8.
City Council Work Session
- Meeting Date:
- 03/11/2014
- Co-Submitter:
- Elizabeth A. Burke, City Clerk
- From:
- Elizabeth A. Burke, City Clerk
- Department:
Co-Submitter:
TITLE:
Discussion/Direction of Charter Amendment Process
DESIRED OUTCOME:
Discussion and provide direction to staff on how to proceed with Charter Amendment process
INFORMATION:
At the January 21, 2014, Council Work Session, staff was directed to bring this item back for further discussion/direction by Council. In preparing, staff was asked to submit any changes they would recommend to be considered. Those were then reviewed and have been divided into two categories: 1) technical; and 2) policy. These have both been attached for your consideration.
I have prepared a calendar which gives some idea of when questions would need to be decided on and there are a few issues that would need to be considered that could influence the direction taken by Council.
Issues for Consideration
1.To have questions on the November 2014 ballot, the final wording would need to be agreed to by July 1, 2014. This would not provide much time to adopt a resolution creating a committee, appointing members to the committee, meeting and reviewing proposed changes, submitting them to Council for consideration, and having final wording adopted.
2. To have questions placed on the November 2014 ballot, they will be at the end of the ballot, and with all of the other issues to be considered statewide, we could be limited in the numbers, unless we went to a multi-page ballot. A multi-page ballot creates additional issues: 1) additional costs; 2) confusion for voters and the opportunity for one page and not the other getting returned appropriately. If that were to happen, there is no mechanism to correct the problem.
3. One alternative to the above would be to have Council prioritize the proposed changes and direct staff to include as many questions on the ballot as would fit on the one-page ballot.
Questions
Based on the above, the questions to consider would be:
1. Does Council want to have Charter Amendment questions on the November 2014 ballot? If not, what date (if known)?
2. Does Council wish to establish a committee to consider questions and make recommendations to the Council?
If so, how many members do you want to have? What is their scope of work?
Attached is a table showing the different options available as well as a draft resolution creating a committee, for your consideration.
I have prepared a calendar which gives some idea of when questions would need to be decided on and there are a few issues that would need to be considered that could influence the direction taken by Council.
Issues for Consideration
1.To have questions on the November 2014 ballot, the final wording would need to be agreed to by July 1, 2014. This would not provide much time to adopt a resolution creating a committee, appointing members to the committee, meeting and reviewing proposed changes, submitting them to Council for consideration, and having final wording adopted.
2. To have questions placed on the November 2014 ballot, they will be at the end of the ballot, and with all of the other issues to be considered statewide, we could be limited in the numbers, unless we went to a multi-page ballot. A multi-page ballot creates additional issues: 1) additional costs; 2) confusion for voters and the opportunity for one page and not the other getting returned appropriately. If that were to happen, there is no mechanism to correct the problem.
3. One alternative to the above would be to have Council prioritize the proposed changes and direct staff to include as many questions on the ballot as would fit on the one-page ballot.
Questions
Based on the above, the questions to consider would be:
1. Does Council want to have Charter Amendment questions on the November 2014 ballot? If not, what date (if known)?
2. Does Council wish to establish a committee to consider questions and make recommendations to the Council?
If so, how many members do you want to have? What is their scope of work?
Attached is a table showing the different options available as well as a draft resolution creating a committee, for your consideration.