As I am certain that you are already aware, the City Charter does not contain a provision of any sort that establishes a requirement for a periodic review of the document. It does, however, provide for the structure by which to review the Charter if it is determined that an examination is warranted for some reason.
The Charter Ordinance Advisory Board was established on February 16, 1989 with the purpose to provide recommendations to City Council for revisions, additions, amendments or other changes pertaining to the City Charter and City Code of Ordinances. The ordinance outlined the duties and responsibilities of the Board as follows:
- To review the municipal Charter and Code of Ordinances and make written recommendations to City Council on improvements to the Charter or Code of Ordinances.
- In formulating revisions to the Charter of the City Code, the Board shall coordinate with all the various Boards in the City and all of the various departments of the City Administration.
The ordinance states that the Board shall be comprised of seven regular members and two alternate members who shall be selected by the City Council by a majority vote. The term of office for each member is for three years.
There are several decisions that the City Council needs to make related to this matter if any action at all is contemplated. To begin, a decision needs to be made as to whether the Charter Advisory Board Ordinance, a copy of which is attached for reference, needs to be amended as it was adopted in February of 1999 and may no longer reflect the current desires of the City Council relating to duties, membership, meeting schedule etc.
Secondly, a decision needs to be made as to whether or not a Charter Ordinance Advisory Board should be activated. If it is decided that a Board should be activated then you may want to discuss potential qualifications of board members, screening, interview and selection processes. Additionally, you may want to consider limiting the scope of the review to specific parameters i.e.- address concepts or sections to be changed, restricting the scope of inquiries or the length of time devoted to the review of the Charter document.
Lastly, as previously stated the Charter Ordinance Advisory Board is established as a recommending body and the only method by which to effectuate change to the City Charter is through the referendum vote process.