate divisions and to assign various functions and duties to the different departments and divisions.