Charter Review Committee Established
“Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees. And both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.”
Garnering and maintaining the public trust is achieved, in part, by ensuring that your City Council works transparently and collaboratively with themselves and the community. Creative, impactful and cost-effective solutions to the challenges that face us can only be found when we work together.
Toward that end, the City Council adopted a new "Code of Ethics" and "Council Rules." These new ethical standards and rules ensure that no single individual or group of individuals can monopolize the agenda and subvert the will of the community. These improvements were born from the hard lessons learned as the public fought the attempts of three former council members to end a 20-year partnership with the YMCA. That painful period in our history led to the overwhelming recall of two councilors and a Mayor who used parliamentary loopholes to control the docket. To make these changes lasting, and prevent future turmoil, we are asking our voters to consider an update to our City Charter.
Much like the U.S. Constitution and the Oregon State Constitution, the City Charter defines the rules that our staff and elected officials are bound to follow. Our charter should promote the efficient operation of our community and guarantee that citizens have a voice in the process of change.
On September 18, 2018, the City Council approved Resolution 2018-073 appointing members to the newly created Charter Review Committee. The members include an individual from each of our boards and commissions as well as citizens at large.
This committee will be reviewing the charter and will make recommendations to the council for changes. The City Council will then submit the proposed changes to you the voters. It is important to note that the charter cannot be changed without a vote by the public.
The committee meetings will be open to the public; you will have the ability to comment during most sessions. Please get involved if you have ideas or suggestions that you would like the committee to consider.
Click here to learn more about this process and the issues behind it.