New Richmond council approves charter ordinance shifting operational authority to city administrator while keeping elected mayor

New Richmond City Council on Sept. 8 approved Charter Ordinance 628, a proposal to change the city's form of government so that a professionally appointed city administrator would handle the city's daily operations while the mayor remains an elected, at-large official and votes on all matters.

City Administrator Noah outlined the proposal in a public hearing, saying, "this is our, fourth time, discussing the possible change in form of government." He told the council the draft ordinance would remove statutory mayoral authority over police and fire so those departments "would no longer, be under the statutory authority of the mayor. They would be, just like any other department in the city." Noah added that the police and fire commission would retain authority over hiring, promotions and discipline for those departments.

The draft ordinance keeps the mayor as an at-large elected position with the same two-year term in the current draft, preserves the mayor's ceremonial duties and adds the mayor as a full voting member rather than voting only to break ties. Noah said citizens would continue to elect six alderpersons by district and could still nominate candidates for upcoming elections under current timelines.

During public comment, resident John Walsh of 1410 Falcon Place urged the council to ensure members were well informed before voting and said the community's growth justified examining the change: "...maybe it's time to be a little more progressive and and consider something different." Resident Wendy Smallidge, 315 Graton Road, asked the council for its opinion; the council invited speakers to use the microphone and state names and addresses before speaking.

Police leadership spoke in support of the operational change as a protection for departmental continuity. The police chief said the arrangement would provide "consistency of the day to day operations and having 1 person to answer to that I know is there Monday through Friday and available on the weekends," saying that arrangement helps with oversight and public safety continuity.

Council discussion touched on term lengths and local precedent. Several alderpersons described the draft as a compromise between retaining an elected mayor as the community's visible leader and creating a professionally managed administration for day-to-day operations. One alderman suggested changing the mayoral term to three years; councilors agreed the ordinance as drafted (two-year mayoral term) could be amended later and that any amendment would require a formal motion.

A motion to approve Charter Ordinance 628 pending final legal review and to suspend the rules was made and seconded. The ordinance was noticed as a charter ordinance subject to a class 1 public notice and a 60-day period; Noah stated the 60-day waiting period would conclude on 2025-11-17 if the council approved the charter ordinance tonight and it passed legal review. The council conducted a roll-call vote with the following recorded: Mayor Jim Zukowski, Alderman Vries, Alderman Weinmeier, Alderman Gartner, Alderman Volkert, Alderman Montello and Alderman Kittle all voting yes. The motion passed.

The ordinance will be submitted for final legal review by the city attorney and sent to the Department of Administration per charter-ordinance procedure; the city clerk will publish the required class 1 notice in the newspaper.

No formal ballot or implementation date was adopted at the meeting beyond the procedural notices described by staff; council members and staff said the proposal would return for any further legal or procedural steps needed.