The final public hearing on Charter Revision Commission recommendations for this year’s ballot in November will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, Jul 26, at 7 p.m. in the Board of Education Auditorium. The hearing will be followed by a special City Council meeting where the recommendations will be voted on.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive public input regarding the following proposed Charter changes contained in the Charter Revision Commission Draft Report: available here DraftRpt. The recommendations include the following:

• Increasing the membership of the City Council from two (2) to three (3) members per district through multiparty representation and increasing the membership of the Board of Finance from eight (8) to eleven (11) members.
• Changing the term of the mayor from a two-year term to a four-year term.
• Expanding the types and penalties for misconduct for elected or appointed officials.
• Changing the public process for creating council districts.
• Technical revisions for consistency in terminology and capitalization.

For an agenda and a link to join the meeting virtually, click here.

Immediately following the public hearing, the City Council will convene for a special meeting for a vote on approving or rejecting the recommendations.

In addition, the special meeting will vote to authorize the city’s participation the next level of the Housing and Urban Development’s “Moving To Work” program for public housing residents.

Under the draft proposal, residents will now have an option to have funds from housing assistance added to an escrow account for future use; offering residents the opportunity to build their credit through voluntary participation involving credit services; or build credit through the encouragement of savings accounts/credit building assistance.

Click here for copy of the draft proposal. For an agenda of the special city council meeting and a link, click here.