Committee unbanks and advances broad charter modernization package

The Legislation and Rules Committee on Feb. 10 unbanked and advanced Board Bill 137, a charter-modernization package designed to update century-old language, remove obsolete references and make the charter consistent in style and titles.

Sponsor summarized five primary changes: modernizing department descriptions (for example removing references to hospitals that the city no longer operates), deleting obsolete references to Missouri statutes, revising pay-scale language so salaries are set by compensation ordinance rather than fixed amounts in the charter, replacing gendered pronouns with specific titles (mayor, president, alderperson), and standardizing capitalization and number formatting across the document. The sponsor said Exhibit A of the bill contains roughly 96 pages of edits to the city's 1914 charter.

The sponsor credited collaboration with multiple city offices including representatives from the mayor's office, the comptroller, the president's office, the Board of Public Service, the assessor, the health director, and the Board of Elections; committee members thanked staff and cosponsored the effort. Alderman Keyes praised the staff work and expressed support for the clarifying edits.

Committee members voted to unbank the bill so it could proceed; the clerk recorded a 5-aye vote on unbanking. The committee then moved Board Bill 137 out of committee with a due-pass recommendation and the sponsor thanked staff who had led the multi-month effort.

Next steps: the bill will proceed through the council process for consideration and, where required, subsequent voter action if amendments rise to charter amendment level.