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Charter review committee approves changes to sections 6.6 and 7.2
Summary
The East Lansing City Charter Review Committee approved proposed language changes to section 6.6 and to section 7.2 (city manager), adopting the attorney-drafted edits and a residency-related provision after discussion.
The East Lansing City Charter Review Committee voted to approve proposed amendments to section 6.6 and to section 7.2 of the municipal charter at its Feb. 1, 2025 meeting.
Committee members approved changes to section 6.6 after a motion to adopt the attorney-drafted resolution. The motion was moved and seconded and members voted in favor; the committee chair declared the item approved.
The committee also considered language for section 7.2, related to the city manager. After discussion about wording, residence expectations and enforceability, a motion to approve the proposed language passed by voice vote and the chair announced the resolution as approved. The committee record does not include a clear roll-call tally in the transcript, and the transcript records the count as not specified.
Why it matters: Section 6.6 and 7.2 define the scope of legal and executive functions in the charter. Committee members said the edits reflect work with legal counsel and sought wording that clarifies duties while trying to avoid unintended legal limits on hiring or operations.
Details and outcome: For section 6.6 the committee accepted the attorney-proposed language and instructed staff to submit the formal resolution as written. For section 7.2 the committee resolved language about designation of a deputy/acting official and discussed — but did not require — a strict residency mandate for the city manager. Several members expressed concern that residency requirements can be arbitrary or exclusionary; others said proximity can matter for emergency response. The committee voted to adopt the version on the table.
Votes at a glance (from meeting record) - Section 6.6: Motion to adopt attorney-drafted changes — outcome: approved (voice vote). Mover: not specified in the audio record; second: not specified; tally: not specified in transcript. - Section 7.2 (city manager): Motion to adopt proposed language — outcome: approved (voice vote). Mover: identified in discussion as a committee member who spoke as Dr. Martinez; second: identified in discussion as a committee member who spoke as Dr. Wilkerson Johnson; tally: not clearly recorded in the transcript and therefore listed as not specified here.
Formal motions and recorded outcomes are entered in the committee minutes; where the transcript is unclear about a specific vote tally this article reports the vote outcome as announced at the meeting.
