CAPTION: Charter Amendment To Update Procedures, Administrative Provisions
QUESTION: Shall the Wood Village City Charter be amended to update certain procedural and administrative provisions?
SUMMARY: This measure would make several housekeeping amendments to the Charter to streamline and update procedures and provisions. The amendments:
- Set forth the powers and duties of the City Administrator.
- Provide that the City Administrator appoints, supervises and terminates City employees, subject to personnel policies adopted by the City Council.
- Make city employees ineligible to run for council.
- Update provisions relating to meetings and elections to require compliance with the State of Oregon Public Meetings and Records Law and State election law.
- Eliminate or revise provisions related to torts and debt limitations to comply with current State law.
- Eliminate references to bond issues passed in the 1950s and 1960s that have been fully paid.
- Eliminate 1953 transition provisions, clarify language, and replace masculine pronouns and reference with sex neutral terms.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Wood Village Charter Revisions.
This Measure is referred to the voters by the City Council of the City of Wood Village. If enacted, it would make several housekeeping amendments to the Wood Village City Charter in order to update administrative provisions.
The Wood Village Charter governs the structure, function and powers of city government. It was first enacted by the voters in 1953. Although a number of minor amendments have been made over the years, the Charter has not been comprehensively updated. The amendments would do the following:
The amendments would recognize the existing Council/ Administrator form of government. City government has evolved over the years from a City Council and part-time City Recorder into a Council/Administrator form of government similar to most cities in Oregon. Under this form, the elected Council sets the City policy and budget and appoints a professional City Administrator who is responsible for managing the employees and the day to day operations of the City. The City has operated under this structure for at least the last fifteen years, but the Charter has never been revised to recognize the change. The amendments set forth the powers and duties of the City Administrator and provide that the Administrator serves at the please of the City Council.
The amendments correct certain outdate references and recognize new state laws. The amendments eliminate transition provisions dating back to 1953, and change meeting, records and election requirements to comply with the Oregon Public Meetings Law, Public Records Law and Election Law. The amendments also change the city boundaries section to reference annexations that have occurred over the years. The amendments eliminate a section that is inconsistent with the Oregon Tort Claims Act, and revises the misexpenditure of public funds clause to be consistent with Oregon Local Budget Law.
Several amendments clarify old or unclear provisions. Masculine pronouns and references are changed to sex-neutral terms. (For example, “councilman” is changed to “councilor”.)
The amendments also provide that no City employee may serve on the Council during their employment with the City.
Finally, the amendments also eliminate references to bond measures passed in the 1950’s and 1960’s that have been paid off. Bond measures must be approved by voters but no longer have to be listed in the Charter under state law.
A “yes” vote would approve the above amendments.
A “no” vote would retain the existing provisions.
Submitted by:
Wood Village City Council
No arguments FOR or AGAINST this measure were filed.