Charter committee votes to make city clerk a city manager appointee; proposal to appear on ballot

The Charter Review Committee voted to amend the city charter so the city clerk would no longer be listed as a charter officer and instead would be appointed by — and serve at the pleasure of — the city manager.

Facilitator and staff presented a redline spreadsheet showing proposed changes to Article 2 and Article 4; the central change would delete the city clerk from the list of charter officers and rewrite section 4.04 so the clerk’s appointment is made by the city manager. The facilitator noted the change was largely ‘‘cleanup’’ that aligns the charter with a common modern structure in which the clerk functions as a department head.

During discussion members raised operational concerns including the clerk’s role as elections officer, human resources protections, canvassing‑board membership, and whether removing the clerk as a charter officer would affect certification or job qualifications. A committee member who had surveyed Volusia County charters reported most clerks in the county already report to their city manager. The city attorney, Shay McAffley, told the committee that removing the clerk from the charter would not eliminate the clerk’s duties as elections official and that those duties could remain in charter language or the job description.

A motion to amend Article 4 (section 4.04) to allow the clerk to report to the city manager was moved and seconded for discussion; after debate the committee called the question and the clerk held a roll call vote. The motion passed by majority vote. The facilitator said staff will return with options for how the amendments will appear on the ballot so voters are not asked to vote on multiple disaggregated lines if those edits are intended to be a single change.

What the vote does and does not do: The committee’s action is a recommendation to amend the charter language; the change must still be processed through the commission and, if placed on the ballot, approved by voters. The committee and staff agreed that the clerk will remain the city’s elections official and canvassing board participant unless and until specifically changed; job qualifications and the CMC certification requirement (if any future language requires it) would be handled in a job description or separate ordinance as the group develops final language.

Next steps: Staff and counsel will prepare suggested ballot language and return with a clearer description of which sections must change and whether the charter edits can be consolidated into a single ballot question.