Charter Review Committee asks commission to send seven charter changes to voters, including mayoral term and pay

The New Smyrna Beach Charter Review Committee presented seven proposed amendments and an eighth recommendation to place them on a special election ballot, and the City Commission spent the July 28 workshop weighing whether to send the items to voters now or wait for the regular election cycle. Committee chair Mark Billings said the panel — an 11-member, citywide group — arrived at its proposals by substantial majorities and recommended the commission let residents decide.

"After hours of thoughtful discussion and dialogue, the committee respectfully requests your consideration approval for the 7 charter adjustments and moving forward with a special consideration," Billings said. The proposals would change the mayoral term from two to four years, allow a candidate winning a primary with 50% plus one vote to be declared the winner, move the city clerk to report to the city manager, revise historic-preservation language, add a cultural-arts priority (new section 6.05), mandate charter review at least every 10 years, and set commission pay tied to a county benchmark.

Commissioners and the supervisor of elections discussed trade-offs. The city attorney noted legal limits on ballot language (15-word titles, 75-word questions) and said staff has drafted separate ordinances for each item. Supervisor Lisa Lewis told the commission she did not recall any Volusia County commission in recent memory where an entire majority was voted out in one election, a point raised in discussion about mayoral-term changes. The commission scheduled ordinance first readings for Aug. 12 and a second-reading public hearing on Aug. 26, and directed staff to refine language and provide Spanish translations.