Council agrees to study conflicting charter ordinances, directs staff to compile documents for next meeting

Council members spent an extended portion of the meeting debating apparent conflicts between charter ordinance number 9 and city ordinances 1891 and 1900.

Several council members argued ordinance 1900 appears to amend or repeal language in charter ordinance 9 in a way that may conflict with the Kansas Constitution’s rules for charter ordinances. One councilmember said the change “violates the state camp the Kansas State Constitution article 12 section 5 c 4,” noting that a charter ordinance can only be repealed by another charter ordinance.

Council consensus was to compile charter ordinance 9 along with ordinances 1891 and 1900 into a single packet, circulate the materials to council members in advance, and return to the issue at the next meeting with suggested edits. One councilmember proposed drafting a new charter ordinance that would repeal the conflicting provisions and replace them with a single, clear document. The presiding officer asked that proposed language and desired changes be circulated as soon as possible so members can review before the next meeting.

Council did not take emergency action at the meeting; instead it directed staff to provide the three ordinances as one document and for the full council to consider drafting a replacement charter ordinance. That item will appear for further discussion at the next scheduled council meeting.