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Red Bank advisory board recommends modernized charter; commission to refer measure to Nov. 3 referendum
Summary
A citizen advisory board presented recommendations to align Red Bank's city charter with 2026 state statutes, preserve home rule and the city-manager form of government, and put the updated charter and selected home-rule amendments to voters on Nov. 3, 2026.
Members of Red Bank's Charter Advisory Board told the commission on July 1 that their review produced a proposed, modernized city charter and recommended the commission refer the document to voters.
"We set out to provide a modern charter in alignment with Tennessee law," said Sue Jess, a presenter for the advisory board. The CAB met three consecutive weeks, reviewed chapters 18 through 22 of title 6 of the Tennessee Code Annotated and home-rule amendments, and recommended a package of changes the board says improves clarity, consistency and long-term usability.
The advisory board proposed retaining home-rule provisions that preserve annexations made after incorporation and the city's authority to operate a municipal court with jurisdiction over certain state offenses. The CAB also recommended removing several provisions that are now redundant with the updated statutory charter.
Staff told commissioners the ordinance to refer the amended charter to voters will appear as a two-reading ordinance; following the first reading staff will publish the consolidated 2026 charter, selected home-rule amendments and CAB materials in a single PDF on the city website.
Commissioners pressed staff on logistics: whether the consolidated amended charter would be available online (staff said yes) and about the expected referendum language (staff said the ballot question will be a yes/no question describing the substitution of the 2000 statutory charter with the 2026 statutory charter, retaining identified home-rule amendments without reprinting long statutory language).
The CAB described outreach plans and said the change is intended to preserve the city-manager form of government and the city's home-rule authority while making the charter readable for candidates, officials and residents.
Ending: The commission conducted a first reading of the ordinance to refer the charter; staff will post the materials online and return with the ordinance for the second reading and formal referral to the ballot.
