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Willow Park commission debates candidate eligibility, residency and staggered terms for draft charter
Summary
Commissioners debated eligibility language on felony-related disabilities, proposed raising mayor/council minimum ages, residency requirements and a transition to three‑year staggered terms; counsel advised deferring some specifics to ordinance drafting and state election-code limits.
The Willow Park Charter Commission spent substantial time on Article 3, focusing on candidate eligibility, residency requirements and the proposed shift from two‑year terms to staggered three‑year terms.
Chair (S2) opened the article-3 review and commissioners raised questions about a line that conditions eligibility on being 'pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities' after a felony conviction. Commissioner S1 asked whether 'having served your time' would be enough; counsel (S4) cautioned that statutory disabilities can persist beyond incarceration and offered to research more precise drafting options.
Commissioner S6 proposed raising the mayor minimum age to 25 and council minimum to 21; several members suggested putting that proposal 'in public view' for town-hall feedback rather than finalizing a numeric change in the charter immediately. S6 also proposed increasing minimum residency for candidates to 24 months; counsel (S4) noted state election code generally limits residency requirements for home‑rule charters and said a 24‑month rule likely exceeds statutory allowances, recommending a 6–12 month range.
On election timing, Chair (S2) proposed revised text to stagger three‑year terms so the city retains annual elections; commissioners asked staff to draft specific transition language to convert existing two‑year seats into the new staggered structure. The commission did not finalize numeric changes at the meeting and directed staff to post revised drafts and prepare clarifying language for the next meeting.
Next steps: counsel will research statutory constraints and suggested language; staff will insert proposed staggering text and circulate it before the next meeting.
