Santa Clara planning commission studies role in citywide charter review; staff flags Aug. 7 filing deadline

The Santa Clara Planning Commission on March 11 held a study session on the city's charter review project, hearing a presentation from City Attorney Glenn GooGans about proposed updates to Article 10 and other sections that affect boards and commissions, procurement and budgeting.

"The city charter is in effect the equivalent at a local level of the city's constitution," GooGans told commissioners as he outlined why the charter's 1951 language needs revision to align with current law and municipal practice.

GooGans described areas where the charter is out of date and places where the commission could advise changes. Examples included budgeting (the charter's annual-budget language conflicts with the city's current two-year budget practice), an antiquated $1,000 public-works threshold (noted in the presentation as effectively much higher today), and procurement constraints that limit use of design-build delivery for large, complex projects. "Design-build'doesn't make sense for every project," he said, "but for large infrastructure work it can offer value engineering and schedule advantages."

Why it matters

The charter review project is a citywide effort led by a 13-member Charter Review Committee (CRC) dividing the charter into six ad hoc…