Agenda - Charter Commission - 08/27/2020

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Charter Commission Meeting Date: 08/27/2020 By: Colleen Lasher, Administrative Services 5. 5. Information Title: Review Amendments to Chapter 4 of the Charter Nominations and Elections to be in Conformity with State Law Purpose/Background: The purpose of this case is to review Chapter 4 of the Charter, Nominations and Elections, to conform with state law. During the Charter Commission meeting on October 17, 2019, the Commission reviewed Chapter 4 of the Charter and motioned to update the Chapter. A change to the Charter is contingent upon the full City Council's affirmative vote. The City Council considered the amendments at the December 10, 2019, City Council meeting. They looked at what must be amended to comply with State law, and other amendments that were optional, such as certain aspects of special elections. With regard to the changes that are not required per state law, the City Council did not have an affirmative vote from all members, especially with regard to primaries, hence the updates did not pass. At this time, Chapter 4 of the Charter, Nominations and Elections, is not aligned with state law and should be revised. Attached to this case, please see the City Council case, minutes from the City Council meeting, and the proposed ordinance that was not passed; as well as the redline version of Chapter 4. Background: State Legislation setting uniform election dates for special elections prompted a complete review of Chapter 4, Nominations and Elections, of the City's Charter. The current Charter language is not entirely consistent with State law and causes problems in administering City elections. Many sections of this chapter are preempted by State law. The Charter Commission met in February 2019 and October 2019 and received information with regard to what must be amended to comply with State law, and what else could be amended to make administering elections, especially special elections, more straight forward and timely. A lengthy discussion ensued and a consensus of the Commission was reached. The City Attorney was asked to revise Chapter 4 of the City's Charter to remove the language conflicting with State law, remove duplicative language; remove the need for primaries, with one option to remove primaries all together and another option to remove primaries for special elections, clean up the language regarding advisory elections, with an option to remove advisory elections all together and another option to state that advisory elections can only occur with general elections. Regarding Section 4.5.4, an option should be brought back to remove that section which would default to State law, and another option cleaning up the language and allowing appointment for terms of only less than 365 days. Funding Source: N/A Recommendation: Based on discussion.