Adopt Ordinance #19-15 An Ordinance Amending the Charter by Repealing and Replacing Chapter 4 - Nominations and Elections

Purpose:  The purpose of this case is for the City Council to consider adoption of Ordinance #19-15 repealing and replacing the City's Charter Chapter 4 titled Nominations and Elections.

Background:   A public hearing and review of the ordinance amending the City's Charter Chapter 4 was held on November 26, 2019.  Five of the seven Councilmembers voted in favor, to introduce Ordinance #19-15 to formally commence the Charter amendment. 

 The purpose of the proposed ordinance amending the Charter would be to simplify and clarify City election procedures. Chapter 4 of the City's Charter concerning election procedure has been problematic for some time, in part because it conflicts with State election law.  The Charter Commission discussed Chapter 4 at length in February and provided direction to staff in terms of amendments.  In October, the Commission discussed various options for replacement language with the intent to clarify and simplify election procedures and make them conform with current state law.  The proposed ordinance (attached) contains the Commission's recommended replacement language for Chapter 4.  Pursuant to State law, the Charter can be modified without going to a public vote if the ordinance receives unanimous approval by the Council.

State law lays out the timeline as follows:  Upon recommendation of the Charter Commission, the City Council may enact a Charter amendment by ordinance.  Within one month of receiving a recommendation to amend the Charter by ordinance, the City must publish notice of a public hearing on the proposal and the notice must contain the text of the proposed amendment.  The City Council must hold the public hearing on the proposed Charter amendment at least two weeks but not more than one month after the notice is published.  Within one month of the public hearing, the City Council must vote on the proposed Charter amendment ordinance.  The ordinance is enacted if it receives an affirmative vote of all members of the City Council and published as in the case of other ordinances.  An ordinance amending a City Charter shall not become effective until 90 days after passage and publication or at such later date as is fixed in the ordinance.

The timelines  have been met thus far.  The recommendation was made by the Charter at their October 17 meeting.  A public hearing notice was published on Friday, November 8 (attached).  The public hearing was held by the City Council on November 26, at which time Council introduced the ordinance.  The ordinance is being presented this evening, December 10, for formal adoption.  This will be done via a roll call vote.  If the ordinance meets with a unanimous approval, the ordinance, in its entirety, will be published in the City's official newspaper on December 13, 2019, which will begin the 90 day effective period.  With these timelines, the City's Charter will be amended effective on or about March 13, 2020.

Observations:  The Charter Commission reviewed Chapter 4 in its entirety and determined the amendments suggested would clarify and simplify the elections process and come into compliance with the State election law. Not having a primary will expedite the process of filing seats with a duly elected Council member, plus the provision that allows immediate appointment by the Council of an interim Council Member keeps vacancy periods at a minimum.  On the other hand, a primary election serves as a method to ensure that the final candidate receives a majority of the votes cast.  Without a primary, a candidate may be elected with the most votes among multiple candidates, but it may be less than a majority of votes cast.  For example, among 5 candidates, a candidate could prevail with less than 50% of the votes cast.

Alternatives: The Council must unanimously vote in favor of the ordinance for this amendment to pass. If Council does not agree with the amendments, they may make suggestions and send back to the Charter Commission for further review.  Previous primary elections have suffered low voter turnout, which is even lower during a special primary election.  The City Council may also consider pursuing changes to state law that would change dates and waiting period, but this is generally more difficult that making charter revisions.  The Council may also consider different procedures for special elections versus general elections as recommendations back to the Charter Commission.
 

N/A

Staff is recommending the Council adopt the ordinance as drafted by the Charter Commission and the City Attorney. 

Motion to adopt Ordinance #19-15 An Ordinance Amending the City Charter by Repealing and Replacing Chapter 4 - Nominations and Elections.

Roll Call Vote:

Councilmember Riley
Councilmember Kuzma
Councilmember Musgrove
Councilmember Heinrich
Councilmember Menth
Councilmember Specht
Mayor LeTourneau