Laserfiche WebLink
3 <br /> <br />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.