Council debates town halls, city communications and limits on use of public resources for charter replacement

(This article describes a long discussion in the Feb. 11 meeting about using city resources to inform residents about a proposed replacement charter. It summarizes legal guidance provided, competing views in council about a mayoral posting, and next steps the council asked staff to take.)

The council spent more than an hour on Feb. 11 debating whether and how to use public resources — town halls, mailings and website postings — to provide information about a proposed replacement charter that council previously placed on the ballot. The city’s law director and other speakers framed the issue around the legal line between permissible information and impermissible advocacy.

Law Director Steve (last name in transcript "Steve") told councilors that providing factual information about a ballot item is allowed, but city resources may not be used to say “vote yes” or “vote no.” “You can send out information about issues. That’s well established,” he said, while noting the precise line between information and advocacy can be hard to draw and depends on phrasing and editing.

Several council members said they were concerned about a recent mayoral posting about the replacement charter that some colleagues characterized as selective and incomplete. Councilmember LeMay asked for a balanced FAQ-style mailer like the one the city used during an earlier sidewalk ballot process, and urged staff to draft an informational communication for council review. Mayor Rick Newell defended his posting as factual and cited links to the full draft charter; he said his intent was to highlight substantive government-structure changes in the draft, not to advocate a position.

Councilmembers and staff agreed the Civic League has offered to host a town-hall-style forum that could include debate between opponents and proponents. The law director said a Civic League–hosted event would be a safe option because it would be independent of the city, but he also said the council could hold informational sessions if staff carefully limit content to objective, factual explanations.

Council directed staff to prepare a written legal review on town-hall guidance and to draft a balanced, factual communication (FAQ) about the replacement charter for council review prior to publication. Members also discussed scheduling informational sessions in council meetings and separate town halls; staff will examine dates and venues and return with options.

What to watch

- Staff to prepare written legal guidance on town-hall content and to draft an informational FAQ for council approval. - Council to decide whether to hold special town halls, use council meetings as informational forums, or accept Civic League–hosted events.

Direct quotes in this article are attributed to the law director and named council members as provided in the meeting transcript.