Ask an Official: City Admin discusses Mayoral veto authority
This week’s featured question was submitted for Merrill City Administrator Dave Johnson.
The question reads:
“How does the mayor’s veto power work?”
Answer as given by Johnson:
“The veto powers of the Mayor are as stated in Municipal Ordinance Section 2-79 (c)
“(c)Veto power. The mayor shall have the veto power as to all acts of the council, except where it is expressly or by necessary implication otherwise provided. All such acts shall be submitted to him by the city clerk and shall be enforced upon his approval, evidenced by his signature, or upon his failing to approve or disapprove within five days, which fact shall be certified thereon by the city clerk. If the mayor disapproves, he shall file his objection with the city clerk, who shall present it to the council at its next meeting. A two-thirds vote of all the members of the council shall be necessary to make the act effective, notwithstanding the objection of the mayor.
“This means that the Mayor can directly veto a measure passed by the Common Council within 5-days of passage by the Council or he can merely refuse to sign the measure, at which point the measure is vetoed for lack of a signature. Should either occur, the Council has the authority to over-ride the Mayor’s veto by a vote of no less than 6 of the 8 Council members. While the ordinance states that it requires a 2/3 majority vote for a veto over-ride, which is 5.28 of 8 votes, the votes required is actually 6 since a vote cannot be divided.”
Have a question or concern you would like to address? Simply send your question or concern to [email protected] along with an indication of which entity your question or concern pertains to. Current participants are the Merrill Police Department, Merrill Fire Department, Tomahawk Police Department, Merrill City Administrator Dave Johnson, Merrill Area Housing Authority Director Paul Russell, Lincoln County Clerk Chris Marlowe, Lincoln County Administrative Coordinator Jason Hake, Lincoln County Forestry Land and Parks Director Kevin Kleinschmidt, Local DNR Conservation Warden Curt Butler and Merrill Area Public Schools (MAPS) Superintendent Dr. John Sample. Please note: Those who submit to the ‘Ask an Official’ feature remain anonymous.