Charter review committee approves drafting changes on mayoral vacancies, discipline thresholds, attendance and checks

A charter review committee meeting on an item to revise the city charter advanced several procedural and structural changes and directed staff to return a final draft for adoption.

Committee members approved a correction to the prior meeting minutes and then reviewed a marked-up charter packet. Vice Chair Jarvis moved and members approved inserting the phrase "and a mayor" into chapter 2 so that mayoral vacancies are explicitly covered by the same vacancy rules discussed for councilors.

On how vacancies are filled, staff confirmed proposed language that an office would first be offered to the next-highest vote getter in the previous city council election; if that person declines or is ineligible, the council would appoint a replacement. The committee discussed whether to fix the mayor threshold as a 12-month cut-off or to…