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Stayton council outlines charter changes to send to voters; targets May 2026

5771010 ยท June 3, 2025

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Summary

After a multi-topic presentation by the city attorney, the Stayton City Council reached consensus on a package of charter updates to present to voters, including clarifying annexation language, making the mayor a voting council member, removing the mayor's reconsideration authority, and adding a seventh council seat.

City Attorney Ross Williams briefed the Stayton City Council on potential charter amendments and the council provided direction to draft a package for voter consideration, with staff recommending a May 2026 election timeline.

Ross walked the council through sections of the charter including annexation language (section 4), the mayor's role (section 9), vacancy procedures (section 33), city manager appointment/removal (section 34) and other housekeeping topics. He described options for each provision: leave unchanged, delete, or revise to borrow sample language from Corvallis or the model charter. Ross emphasized there is no legal requirement to change the charter but that clarifications could reduce future litigation risk.

Councilors expressed policy preferences and reached a set of directions: retain a three-acre threshold for voter approval of annexations but revise the charter's wording to match Corvallis's tested language; make the mayor a voting member of the council and remove the mayor's separate reconsideration authority; add a seventh council seat (with staff to draft options for term length and timing so election cycles align); harmonize vacancy appointment language so the council, rather than the mayor alone, appoints replacements; and move city manager appointment/removal authority into a clearer council-driven process. Council also asked staff to leave personnel-rule authority unchanged and to consider removing a residential requirement for the manager in favor of contract negotiation.

Ross said the city can present the package to voters either as a single charter revision or as grouped measures. Council favored placing the proposal(s) on a May 2026 ballot to allow more time for voter education and to avoid overlapping this work with other fall measures. Staff will draft redline charter language and return with a final package and timeline for council action.