Salmonberry Establishment Ordinance

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AN
ORDINANCE
TO
ESTABLISH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FREE DISTRICT OF SALMONBERRY ​

1. Name and application

(a) This Ordinance may be cited as the Salmonberry Establishment Ordinance.

(b) For local government purposes, District 2 shall be known as The Free District of Salmonberry, referred to in this Ordinance as the "Town".

(c) "Mayor" means the person lawfully holding mayoral authority for District 2 under the Local Representation Act.

2. The Mayor

(a) The Mayor shall direct the Town’s administration and be responsible for its finances, governance company, budget preparation and submission, official records, and local administrative functions not assigned to a department by law.

(b) The Town shall use its existing government account, "District2", for financial administration. The Mayor shall administer that account, designate its authorized operators, maintain the Town’s financial records, and ensure compliance with the requirements for district governance companies in section 3(r) of the Local Representation Act.

(c) The Mayor may delegate administrative work and financial administration, and may vary or withdraw any delegation. Delegation does not transfer a responsibility that national law requires the Mayor personally to discharge.

(d) The Mayor shall decide the Town’s response to proposed national projects requiring district approval under section 3(j) of the Local Representation Act and direct any application for district expansion under section 3(m) of that Act, with assistance from the Department of Development.

(e) Town expenditure shall remain within lawfully authorized funding. The Mayor shall arrange the budget requests, accounts and allocation of revenues required by national law, including the budget and revenue-allocation requirements in sections 3(a), 3(e), 3(q) and 4(a) of the Local Representation Act.

3. Departments and appointments

(a) The following departments are established under sections 3(e)(iii) and 4(b) of the Local Representation Act:

1. The Department of Development, headed by the Commissioner.
2. The Department of Public Safety, headed by the Constable.
3. The Department of Health, headed by the Health Director.

(b) In accordance with section 4(d) of the Local Representation Act, the Mayor shall appoint and may dismiss department heads at the Mayor’s discretion. The Mayor may leave a position vacant, hold any such positions personally, or appoint one person to multiple positions. This Ordinance imposes no additional eligibility requirements, confirmation procedure, fixed term or limit on combined appointments.

(c) Department heads retain the responsibilities, discretion and hiring powers conferred on their statutory offices by national law, including sections 4(c)(i) and 5–7 of the Local Representation Act.

4. Departmental responsibilities

(a) The Department of Development shall perform the Commissioner’s functions under section 7 of the Local Representation Act and other applicable national law, and manage the Town’s rentals, buses and transport network, public works, public buildings and infrastructure, and general resource stockpiles within the district powers set out in sections 3(c)–(d), 3(l), 3(p) and 4(b) of that Act. It shall support the Mayor on development proposals, national-project approvals and district expansion, and coordinate with the Ministry of Urban Development under section 6 of the Governing Structure Act.

(b) The Department of Public Safety shall perform the Constable’s functions under section 5 of the Local Representation Act and other applicable national law, support local public safety and criminal-law enforcement in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice under section 8 of the Governing Structure Act, and prepare for, establish and operate local policing services and facilities as resources become available, consistent with section 3(g) of the Local Representation Act.

(c) The Department of Health shall perform the Health Director’s functions under section 6 of the Local Representation Act and other applicable national law, support disease prevention, disease control and public health, and cooperate with the national authorities responsible for healthcare, including the Ministry of Health under section 12 of the Governing Structure Act. Its additional functions, assigned under sections 3(h) and 4(b)(ii) of the Local Representation Act, include:

1. Preparing for, establishing and operating local health services and facilities.
2. Conducting and supporting health research.
3. Producing, obtaining, storing and supplying vaccines and cures.
4. Obtaining, producing, distributing and selling preventative supplies.

(d) Departments may develop their services as facilities, staffing and authorized funding become available. This Ordinance sets no deadline to construct or open a clinic or police station. Departmental activities remain subject to applicable national requirements.

5. Mayoral direction, veto and override

(a) Every department and every additional responsibility conferred by this Ordinance is subject to the Mayor’s supervision and direction. The Mayor may require prior approval of, veto, suspend, vary, reverse or replace departmental policies, programs and administrative decisions made under this Ordinance.

(b) The Mayor may give effect to these powers by mayoral order under section 4(c) of the Local Representation Act. A mayoral order cannot amend an ordinance, override national law or a binding referendum, or interfere with responsibilities that national law reserves to a district official’s discretion, consistently with sections 3(e)(ii), 3(f)(i) and 4(b)–(c) of that Act.

(c) Matters which national law requires to be governed by local ordinance, including those listed in section 4(b)(i) of the Local Representation Act, shall be dealt with by ordinance.

6. Advisory Council

(a) An Advisory Council is established to advise the Mayor on any matter concerning the Town.

(b) Every serving department head shall be a member by virtue of holding office. The Mayor may appoint any additional members and dismiss those additional members at the Mayor’s discretion.

(c) The Mayor shall determine the Council’s meeting arrangements and procedures. The Council’s role is advisory except for its petition-approval function under section 7.

7. Public instruments and referendums

(a) The Mayor shall maintain a public register of the Town’s ordinances, mayoral orders and referendum instruments in the district’s official forum space provided for by section 3(o) of the Local Representation Act, and arrange the administration of district referendums in accordance with sections 3(f) and 8 of that Act.

(b) The referendum rules prescribed by national law shall apply, subject to the following local requirements made under sections 3(f)(ii) and 8(d) of the Local Representation Act.

(c) Within the 48 hours following certification by the Speaker of Parliament under section 8(c) of the Local Representation Act, a resident referendum petition must receive:

1. At least 15 valid signatures from individuals satisfying the national petition-signing eligibility requirements in sections 8(a) and 8(e)(i)–(ii) of the Local Representation Act; and
2. Recorded approval from more than half of the distinct individuals serving on the Advisory Council when that period closes.

(d) A Council member’s valid petition signature counts toward both requirements. A Council member who is ineligible to sign the petition may separately record approval in their capacity as a Council member, but that approval does not count toward the 15 signatures. Each person counts once toward each requirement, regardless of how many offices they hold. Council approval must be recorded publicly after certification and before the collection period closes.

(e) A petition meeting both requirements shall be submitted to a district vote after the collection period closes. A mayoral order cannot waive or substitute for either petition requirement. These petition requirements do not restrict the Mayor’s power to initiate a referendum directly by local ordinance under section 8(b)(iii) of the Local Representation Act.

(f) Referendum voting shall remain open for 72 hours. The national voter eligibility requirements, including the district-registration waiting period, in sections 8(a) and 8(g) of the Local Representation Act, and the simple-majority passage rule in section 8(h) of that Act, shall continue to apply.

8. Enactment

This Ordinance comes into force immediately upon its publication.