TWENTY-FIRST SESSION. the said northeast corner of the present boundary line of the said Town of San Buenaventura; thence south to the point. of beginning. SEC. 3. The name of Canada Street in said town is hereby changed to that of Ventura Avenue. SEC. 4. The officers of the said corporation shall consist city officers. of a Board of five Trustees, a Treasurer, a Clerk, who shall be ex officio Assessor, a Marshal, who shall be ex officio Collector, an Attorney, and a Surveyor. officers. SEC. 5. The first Trustees, Clerk, and Marshal shall be Elections; elected at the usual time heretofore established by law for the r election of similar officers of the Town of San Buenaventura, or, in case the town election of said town for the year A. D. eighteen hundred and seventy-six shall have taken place prior to this Act becoming a law, the town officers elected at said election shall constitute the first elective officers of the said town under this Act, and hold their offices until the first Monday in January, A. D. eighteen hundred and seventyeight, and until their successors are elected and qualified. SEC. 6. Succeeding Trustees, Clerks, and Marshals of the Town of San Buenaventura shall be elected on the first Monday in December, A. D. eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, and every two years thereafter; enter upon the duties of their offices on the first Monday in January succeeding their election, and hold their offices for the term of two years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. SEC. 7. The Treasurer, Attorney, and Surveyor shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees, and hold their offices for two years, unless sooner removed for misconduct or neglect, of official duty. They, and the Town Clerk and Marshal, shall give such bonds for the faithful discharge of their duty as the Trustees shall direct. Clerk. SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the Clerk to keep the books, Duties of papers, and documents of the Board belonging to the town, to attend all meetings of the Board of Trustees and keep a record of all its proceedings, sign all warrants issued by order of said Board, and keep an accurate account of such warrants, their number and date, and he shall assess all taxes levied by the Board of Trustees. SEC. 9. The Treasurer shall take charge of all moneys belonging to said town, pay all warrants issued by the Board of Trustees, signed by the President and countersigned by the Clerk, in the regular order of their presentation, and keep a correct account of all moneys received and paid out by him, and make monthly reports thereof to the Board of Trustees. Of Treasurer. SEC. 10. The Marshal shall be a conservator of the peace, of Marshal. have power to suppress any riot, public tumult, disturbance of the public peace, to enforce all ordinances, and arrest all persons guilty of a violation of the same, and every citizen when required so to do shall lend him aid for the arrest of offenders, and the maintenance of the public peace. He shall have charge of the town prison and the prisoners therein, and shall see that all orders and sentences are fully executed and complied with. He shall perform the duties Oaths, etc. Vacancies. Monthly of Street Commissioner, and be governed therein by the provisions of this Act. and such regulations or ordinances as the Board of Trustees may adopt relative thereto. He shall collect all licenses imposed by the Board that shall at any time be due the town, and all taxes levied by the Board, which, with all other moneys collected by him by virtue of his office, he shall pay over to the Treasurer at least once a month, taking duplicate receipts therefor, one of which he shall deposit with the Town Clerk. He shall, upon receiving the tax list of the town, proceed to collect the taxes at the same time and in the same manner now or may hereafter be provided by law for the collection of State and county taxes, and for said purpose shall be invested with all and the same powers to make collection of taxes by sale and conveyance of real estate as is or shall hereafter be conferred upon Collectors or Sheriffs for the collection of State and county taxes. SEC. 11. All town officers, whether elected by the people or appointed by the Board of Trustees, shall, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by law; and it shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees to declare vacant the office of any Trustee or other town officer who shall be absent from their regular meetings, or neglect to perform the duties of his office, for the space of sixty days. SEC. 12. All vacancies occurring in the Board of Trustees more than six months before the next succeeding election, shall be filled by an election of the qualified electors of the town, and the Board of Trustees shall call a special election therefor. Vacancies occurring less than six months before the next succeeding election shall be filled by an appointment of the Board of Trustees. SEC. 13. The Board of Trustees shall meet on the first meetings of Monday of every month, unless such day shall be a holiday, when they shall meet the day following. They shall elect one of their number President, and a majority shall constitute a quorum. The President chosen shall act as Town Recorder, and as to offenses committed within the corporate limits of the town, in violation of town ordinances, have like jurisdiction as now is or hereafter may be conferred on Justices of the Peace. The Recorder, when acting as such, shall receive the same fees as are allowed by the laws of this State to Justices of the Peace. Fees. Powers of SEC. 14. The Board of Trustees shall have power to pass and enforce ordinances for the purposes of securing the health, cleanliness, and good order of the town; to provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires; to impose licenses on the various kinds of business carried on within the corporate limits of the town that are or may be licensed for State and county purposes; to fix the class and amount of the same; to establish a pound for the impounding of estray and loose cattle of all kinds, mares, mules, jacks or jennies, horses, horned cattle, hogs, sheep, or goats, found running at large within the town; to appoint a Poundmaster; to regulate the impounding; to invest the Poundmaster with authority to sell such cattle, mares, mules, jacks or jennies, horses, horned cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats, for the fees and expenses incurred, and give bills of sale for the same, which shall be prima facie evidence of ownership thereof; and for such other purposes as ordinances are generally required, so far as said ordinances shall not conflict with the general laws of the State. SEC. 15. The Board of Trustees shall have power and it Taxes. is hereby made their duty to provide, by ordinance, for the levying and collection of town taxes, not to exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars' valuation of town property, and, in so doing, they shall conform as nearly as may be to the mode prescribed by the general laws of this State for the levying and collection of State and county taxes. The Board, or a committee of not less than three of their number, shall constitute a Town Board of Equalization, which shall, as soon as the Assessor has completed and handed in his assessment, after ten days' notice published in some newspaper published in the town, hold their meetings to hear and determine all complaints respecting the valuation of property fixed by the Assessor, and they shall have power to so modify and change such valuation as to make it, in their estimation, conform to the real cash value of the property assessed. SEC. 16. All ordinances passed by the Board of Trustees Ordinances. shall be signed by the President and Clerk, and published not less than two weeks, before the same shall take effect, in some newspaper or supplement thereto, published in the town, and all notices of a general character shall be published in like manner. alleys, etc., SEC. 17. The Trustees shall have power to provide for the Streets, opening, lighting, and keeping in good repair, streets and right of way. alleys, building of sidewalks, cultivation and care of plazas, and such other improvements as may be necessary for the general welfare of the town; and for the purpose of opening streets or alleys, the right of way is hereby granted through all lands belonging to the State, and such as belong to private individuals, upon the payment of due compensation to such individuals for such right of way or easement; and for the purpose of determining such compensation, the Town Trustees are empowered to appoint three appraisers, who shall be disinterested electors of the County of Ventura, who shall appraise the damages and assess the benefits accruing to such individuals who may object to the opening of any street or alley, and determine the amount of such compensation for said right of way, which shall only be done after giving at least twenty days' personal or other legal notice to all parties interested, of the time and place of hearing proofs, if any be offered, for the purpose of determining such compensation; and when such compensation has been so determined, the Board of Town Trustees shall tender the amount so determined to such individuals as the same may have awarded to, and if the awards are all accepted, the streets or alley ways shall be declared open; but if any award of damages is rejected by the land owners, the Board. Real estate. Grading, etc., costs of. Trustees may issue bonds. Election notices, etc. Present officers. must, by order, direct proceedings to procure the right of way to be instituted by the Town Attorney under and as provided in Title Seven, Part Three of the Code of Civil Procedure; and in all cases where parties have refused to take the amount tendered by the Town Board, and fail to recover a greater amount, such parties shall be taxed with the costs of the suit. SEC. 18. The Town Trustees shall have power to purchase and hold, they and their successors, in the name of the town, such real estate as may be necessary for public town uses. SEC. 19. The Trustees shall have power, and it shall be their duty, in grading and sidewalking streets, to estimate the cost of any such contemplated improvement, and levy an assessment of two-thirds of the cost thereof pro rata upon each front foot of real estate fronting on each side of any street they may have determined to improve, which levy and assessment shall become a lien upon such real estate, and may be foreclosed, and the amount, together with costs of the action, recovered in any Court of competent jurisdiction; the other one-third of the cost of such improvement shall be paid from the General Fund of the town, as shall also all the costs of all culverts and grading at the intersection of streets. All town improvements estimated to cost over one hundred dollars shall be let out by contract to the lowest bidder giving satisfactory security for the faithful performance of the work. SEC. 20. The Board of Trustees of said town shall have no power to borrow money nor contract any indebtedness for the ordinary purposes of town government or improvement, which shall exceed in the aggregate the amount of the assess ment of taxes for such year, but in case it is deemed necessary, for the purpose of opening or lighting streets, building a Town Hall, establishing a permanent system of sewerage or other permanent improvements, they may issue bonds not to exceed in the aggregate two per cent. of the valuation of the town property, according to last preceding assessment roll; provided, however, that no bonds shall be issued, except upon the result of an election called for that purpose, wherein a majority of the citizens of the town shall have voted for issuing such bonds, nor shall any bonds issued by said Town Trustees bear a higher rate of interest than ten per cent. per annum, run for a longer period of time than ten years, or be sold for less than eighty-five per cent. of their par value in gold coin. SEC. 21. It shall be the duty of the Town Trustees to give not less than ten days' notice of all elections for town purposes, and to appoint the Inspectors, Judges and Clerks therefor, to canvass the votes when returned to them, announce the result, direct the Clerk to issue certificates of election to those duly elected. SEC. 22. Officers of the present town government of the Town of San Buenaventura, or their successors, shall continue in office under this charter until their successors are elected and qualified, with all the powers and duties herein provided. SEC. 23. Town Trustees shall receive as a compensation Fees and for their services three dollars each for each session of the salaries. Board actually attended by them; provided, that no Trustee shall be paid for more than twenty-four sessions in one year; all other town officers shall receive such salary or fees as the Board of Trustees may by ordinance allow. SEC. 24. All ordinances now in force and effect in the Town of San Buenaventura shall be and continue in full force and effect until amended or repealed by the Board of Trustees of said town, and so far as they do not conflict with the general laws of the State of California. SEC. 25. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to extend any exclusive water, or other franchise, to any portion of the addition herein made to said town. SEC. 26. All Acts or parts of Acts heretofore enacted by the Legislature of the State of California, in conflict with this Act, are hereby repealed. SEC. 27. This Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. CHAP. CCCXCIII.-An Act concerning public roads in Lassen County. [Approved March 29, 1876.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. All road districts in the County of Lassen are Districts abolished, and no road districts shall hereafter be created in abolished. said county. Highways. SEC. 2. The Board of Supervisors of said county shall commisappoint a Commissioner of Highways for said county, who of shall hold his office until the first Monday of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight (1878). At the general election in eighteen hundred and seventy-seven (1877), and every two years thereafter, a Commissioner of Highways shall be elected by the electors of said county, who shall hold his office for two years from the first Monday of March next succeeding his election, and shall receive a salary, to be fixed by the Board of Supervisors, not exceeding one thousand dollars per annum, to be paid quarterly salary. out of the Road Fund of said county. The Commissioner of Highways may be empowered by the Board of Supervisors to appoint not more than two deputies, who shall not be residents of the same supervisor's district, nor shall either salary of. of them be a resident of the supervisor district in which the Commissioner of Highways resides. The deputies shall have the same powers and perform the same duties in their respective supervisor districts that the Commissioner of Highways has or may perform. The compensation of such deputies shall be fixed by the Board of Supervisors, not exceeding three hundred dollars per annum for each deputy. Deputies. |