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15 May 08
Charter Review Committee
brainstorms
Should Royal Oak convert to the Strong Mayor form of government?
During a brainstorming session, part of a months-long review of the City
Charter primarily for the benefit of two new members, the Charter Review Committee
last week added several items to its list of ideas to
explore, including: Converting from the City Manager/Commission form to the
Strong Mayor form of government; Electing commissioners by Ward, instead
of at-large; Universal changing of gender references in the charter;
Increasing compensation for commissioners and mayor.
In
addition, the review looks for archaic language and out-of-date
specifications, as well as incompatibility with Michigan law.
The CRC's Priorities Worksheet contains topics suggested by the members themselves, by CITCOM, by department heads (who were asked to
submit suggestions), and by the public. Each item is consensually assigned an order
of importance or urgency. After initial study, an item may be set aside
for future consideration, rejected, or forwarded to CITCOM for approval,
then sent to Lansing for review before being placed on the local ballot.
Two essentially editorial amendments will appear on this year's August
ballot, one of which has been modified at Lansing's
suggestion/direction.
Current CRC members are Chairman Dave Poulton, attorney;
City Commissioner Chuck Semchena;
Frank Versagi, retired management consultant;
and
new appointees Nadia Aubrey and Ronald George. CRC meetings are
open to the public.
12 Feb 07
Charter Review Committee addresses
"violation" concerns
Royal Oak's City Charter calls for a Director of Public Safety
and since currently there is no such official, "You are operating in violation
of the city charter," suggested one Public Comment speaker during a recent city
committee meeting. Although the reactivated Charter Review Committee has
self-assigned itself a review of such outdated titles, the question
remains: how does it happen that Royal Oak is operating without an officer
called for in the charter?
That question was addressed at the 23 February
CRC meeting, and the answer appears in the charter itself: "The Commission
shall, by ordinance, determine and prescribe the functions and duties of each
department . . . and by a vote of five of its members create new departments,
combine existing departments, and establish temporary departments for special
work." Not all such changes require revision of the charter.
Among the dozen or so proposed amendments already
suggested for CRC consideration is one which will update and simplify the
charter's present cumbersome language concerning the working relationships among
the Purchasing Agent, the Treasurer, and the Finance Director. In 2005, the
voters approved an amendment which has the Finance Director reporting to the
City Manager, rather than to the City Commission.
The 5-member CRC hopes to have at least two
proposed amendments on the November 2007 ballot, continuing the work of its
predecessor committee to bring the charter into compliance with Michigan law and
with contemporary language and current practices. -- 28 Feb 07
19 Apr 07
5 proposed City
Charter Amendments being prepared
At its 19 April 2007 meeting the Charter Review Committee (CRC) drafted
language for five amendments to the City Charter. If approved by the City
Commission, the proposed amendments will appear on the November ballot.
Two of the proposals remove
dollar-limits from purchasing and bidding operations, giving CITCOM the
authority to set those limits publicly during annual budget deliberations.
Specified dollar dimensions in such documents as a charter or bylaws quickly
become outdated. Two of the proposals deal with
streamlining the now cumbersome operational relationships among the City
Manager, Finance Director, Treasurer, Purchasing Agent, and CITCOM. The
fifth proposal is to eliminate the local Board of Canvassers, which has
proved to be superfluous and unnecessary.
The CRC will mount an
informational effort to acquaint voters with CITCOM-approved proposed
amendments. CRC minutes are posted on the city's website.
17
May 07
Five Charter Amendments proposed by
city panel
The Charter Review Committee on 17 May approved forwarding five proposed
charter amendments to the City Commission. If approved by CITCOM, the
amendment language is sent to the Michigan Attorney General and the Governor,
to assure that the language complies with State requirements. Briefly, the
proposed amendments would:
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Authorize the City Manager, rather than the
City Commission, appoint the City Treasurer.
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Have the Purchasing Agent be appointed by and
report directly to the Finance Director.
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Remove the outdated $1,000 spending limit
(beyond which CITCOM approval is required) by giving the City Commission the
authority to set that spending limit by resolution at the same time the
annual budget is adopted.
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Similarly, authorize the City Commission to
establish the dollar amount (now set at $1,000) beyond which competitive
bidding is required.
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Permit the City to retain the Oakland County
Board of Canvassers to canvass the city's ballots and to certify elections.
The CRC plans to mount an informational
campaign to provide the public with the reasoning behind and the need for any
amendments which achieve City and State approval. That campaign will take the
form of presentations to service clubs and civic and religious organizations,
perhaps a Town Hall and participation in Candidate Rallies, and possibly a video
or webcast.
CITCOM approved the proposed amendments
during their 21 May meeting,
conditioned on making the language gender neutral.
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17 May 07 19 Apr 07
12 Feb 07
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