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Council debates charter changes to create Board of Public Utilities, narrows options for board size and authority
Summary
At a study session, councilors and staff refined proposed charter language to create a Board of Public Utilities for Independence’s electric utility, tentatively favoring a flexible 7–9 member board with a majority of members tied to utility customers and shifting hiring authority for the utility director to the board; staff will draft ballot language and hold public engagement before the next study session.
At a council study session, council members and staff continued refining proposed charter amendments that would reorganize governance of Independence’s electric utility and set parameters for how the city could use utility resources for economic development.
City Manager (Speaker 2) opened the meeting by framing the session as a follow-up to an Oct. 27 study session focused on charter sections 3.12–3.25, and staff walked council through revised language covering definitions, board composition, hiring authority, procurement, sale restrictions and economic-development uses of utility funds.
The most immediate point of consensus was flexibility on board size. Staff and councilors discussed locking the Board of Public Utilities at seven members or allowing a range of seven to nine so the city could recruit outside expertise as the utility grows. Joe (staff), who walked the group through the draft, summarized the practical compromise: “So 7 to 9. Let’s do that.”
Councilors pressed for a requirement that the board’s majority be vested in people affected directly by the utility — proposals included a majority of registered voters within…
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