Sunnyvale council narrows charter-review workplan, punts ranked-choice voting to later study

Gustave Larsen, chair of the Charter Review Committee, presented the committee’s prioritized list of potential charter amendments and asked the City Council to “draw the line” on which items the committee should study further.

The council directed the committee to focus on five items for development into potential 2026 ballot measures: authorizing alternative project delivery (design‑build), raising or clarifying city manager settlement authority, revising vacancy/appointment rules for council seats, adjusting meeting frequency rules, and reviewing council salaries including a higher mayor salary level. Larsen told council the committee had recommended focusing on “four or maybe five, but certainly no more than that” to match the committee’s limited time and staff resources.

Why it matters: narrowing the list will determine which charter language the volunteer committee, with staff support, spends the remainder of 2025…