Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §3.01:2 of Chapter 167 of the Acts of Assembly of 1979 is amended and reenacted as follows:
§3.01:2. Election of mayor.
No candidate for election to the office of mayor shall simultaneously run for election to any other position on the council.
In the event that a councilmember other than a sitting mayor
desires to be a candidate for mayor, the councilmember not elected on the same
election cycle as the mayor is eligible to do so but must tender his or her
resignation as a councilmember at least ten days prior to the final date for
filing petitions and notices of acceptance filing deadline for all
documents necessary to qualify as a candidate for the office of mayor as
specified by general law, with such resignation to be effective on June 30
of the election year the last day before the commencement of the term of
the councilmember's elected successor. Such resignation shall state the
councilmember's intention to be a candidate for mayor, require no formal
acceptance by the remaining councilmembers, and be final and irrevocable as of
the date it is tendered.
The vacancy resulting from any such resignation shall be
filled for the remaining two-year term at the same succeeding general municipal
election at which the office for mayor is filled. Such two-year term shall
begin on the first day of July next following the date of such election.