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Sunnyvale council accepts Charter Review Committee report; orders polling on four proposed charter changes
Summary
The Sunnyvale City Council unanimously accepted the Charter Review Committee’s final report on Feb. 3 and directed staff to commission professional polling on four proposed charter amendments: public‑works contracting, city manager settlement authority, vacancy rules and council compensation.
The Sunnyvale City Council voted 7‑0 on Feb. 3 to accept the final report of the Charter Review Committee and to direct staff to conduct professional polling on up to four proposed charter amendments. Vice Mayor Mellinger moved the motion and Council Member Cisneros seconded it.
The committee’s final report recommends changes across five topics but advised no change to the city’s requirement for two regular council meetings per month. Council and staff focused polling and next‑step work on four priority items: allowing alternative public‑works delivery methods (for example, design‑build) to replace the city’s current design‑bid‑build requirement; clarifying how council vacancies are filled and limiting replacement elections to the next general municipal election; raising the city manager’s authority to settle legal claims (the CRC proposed a $150,000 limit and recommended delegating the specific number to an ordinance); and rebaselining elected‑official pay (the CRC recommended $9,000 per month for the mayor and $6,000 per month for council members, effective 2027, with existing CPI adjustments capped at 5%).
Staff told council it views public‑works contracting and settlement authority as the highest operational priorities and recommended drafting an ordinance to set any proposed settlement limit before placing the amendment on a ballot. Staff also said a polling budget is available and said it could return with results, and additional analysis, by May.
Council members stressed they were not deciding final ballot language that night. Several members said they wanted professional polling to test multiple options and framings and to help decide how many measures to place on a single ballot. Vice Mayor Mellinger and other members specifically instructed staff and the pollster to test the CRC‑recommended compensation numbers while also allowing the pollster latitude to present alternative figures; the vice mayor separately proposed testing a $250,000 settlement‑authority option to match the city manager’s current contracting authority.
Public comment during the meeting included both criticism and support of the recommendations; speakers urged careful polling and clearer presentation of benefits and fiscal impacts before asking voters to approve amendments. Chair Gustaf Larson and CRC members thanked staff and residents for their participation in a yearlong review process that included subcommittee work and a community survey.
The motion to accept the CRC report and direct polling carried 7‑0. Staff will prepare poll design options and return with recommendations for ballot packaging and timing.
