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Charter Review Committee to review charter page by page, form subteams; public raises residency and mobile-home topics
Summary
The committee agreed to review the Sunnyvale charter in organized chunks, form small teams to work in parallel, and compile topics for Council. Public speakers urged consideration of residency requirements for candidates and review of mobile-home park acreage rules.
The Charter Review Committee began substantive planning Feb. 6, agreeing to review the city charter as a whole, form small teams to work in parallel and submit a prioritized list of topics for City Council review in May.
City attorney staff and the deputy city manager told the committee that the charter is adopted by voters while more detailed procedures live in the Sunnyvale Municipal Code, meaning the committee should weigh where issues belong: in the charter (voter change required) or in the municipal code (council can amend). Staff cautioned about Brown Act risks for subcommittees and recommended forming fixed teams of fewer than a quorum to avoid serial-meeting violations.
Committee members favored a page-by-page review of the charter so members develop a shared baseline. Several members proposed dividing the work roughly into thirds for initial meetings; staff agreed to agendize the review broadly so the committee can discuss related sections flexibly. Staff said it will produce a consolidated list of council-directed topics and staff recommendations for the committee by the March meeting.
Public comments: Two members of the public urged the committee to consider changes to residency requirements. Zachary Kaye suggested longer residency periods for candidates for mayor and council (he proposed five years for mayor, two years for council as an example) and shorter residency for some boards and commissions; David Neuswanger (via a statement read into the record) noted that current charter Article 6.03(a)-(b) requires just 30 days of residency to run for mayor or council and asked the committee to evaluate the pros and cons. Steve S. also urged careful consideration of residency requirements, citing past cases where short residency raised questions.
Another public speaker asked the committee to review a charter provision addressing mobile-home park acreage (speaker recalled a numerical acreage threshold) and consider whether that language still serves the city given market and ownership changes. Staff noted members can submit questions to staff email for research ahead of meetings.
Direction and next steps: The committee favored creating subteams and requested staff provide the council-directed list and staff suggestions by March. Members were told to email procedural or research questions to the staff liaison (charterreview@sunnyvale.ca.gov) so staff can prepare answers for future meetings. Staff also reminded members that committee member remote participation is limited by city administrative policy for boards and commissions and that accommodations can be made in-chamber for childcare or other needs.
Ending: The committee will begin its page-by-page review at the Feb. 27 meeting and continue to develop a list of potential charter amendments to present to City Council in May.
