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Charter Review Board removes council delegation on referendums, approves timeline and transparency updates
Summary
The board voted to strike a provision that would have required the city council to adopt implementing procedures for citizen referendums, approved changes to verification and decision timelines, clarified signature curing to apply only to verification of existing signatures, and approved related publication and fiscal‑transparency measures.
The Charter Review Board voted to remove a provision that would have required the city council to adopt implementing procedures for citizen referendums, keeping that process in the charter instead.
A committee member moving the reconsideration said the delegation "creates a potential conflict of interest" and asked the board to retain the substantive procedures in the charter rather than leave them to council ordinance. The board approved the motion to strike the council‑delegation language and removed it from the board's final recommendations.
Alongside that change, the board approved a set of modernization items aimed at making the petition process clearer for sponsors and city staff. A committee member said the clerk's verification period would be extended in the draft from 10 to 20 days and council decision time increased from 10 to 30 days, "because 10 days is a pretty fast turnaround for council." The board also approved an amendment clarifying the cure period: curing applies to verification or correction of signatures already submitted rather than allowing submission of entirely new supplemental signature pages. The cure‑period amendment passed on a recorded motion.
The board separately approved a motion to add a fiscal impact statement to the initiative materials and to modernize publication requirements to include posting required notices on the city's website as well as traditional publication channels. A proponent said the fiscal statement would be prepared by the city's finance director (with attorney review) to give voters clearer information about potential tax or rate impacts.
Board members discussed the tradeoffs: some warned that added requirements or longer timelines could make citizen initiatives harder to bring forward, while others said clarity is necessary so petitioners and voters know deadlines and expectations. Several members urged staff to refine ballot language and voters' pamphlet text so the changes are understandable to the public.
The board approved the suite of amendments and directed staff to incorporate the revised language into the draft final report to council. The final motion to remove the delegation and adopt the modernization clarifications passed during the meeting.
