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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10 Charter Review RESOLUTION NO. 2004- kO A RESOLUTION CREATING THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE. Recitals: A. The City of Ashland Charter was last reviewed and amended in 1970. B. A 2004-05 goal of the city council is to "complete a charter review and update". C. The City Council has determined that it wishes to form a Charter Review Committee to evaluate the existing charter and to determine if the charter should be updated or changed. THE CITY OF ASHLAND RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. A Charter Review Committee is created which shall consist of nine voting members and one alternate, non-voting member, all of whom shall reside within the City of Ashland and who shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council. Two members of the committee shall be former elected city officials and seven shall be selected at large. No member shall be appointed who currently holds an elected position for the City of Ashland. The mayor and council shall make every effort to appoint members who are impartial, non-biased and free of any perceived political gain and have some expertise and knowledge of the workings of local government. SECTION 2. If the committee determines changes to the charter are warranted, it shall prepare a draft charter or draft amendments to the existing charter for the City of Ashland for review by the council for placement on the ballot for the voters of Ashland. SECTION 3. The committee shall be subject to, and shall follow, to the greatest extent feasible, the attached document entitled "Expectations of the Charter Review Committee." SECTION 4. The committee shall terminate at the time a new charter or charter amendments are voted on by the people of Ashland, unless the committee determines changes are not warranted. In such case the committee shall terminate when it makes such report to the city council. SECTION 5. This resolution takes effect upon signing by the Mayor. This r/e,/olution was read by title only in ac, c~.rdance with,~,,shland Municipal Code §2.04.090 and,l~ly PASSED and,~DOPTED this ~ day of /~,¢4¢ ,2004. Barbara Chdstensen, City Recorder SIGNED and APPROVED this Rev,i?~Yed ~,,to f~m: Pa~l Nolte, City Attorney day of 2004. Alan W. DeBoer, Mayor 1 - G:\recorder\City Council Packets\Packet Files~2004~004-0504 Packet Files\final charter commission reso.doc CiTY OF -ASHLAND Expectations of the Charter Review Committee "Membership on a charter review committee is accepting responsibility for leadership in the most important single civic effort that any community can undertake. The duty of leadership is to find the highest attainable level of improvement, noljust a token advance. Statesmanlike compromise is simply a means to this end." Guide for Charter Commission, National League of Cities Purpose and Overview The primary function of the charter review committee is to review the existing charter to determine if it will adequately serve the community well into the future. If necessary, the committee is to prepare a draft charter for the City of Ashland. The proposed charter will ultimately be reviewed by the city council for placement on the ballot for the voters of Ashland. The committee must be impartial, non-biased, and free of any perceived political gain and may approach the task in whatever means results in a document that best serves the citizens of Ashland. In addition to adhering to the Oregon Public ]Meetings law, the committee will strive to include the community beyond the requirements of the law. The council encourages the committee to seek opportunities to educate the community about the process and purpose of a charter review, the importance of a city charter and to solicit community input. It is the council's experience that undertakings of this scope are best achieved within a set timeline during which committee members are focused on achieving the task in a timely manner. Stretching a task over a period of many months can result in a committee that loses focus, interest and drive and a drop in attendance. As such, the council requests that the committee develop a timeline so that the proposed amendments can be placed on the earliest possible ballot. The city will engage the services of a consultant with expertise in charter reviews and revisions that will assist the committee as detailed in the attached Expectations of the Charter Review and Revision Consultant. Membership The committee will be comprised of nine voting members: two former elected city officials, and seven other citizens. An alternate committee member will also be selected and will serve as a non-voting member. Should a member of the committee be unable to fulfill duties, the alternate will assume the role of the voting member. The city attorney will attend all meetings and will act in an advisory role and a current city employee will staff the committee.