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Hollywood commission enacts emergency ordinance after flawed ballot summary for charter lease rule
Summary
After staff discovered a misdrafted 75‑word ballot summary that omitted critical details about lease and referendum thresholds in a proposed Article 13 charter amendment, the Hollywood City Commission voted unanimously Oct. 1 to adopt an emergency ordinance that implements the Charter Review Committee’s intended language and sunsets when the election results are certified or the matter can be properly re‑submitted for a future ballot.
The Hollywood City Commission on Oct. 1 moved to mitigate voter confusion and legal risk after the city attorney acknowledged an error in the 75‑word ballot summary for a proposed charter amendment about limits on sale or lease of city property.
The commission adopted an emergency ordinance that codifies the Charter Review Committee’s intended changes to Article 13 of the city charter — the language commissioners said was missing from the printed ballot summary — and places those changes in the city code with a sunset tied to certification of election results by the Broward County canvassing board or until the next appropriate election.
Why it matters: The contested text governs whether leases or sales of certain city‑owned properties (notably park, golf course and historic properties and properties east of the Intracoastal) must be approved by voters or by a supermajority of the commission. Commissioners and the Charter Review Committee said the ordinance restores the committee’s intent and prevents the misprinted ballot language from producing an unintended change in city policy in the short term.
City Attorney Doug told the commission that he reviewed the ordinance language but failed to catch the discrepancy in Exhibit A, the condensed 75‑word ballot summary that voters will see. “This is my fault,” he said, acknowledging the error and the limited time window available for changes to absentee and sample ballots.
Commissioner Schuham pressed staff for options, asking for guidance on what the commission should do on Nov. 5 “the day of or the day after the election” if the misprinted language produces a contested result. The city attorney said litigation to remove the question from the ballot would be costly and uncertain and that the practical path was to adopt a local ordinance that mirrors the committee’s work and then present a corrected charter question at the next feasible election.
The ordinance was read on the record as creating Chapter 30 (City Policies Generally) and adding sections that mirror the three subsections of the proposed Article 13 changes. The measure was presented on first reading as an emergency ordinance and passed unanimously on a roll‑call vote.
What comes next: The commission directed the city attorney to consult with an elections attorney and to coordinate with the Charter Review Committee; staff said it would post explanatory materials and consider additional communications to educate voters about the committee’s intent, although the commission was cautioned that paid mailings after ballots go out could be legally and practically fraught.
The measure does not change the printed ballot language; rather the emergency ordinance establishes interim city law that the commission told staff it intends to follow pending either certification of the Nov. 5 result or a corrected charter question at the next permitted election.
— Reporting from the Oct. 1 Hollywood City Commission meeting.
