Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-12-18
The MAYORS SUBSTITUTE.
President Pro Tenn Of City Council Il
Authority to Order Disbursements.

Authority TO Urder disbursements,
The following letter has been ad-
dressed to City Treasurer w. l.. Jones
by G.. l.. Solignac, city attorney:
Il am in receipt of your request for a
written opinion from ME as to whether
or not the president pro tenn. of the city
council has the legal right and power
to discharge any and all executive
functions which are by law and the
on the actual mayor during the latter's
absence from the city.
Section 264O of the Compiled Laws
of the territory of New Mexico provides
thai the city council shall elect from
their own body a temporary president.
Section 1862 Of the same laws pro-
vide as follows: The city council shall
possess all the powers granted in this
act, and other corporate powers of the
city not herein or by some ordinance of
the city council conferred on some Off
Ger of the city; they shall have the
management and control of the finances
and all the property, real and personal,
belonging to the corporation etc.
The same section further provides as
follows: They shall appoint or provide
by ordinance that the qualified electors
Of the city or Of the wards or districts,
as the case may require, shall elect all
such city officers as may be necessary
for the good government of the city and
| for the due exercise of its corporate
powers, and which shall have been pro-
| vided for by ordinance as to whose cleo
! ton or appointment provisions have not
| herein been made; and all city officers
whose terms of service are not pre-
scribed, and whose powers and duties
are not defined by this act, shall per-
form such duties, exercise such powers
and continue in office such period, moi
exceeding one year, and until their sue
ceasors are appointed and qualified, as
shall be provided by ordinance etc.
at is clearly evident from the above
quotations of the acts of the Legislature
powered to elect a temporary president
and all other city officers as may bt
necessary for the good government o.
the city and for the exercise Of its cor.
porate powers as provided by law; but
it also empowers the city council to pre-
scribe by ordinance the duties and the
limit Of power of each and every city
officer as are not prescribed and defined
BY the above mentioned act.
Upon this legal basis and authority
the city council of the City of Santa Fl
duly enacted and passed the following
ordinance, which will be found in chap
ter /, section 8, of the book Of ordi.
nances of the City of Santa Fe, which
explicitly defines the power and duties
Of the temporary president of the cit,
council, and which reads as follows:
Section s. Whenever any power
shall be vested in the mayor, or he shall
be required to do any act or perform
any executive function, it shall be, il
his absence, the duty of the presiding
officer for the time being to exercis,
such power and perform such act o
executive Junction.
1T is obvious that the above quoted
ordinance, based on Legislative sanction
and authority, not only invests tn,
president pro tenn. of the city council, il
the absence of the mayor from the city
with all the power and executive func
ton that the mayor has when in tn
city, but it makes it his imperative du
ty for the time being to exercise sucl
power and perform such acts or execu
tive functions as the case may require
II am, therefore, compelled to advise
you that under the law you as city
treasurer, are justified, and it is YOU
duty to disburse from the city treasury
any moneys you may have on hand fol
the payment of the lawful and JUS
debts Of the city whenever properly al.
lowed and authorized by the city coun-
Gil by order of the president pro tenn
of h council in the absence of the
mayor from the city, whenever he re-
quests you to do so, or when the occa-
sion requires it,"