At tonight’s meeting, the City Council will discuss a resolution to establish a Charter Review Commission to consider whether Mayor and Councilmember terms should go from two to four years.
Specifically, the Commission is expected to (a) Evaluate the pros and cons of lengthening the term for the office of Mayor and Councilmembers to four years, and in the case of Councilmembers, of having staggered or concurrent terms (b) Solicit resident input regarding these matters by holding no less than two public forums, one to be held at City Hall and one to be held at Davis Hall, with the same rules of procedure applying to both; (c) Conduct other research as deemed appropriate and desirable by the Commission to inform a report of their findings on this specific topic (d) Prepare an information report that does not recommend or advocate for any particular outcome, but rather discusses the benefits and concerns associated with changing the length of the elected terms and the staggering of the terms; makes statements that are neutral and intended to inform the electorate on the topic; analyzes the public comment received from any public outreach; and provides objective information that the Mayor and Council can use to weigh their decision.
The Charter Review Commission is expected to prepare a report with its findings, and deliver that report to the Mayor and Council by May 31, 2019.
According to the draft resolution, the Charter Review Commission shall be comprised of no more than ten members, all of whom shall be residents and qualified voters of the City. Each Councilmember shall appoint one member to the Charter Review Commission from their respective districts, and the Mayor will appoint two members from the City at-large, all of whom must be approved by a simple majority of the Mayor and Council.