Charter Commission tweaks personnel provisions to align police chief with city manager rules

The Sunbury City Charter Commission reviewed and discussed proposed revisions to Article VII, Administrative Departments and Personnel, on April 8, focusing on aligning removal and suspension procedures for the chief of police with those for the city manager. Rebecca, staff member, told commissioners the draft replaces references to “administrator” with “city manager” and modifies the chief of police suspension and removal provisions to match the process the commission approved earlier for the city manager.

The change, Rebecca said, is intended to give the city flexibility to “suspend someone right away” when necessary while avoiding rigid time frames. She also noted parallel edits to the clerk-of-council provisions to reflect the same approach and said language referencing “upon adoption of this charter” was removed from several sections because the city has passed that milestone.

Commission members asked clarifying questions about the previous exclusion for the police department in section 706 and the rationale for moving authority to the city manager. Mr. Chair and Mr. Hennessy discussed historical practice when the mayor had direct oversight of the police department; the proposed language moves that authority to the city manager because the manager is a full-time official available to appoint acting department heads. Commissioners did not propose further changes during the meeting.

The commission did not take final votes on Article VII at this meeting; Rebecca said the revisions would be reflected in the next red-line draft for final review. The commission moved on to Article VIII after the discussion.