Bolivar council votes to take no position on charter’s ‘resign-to-run’ dispute; leaves decision to election commission

The Bolivar City Council on a special call meeting voted to instruct the city attorney to send a letter to the Hardeman County Election Commission stating the city takes no position on whether a council member who filed to run should be placed on the ballot, effectively leaving that eligibility decision to the election commission.

City Attorney Stevens told the council the charter language at issue is a “resign-to-run” provision in the Bolivar charter that requires a council member who wants to run for mayor to resign before qualifying, and that the provision was added in the mid-1990s. Stevens recommended the council avoid taking a position that would require the city to violate its charter and expose the city or individual council members to legal risk. “If you vote in favor of that, you are voting in favor as a city council member of violating the city's charter,” Stevens said. He added he believed the provision would likely be found unconstitutional if litigated but warned that “until it's amended or changed, that is the law.”

The dispute surfaced after a council member filed nominating paperwork without having resigned from the council; the county election office asked for a response from the city by Thursday, council members said. Concerned members said the provision has the practical effect of barring some council members from running for mayor while allowing others to remain in office and run, creating what several speakers called an unfair advantage. Councilmember Woods said the clause was added in the 1990s and insisted she knew why it was adopted, saying, “That charter was changed because of me.”

After extended discussion about enforcement and remedies, the council considered two competing approaches: advise the election commission to put the candidate on the ballot and start the charter-amendment process, or take no position and let the election commission and courts decide any challenge. The council ultimately approved the “take no position” option. The clerk recorded the final tally as five yeses, two noes and one abstention; the motion passed. The transcript identifies two members voting no (Brown and Golden) and one abstention (Woods); the council did not produce a singular, unanimous interpretation of who would enforce a charter violation or how enforcement would proceed.

Stevens outlined options for changing the charter if the council chooses to do so later: a two-thirds vote of the council to propose amendments, two public readings, and then approval by the Tennessee legislature, a process he said would take months and likely could not be completed before the next state legislative calendar closed. He also described Tennessee Code Annotated section 7-51-1501 as a statutory provision that protects employees’ and officials’ political activity and said no Tennessee court has squarely decided a conflict between that code section and a local resign-to-run charter provision.

Council members pressed for clarity about who would be sued or charged if the council voted to ignore the charter. Stevens said the statute and the charter are in tension and that enforcement mechanisms were not clear from precedent: the charter contains a misdemeanor penalty provision with a fine up to $50 for unspecified violations, but Stevens said he found no recent cases identifying how or by whom that penalty would be sought.

With the council leaving the decision to the election commission, the immediate next step is administrative: the city attorney will send the letter stating the city’s neutral posture. If the election commission places the candidate on the ballot, the matter may end; if the commission excludes the candidate, the excluded person could seek judicial relief, which Stevens said would be the point at which constitutional arguments would be decided by a court.

The council also discussed, but did not enact, beginning the charter-amendment process during the meeting. Several members urged starting a broader charter review and amendment effort.

The council adjourned after the vote.