Former councilmember urges Jackson to start charter review amid state election bill
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Summary
Paul Taylor told the council that House Bill 1497, if enacted, would force municipal elections in Tennessee to move to even-numbered years and urged Jackson officials to convene a charter review committee now to update the city's charter last revised in 1988.
Former councilmember Paul Taylor used his public-comment time to press the Jackson City Council to launch a charter-review process in light of legislation moving municipal elections to even-numbered years.
Taylor said House Bill 1497, currently advancing in the Tennessee General Assembly, would require cities to shift municipal election dates to even-numbered years. He called that prospect "wrong for Nashville to impose" on cities like Jackson but said the bill is likely to pass and therefore the city should act now to control the process. "The charter belongs to the people of Jackson," Taylor said, and urged the council to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance establishing a charter-review committee and to commit to a community-driven review rather than a narrow date change.
Council members asked Taylor and staff about timeline and scope. Taylor recommended a focused committee complete a comprehensive review in six to nine months to meet anticipated legislative timelines; staff and council discussed the requirement that any local charter amendment conform to state law if the bill passes, and that the city could form a committee by ordinance with district representation.
No formal motion to create a charter-review committee was made at the meeting. Council members expressed interest in exploring the idea and asked staff to provide timeline options and legal steps should the General Assembly adopt the bill.
