title
Charter Amendment Granting City Commissioners Authority to Appoint Temporary Staff Personnel (B)
explanation
The current charter gives the City Commission authority to hire charter officers only. All other employees of the City operate under a charter officer. Currently, except for the purpose of an inquiry, City Commissioners are only allowed to deal with employees of the City through the employees' respective charter officers.
On December 9, 2021, the General Policy Committee directed the City Attorney's office to draft a proposed charter amendment which would allow members of the City Commission to appoint independent staff to assist them in carrying out their individual functions as members of the Commission.
The proposed charter amendment would enable the City Commission to allow each member of the City Commission to appoint temporary staff personnel who would report directly to that Commissioner. The purpose of a charter is to set forth the basic framework for municipal government, so the details as to the number of appointees and how temporary staff personnel are appointed, classified, compensated, and managed are not included in the proposed charter amendment. If the proposed charter amendment is placed on the ballot and approved by the electorate, the details regarding appointment and management of temporary staff personnel could be set forth in a subsequent ordinance, reflecting the possibility that the desire for and characteristics of such personnel may change from time to time.
If the Commission reaches consensus on a desired charter amendment, the charter and state law require that the ballot title, ballot question, and text of the charter amendment be embodied in an enabling ordinance that must be approved by four-fifths of the Commission members, which is 6 of 7 Commission members. If approved, the proposed charter amendment would be placed on the ballot for the November 8, 2022 election.
recommendation
The City Commission ...
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