Committee backs removing obsolete Article 6 transition language and will recommend repeal to council

The Charter Review Committee voted to recommend that the City Council remove obsolete transition language in Article 6 of the city charter.

The city attorney explained that the transition language in section 6.01 is a holdover from when the charter was first adopted and is effectively inert, but removing it requires voter approval. She presented two options: leave the language in place (it causes no practical harm) or place a separate ballot question asking voters to repeal the section and reserve the article number to avoid historical confusion.

The attorney read sample ballot language — "shall article 6 transition be repealed as obsolete language?" — and members discussed tradeoffs between modernization and adding another question to the ballot. Several members said the committee's purpose is to modernize the charter and supported removing the obsolete clause.

A motion to remove section 6.01 was made, seconded, and passed by voice vote; the committee agreed to recommend the repeal to the City Council so voters could decide whether to remove the section. The committee also asked the city attorney to prepare final text and ballot wording and to bring the revisions back for review.

The vote was recorded by voice; the transcript records the chair stating "Motion by Bill" and "Second by Nick," but speaker-level mapping for those names is not explicit in the meeting record.