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Voter Ballot Measure to Amend the City Charter <br />August 2, 2022 <br />Page 2 <br />2 <br />8 <br />6 <br />6 <br />DISCUSSION <br />In 2020, the Mayor created a Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee that considered numerous <br />potential City Charter amendments. The Ad Hoc Committee ultimately recommend to the full <br />City Council that 17 amendments to the City Charter be placed on the ballot for the November <br />2020 General Municipal Election. After consideration of the proposed Charter Amendments at a <br />series of public meetings in 2020, the City Council declined, at that time, to place the <br />recommended Charter amendments on the ballot. <br />In 2022, the Mayor created a Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee that considered both the 2020 <br />Charter amendment recommendations, along with some additional changes to the City Charter <br />relating to City Council term limits, the term of the Mayor, City Council compensation, and <br />adoption of the City budget. The 2022 Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee ultimately <br />recommended to the full City Council placing 16 of the 17 2020 recommendations on the ballot. <br />The 16 proposed Charter amendments from 2020 are administrative in nature. These 16 <br />amendments are intended to have the City Charter conform with various federal, state, and/or <br />applicable laws, such as by revising Civil Service provisions, updating anti-discrimination <br />provisions, and removing provisions relating to work stoppages. In addition, these amendments <br />remove outdated provisions that are not necessary to be included in the Charter, reorganize <br />sections to improve the readability of the Charter, and update provisions to improve the delivery <br />of City services. <br />At the July 19, 2022 meeting, staff presented a recommendation from the Charter Review Ad <br />Hoc Committee regarding two new proposed Charter amendments: (1) adopting a lifetime ban <br />for the Mayor after 4 terms and a lifetime ban for Councilmembers after 3 terms; and (2) requiring <br />a 2/3 vote by the City Council to adopt the City budget. The City Council concurred with the Ad <br />Hoc Committee’s recommendation to move forward with these two items, in addition to the 16 <br />administrative/clean-up items. <br />These 16 proposed administrative/clean-up Charter amendments, along with the two new <br />proposed Charter amendments (lifetime ban for Mayor and Councilmembers) are summarized <br />below. <br />Summary of Proposed Charter Amendments <br />16 Administrative/Clean-Up Items <br />Section 400: Number, Selection and Term of Members <br />The current Charter states that the term of each councilmember, including the mayor, shall begin <br />at 6:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of December following certification of election results. This <br />amendment clarifies that term of each councilmember, including the mayor, shall begin at 6:00 <br />p.m. on the first regularly scheduled City Council meeting or at a special City Council meeting <br />following certification of election results.