NOTICE OF BALLOT TITLE AND EXPLANATORY STATEMENT FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY CHARTER AMENDMENT – COMMISSIONERS RUNNING FOR CHAIR MIDTERM
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a ballot title and explanatory statement for a Multnomah County Charter Amendment has been filed with the Multnomah County Director of Elections to be referred to voters in Multnomah County, at the November 8, 2016 General Election. Any registered voter dissatisfied with the Ballot Title and Explanatory Statement may file a petition with the Multnomah County Circuit Court for review on or before 5:00 PM, August 16, 2016. Any person filing a challenge must also file a copy of the challenge with the Director of Elections, 1040 SE Morrison St., Portland, by the end of the next business day after the petition is filed with the Circuit Court.
Ballot Title:
Caption: Amends charter, commissioners may run for Chair midterm without resigning.
Question: Should charter be amended to allow commissioners to run for Chair mid-term without resigning their current elected office?
Summary: The current Charter provides that if an elected official files to run for another elective office midterm they effectively resign their office on the date they file for another office. The only exception occurs in the last year of an elective term. Filing for another office in the last year of an elective term does not constitute resignation. The proposed amendment allows a county commissioner to run for county chair midterm without resigning their current elected office, and clearly specifies that no other elected official may run for another elective office midterm without resigning.
A county commissioner running for an elected office midterm other than the chair’s office will remain subject to the resignation provision. Similarly, the chair, auditor, and sheriff – the three other elected officials in the county – must resign their office if they run for another elective office midterm, unless they do so in the last year of their elective term.
Explanatory Statement:
The current Charter provides that if an elected official files to run for another elective office midterm they effectively resign their office on the date they file for another office. The only exception occurs in the last year of an elective term. Filing for another office in the last year of an elective term does not constitute resignation. The proposed amendment allows a county commissioner to run for county chair midterm without resigning their current elected office, and clearly specifies that no other elected official may run for another elective office midterm without resigning.
A county commissioner running for an elected office midterm other than the chair’s office will remain subject to the resignation provision. Similarly, the chair, auditor, and sheriff – the three other elected officials in the county – must resign their office if they run for another elective office midterm, unless they do so in the last year of their elective term.
Tim Scott, Multnomah County Director of Elections