Councilors push charter-city question back into committee as campaign-timing, scope and cost concerns surface

Councilor Rollins reintroduced a proposal to put Marion's charter question before voters, telling the Legislation & Codes Committee he wants the city to decide whether to form a charter commission that would draft a charter for voter approval.

Rollins said a charter commission process would be a two-year, multi-stage effort: first, voters would be asked whether to form a charter commission; if approved, up to 15 commission members would be elected and tasked with drafting the charter; that draft would then return to voters for final approval. Rollins and other members emphasized the proposed charter could be narrowly tailored (for example, focusing on how a few administrative offices are filled) rather than rewriting Marion's entire governance structure.

Committee members pressed staff on timing: the Board of Elections requires measures to be submitted well ahead of an election (not earlier than 120 days and not fewer than 60 days before ballots are fixed), and councilors discussed whether to target the November ballot or to wait for a higher-turnout presidential year. Cost estimates given in committee included rough early figures of about $30,000 for legal counsel and $30,000 for mailings and voter notification if the charter proceeds to a ballot measure; those are provisional "wag" figures mentioned in committee.

Members debated two routes to the ballot: (1) collect citizen signatures to qualify the question for the ballot, or (2) place the question on the ballot by council action (requiring a supermajority). Some members argued signatures demonstrate public buy-in and make it easier to persuade hesitant councilors, while others said council action is the elected body's duty and that the city should move forward now and then lead the public education campaign.

Several committee members advised a focused scope for the charter commission to avoid voter confusion and to make outreach more manageable. The committee asked the law director to review the draft ordinance dated from prior work (cited as a 2022 draft) and to return with corrected timelines; councilors pledged to host town halls and work with stakeholders if the committee advances the question.

No binding council-level placement was decided at committee; members agreed to refine dates and return to committee in two weeks to consider sending the ordinance to council for readings. The committee also discussed how costs and implementation steps would follow only if voters first authorize formation of a charter commission.

Ending: Committee agreed to have the law director update the draft ordinance with date corrections and to place the item on the next committee agenda for further consideration; committee members emphasized the need for public outreach and a clear, limited scope if the charter question moves forward.