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City manager residency rule flagged for charter amendment after council discussion
Summary
City Manager Pepper Lockhart recommended amending City Charter Section 2.06 to align with state law removing a residency requirement for the city manager; council members agreed to the small changes proposed and asked staff to draft language for future consideration.
City Manager Pepper Lockhart told the City of Evart council at a Feb. 2 work session that Section 2.06 of the city charter should be amended because state law removes any requirement that a city manager live within city limits. "State law states that the City Manager does not have to live within City limits, and state law in this case, trumps the Charter," Lockhart said.
Lockhart recommended several small edits to the rules and procedures to reflect that legal precedence. Council members present — Mayor Elkins and Council Members Mike Fulton, Ralph Carlson and Tina Young — agreed with the staff recommendation and signaled support for revising the charter language. No formal motion or roll-call vote was recorded in the session minutes; staff indicated the changes would be drafted for future review.
The discussion focused on aligning local documents with state law rather than creating new policy about residency. City Attorney Eric Williams and City Manager Lockhart were listed as present during the discussion; the work session minutes do not specify a timeline for bringing a formal amendment to a council meeting or a public hearing on a charter change.
