East Ridge council opens discussion on charter review, asks staff to consult MTAS for next steps

The East Ridge City Council discussed whether to review the city charter during its March 20 meeting and directed staff to consult the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) for guidance on process and structure.

A staff member reported the city's charter has not been comprehensively reviewed in at least a decade and identified prior advisory commissions from 2008 and 2013. "Our charter does state that we should review it with a committee every 5 years," the staff member said, "but it's been at least 10 and surely in the past 10 years there's gotta be something that we could possibly do that would improve the city of East Ridge or the way it's run."

Council members were generally supportive of a review but requested additional input from MTAS and other city attorneys on best practices: whether the commission should be citizen-led, how council members might participate, and typical timelines. The city attorney/staff said he would raise questions with MTAS during routine contacts and return with recommended next steps at a subsequent meeting.

Council did not take formal action to form a commission at this meeting. The tentative plan is for staff to report back with MTAS recommendations and options for structuring a charter review, at which point the council may place a formal item on a future regular agenda.