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Council advances several charter amendment proposals toward ballot review, declines or tables some ideas
Summary
Council reviewed multiple proposed charter amendments for a potential May 2, 2026 election. Members agreed to remove the comprehensive-plan requirement from the charter, debated petition procedures, contract-term limits for direct reports, and council compensation and insurance options—some items to be placed on the ballot or sent for legal review.
City attorney/staff Brandon Morris presented a package of proposed charter changes the council could consider for a potential May 2, 2026 ballot. The items were discussed separately and treated as distinct proposals: removing the charter's mandatory comprehensive-plan requirement (the mayor and a majority supported striking the future requirement while finishing the currently grant-funded plan), rescinding the requirement that petitioners file a letter of intent with the city secretary (council favored removing that requirement and placing it on the ballot), and several governance items about planning commission membership, direct-report contract lengths and termination thresholds.
On the comprehensive plan, the mayor said removing the charter requirement would avoid an unfunded mandate; council members noted that having a current comprehensive plan helps with grant-ranking but agreed to allow the funded plan already in progress to conclude. On petition procedures, council members argued the letter-of-intent requirement is mainly a courtesy to the city but agreed it is restrictive to citizens and supported placing the change on the ballot. Regarding direct reports, councilors discussed a proposal to cap future direct-report employment contracts at 12 months (the council agreed to add that provision going forward) and debated whether termination thresholds should be uniform across direct-report positions; the council moved to standardize termination thresholds and keep the higher threshold (5 of 7) for termination decisions.
Council also discussed whether to let council members opt into the city's employee health plan and whether to raise monthly pay; the group supported mirroring employee insurance for participating council members and reached preliminary agreement on modest compensation increases ($600 for council members, $700 for the mayor cited during the discussion) to present for further review and possible ballot placement.
