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Committee tweaks residency language for election eligibility, favors election-day test
Summary
City attorney advised the committee to use election-day as the residency cutoff rather than the start of the filing period; the committee accepted the change to make the rule clearer to voters and more legally defensible.
The Sweet Home Charter Review Committee adopted revised residency language that sets election day as the relevant residency cutoff for local office eligibility, a change the city attorney said is more legally defensible and easier for the public to understand.
City Attorney Blair Larson told the committee that courts often strike down local residency requirements of more than one year and that making election day the reference date is clearer than tying the test to the filing deadline. “People know when election day is,” Larson said, arguing that the filing period is not familiar to the general public.
Committee members agreed and approved Larson’s suggested amendment. One member said the change is “more legally defensible” and “more clear to the general public.” The committee adopted the change by voice vote and recorded the aye votes.
Larson noted that county clerks typically verify candidate addresses with the DMV prior to elections, but he warned that residency disputes after election day — such as when a member moves midterm and does not resign — could still fall to the council under section 5.8.
The committee forwarded the amended residency language to the full city council for inclusion in the charter packet.
