MULBERRY – Extending commission terms from two years to three, assigning the city clerk to report solely to the city manager and increasing the thresholds for making routine expenditures without seeking bids are among the changes proposed for the Mulberry city charter.
A six-member committee, led by former Commissioner Jerry Woods, pored over the charter for five months before drafting a list of 13 proposed charter amendments, which were presented to the City Commission on Tuesday.
Commissioners said they anticipate approving an ordinance next month to include the proposed changes on the city’s election ballot in April.
Drew Crawford, the city’s attorney, said some of the 13 proposed changes can be consolidated, which would reduce the number of separate proposals on the ballot.
Among the proposed changes are:
• Filling commission vacancies: If there’s less than one year remaining, the city would hold a special election. If the remaining term exceeds one year, commissioners would have the option of appointing a temporary commissioner to finish the term, hold a special election or leave the seat vacant until the next city election.
• Mayoral vacancies: The vice mayor could choose to fill a mayoral vacancy, and commissioners fill the vacancy that would create, or the commission could include the mayor’s seat on the next city election ballot, with the vice mayor acting as mayor during the interim.
• The commission should hold an annual organizational session after an election to swear in new commissioners and elect a vice mayor before business is transacted.
• Runoff elections, which currently are held a week after the city’s election, would be held a month later to allow for absentee ballots.
• The city clerk, who currently is hired by the city manager but reports also to the City Commission, will report directly to the city manager.
• Currently, city administrators can spend up to $10,000 without commission approval or competitive bidding, and the commission can spend up to $25,000 without competitive bidding. Those thresholds would increase to $15,000 and $40,000.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, commissioners debated whether to present the tentative changes as one proposal on the ballot or to list them individually. They questioned whether residents would take the time to review each of the proposals.
They decided to list them individually.
Johnny Carter, who served on the charter review committee, said Tuesday he agreed with that approach.
“I think people are smarter than you think,” he told commissioners.
Crawford told commissioners they will be able to make changes to the proposals right up to the second reading of the charter change ordinance, which is slated for Feb. 20.
Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached at suzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. Follow her on Twitter @southpolkscene.