Commissioners discussed establishing a separate city clerk position that would report directly to the commission rather than to the city manager. The issue was raised during a pre-meeting on Oct. 5, 2025, after several citizens asked whether the commission should separate clerk duties as the city prepares to hire a new city manager.

City Attorney (transcript speaker) told commissioners that creating a charter office for a city clerk would require amending the city's charter and that voter approval in a referendum would be necessary. "If you wish to establish a city clerk position that reports to you, that's creating essentially a new charter office position that will require a change to the charter," she said, and added the commission could initiate the charter-change process.

The attorney also said the commission could direct the charter review committee to consider the amendment or direct staff to draft a charter amendment ordinance. She noted many sections of the city code (identified in transcript as chapters 2, 14, 26, 30, 42, 50, 54, 62, 70 and the LDC) assign duties to the combined manager/clerk role and would need cleanup. She told commissioners that cleanup of the code does not require a referendum but that making the position effective only upon voter approval is possible to avoid inconsistent versions of duties.

Commissioners discussed whether the clerk should be an appointed or elected position; one commissioner said elected clerks are uncommon, and the attorney said county clerks can be elected, but city clerks are typically appointed. The attorney advised caution about appointing someone to a clerk position before a charter amendment is approved, saying the charter currently requires city officers to be subordinate to the city manager and that hiring someone beforehand could create a conflict with the charter.

No ordinance or charter amendment was adopted during the pre-meeting. The attorney offered to draft an ordinance to change the charter or to present the matter to the charter committee, depending on how the commission wanted to proceed.

No vote was recorded in the pre-meeting transcript; commissioners indicated they would continue discussion at the next meeting.