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Particularly because of the statutory language on declaring local emergencies, I recommend the <br /> language be revised or removed. <br /> Serving as "chair" of the City Council under rules of procedure is not an official duty and the <br /> Council could choose to have any other member of the Council chair meetings by motion or <br /> resolution if desired. This would not require an amendment to the Charter. <br /> 5) Appointments Near Regular Election <br /> The current code and amendment language provide that if a vacancy is declared in the office of a <br /> member of the council within 120/130 days, respectively, of a general city election, and the last <br /> day to file for office has passed, then there shall be no appointment made prior to the election but <br /> the successful candidate shall be appointed to serve the remainder of the term. <br /> Since two members of the council are on the ballot at a general municipal election, I recommend <br /> amending the language to provide that if the vacancy is in a council seat that is up for election,the <br /> candidate receiving the most votes will be appointed to serve the remainder of the term. <br /> 6) Voting Threshold <br /> Almost all Council actions require three affirmative votes pursuant to the Charter. Given that the <br /> appointment will be taking place when the Council is already down at least one member and the <br /> language is not intended to provide Council with discretion in making the appointment, I <br /> recommend lowering the voting threshold to a simple majority of members of the Council voting <br /> on the appointment to make the process simpler to accomplish.A quorum would still be necessary. <br /> 7) Repeal and Replace—Alternative Language <br /> Enclosed is draft language that could be proposed by the Charter Commission that is in the form <br /> of a repeal and replace the entire Chapter 4. The current amendment does a good job of presenting <br /> the information in an amendment format, but, given the number of revisions, I recommend a full <br /> repeal and replace of Chapter 4 to make review and approval easier. The enclosed draft of a repeal <br /> and replace has not been reviewed by the Charter Commission and would be subject to change <br /> based on Charter Commission direction. <br /> 8) Next Steps <br /> If the Council desires to see any revisions,corrections,or clarifications to the proposed amendment <br /> language, it should vote against adopting the amendment by ordinance.Amending the Charter by <br /> ordinance requires unanimous council approval, so without five votes, the action would fail and <br /> the amendment process would stop.The Charter Commission could then propose a new ordinance, <br /> that could take the form of the enclosed or whatever form the Charter Commission chooses. <br /> Council should not take any official action on the enclosed draft potential alternative, but can <br /> provide feedback as part of a collaborative process to amend the Charter. The Charter Commission <br /> has a regular meeting in November that the Council could consider in December-January. <br /> 3 <br />