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Charter Review Committee approves removing state-duplicative language, agrees to move ordinance matters out of charter
Summary
The Charter Review Committee on July 10 voted to remove charter wording that duplicates state law and agreed that subject matters better handled by ordinance should be moved out of the charter.
The Charter Review Committee on July 10 voted to remove charter wording that duplicates state law and agreed that subject matters better handled by ordinance should be moved out of the charter.
Committee member Miss Robinson moved to accept staff and consultant recommendations; Mister Powell seconded. Committee members voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously. Committee staff and consultants said the goal is to avoid embedding detailed regulatory rules in the charter that may become obsolete if state law changes.
A consultant from the Carl Vinson Institute told the committee, “you all receive the highlight version to help you see what's being covered. Once you make a decision to approve removing that, then we create the strikethrough version and post that…so that everybody can see what has actually been done.” The presentation said the items identified for relocation commonly include alcohol licensing, traffic regulations, animal control, streetlighting, and parks and recreation rules.
Members who asked questions said the shift would allow the city to update technical rules quickly through ordinances rather than repeat them in the charter, which is harder to change. The consultant said the committee will provide a list of proposed ordinances so the commission and city attorneys can prepare replacement ordinances ahead of any charter change to avoid a lapse in regulation.
The committee’s action was strictly procedural: it removed duplicative text and instructed staff to publish strikethroughs of the revised charter draft for public review. No changes to substantive policy beyond the reclassification of provisions were approved at this meeting.
Committee staff noted materials and the strikethrough master will be posted on the Charter Review Committee web page for public review.
The committee also approved the minutes for a prior meeting (including a statement read into the record) during the same session.
