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Edgewater committee weighs council districts, pay rules and a timeline for ballot language
Summary
At a Charter Review Committee meeting, the city attorney outlined options for districting and council size, explained charter limits on pay adjustments and expense reimbursements, and the committee set deadlines for Rollins to draft ballot language for April and May council readings.
The Edgewater Charter Review Committee discussed possible changes to council districts, elected‑official compensation and a timetable for drafting ballot language, and agreed to direct the city attorney to produce draft charter language for committee review.
City Attorney Rollins told the committee that municipalities typically tie district redrawing to decennial census data but offered alternatives: a five‑year adjustment tied to the American Community Survey, keeping the current mayor-plus-four at‑large structure, or increasing council size to seven to avoid 3–3 split votes. "Most do it based on the 10 year survey based on the census," Rollins said, presenting three legally plausible options for the committee to consider.
Rollins also reviewed the charter's current pay provisions, saying the charter establishes baseline salaries, provides an annual cost‑of‑living adjustment tied to October CPI and caps increases at 3% per year. "The city can adjust their salaries by ordinance. They don't need a change in the charter," Rollins said, explaining that an ordinance altering base pay would typically apply to the next elected council and must be adopted at least six months before an election; the charter also limits compensation changes to once every five years.
Committee member Patrick Fisher read figures showing a council member's base salary at $10,465 with annual benefits of $9,816 — a combined $20,282 — and a combined mayor package up to $22,579. Those numbers framed a discussion about whether compensation detail should remain in the charter or be handled administratively through HR and ordinances.
A committee member suggested removing pay provisions from the charter and letting HR/finance manage compensation to reduce complexity; others cautioned that moving compensation out of the charter could reduce citizen oversight. Rollins outlined legal options for compensating officials for additional duty days through per‑diems or expense stipends tied to official business, and noted that expense reimbursements must be for "actual and necessary" costs incurred performing official duties.
During public comment, resident Tim London asked whether a newly elected mayor would revert to the charter's base salary after a gap in service. "In 10 years, a new mayor would get the same money," London said; Rollins confirmed that under the current charter a newly elected mayor would start at the charter base pay and then receive future CPI adjustments.
The committee reviewed schedule constraints for putting charter changes on the ballot and directed a drafting timeline: conceptual directions should be provided to the city attorney by the end of March, a final conceptual packet by April 14 so staff can assemble the May council agenda, and a packet to return to the committee on April 28; the council's first reading is scheduled for May 4 and the second reading for June 1. The chair asked that Rollins email the PowerPoint and related documents to members in advance of the next meeting.
No formal motion or vote on charter amendments was taken at this meeting; members agreed to continue work, frame proposals and return with recommended language for the committee to vote on before forwarding items to the council.
