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Councilor Davis pushes to change vacancy and quorum rules to preserve local appointment power
Summary
Councilor Andy Davis proposed amending the charter's vacancy and quorum language so remaining council members can appoint replacements when seats are vacant, avoiding county or state appointment defaults; councilors asked staff to produce model language for future action or ballot placement.
Councilor Andy Davis said the city’s current charter language could force a county or state appointment if the council falls below quorum and proposed model language to preserve council appointment power.
"The 1st 1 is... the appointment of replacement council members," Davis said, describing model text that would reduce quorum for appointment purposes and permit a majority of remaining members to make necessary appointments. He said the change would avoid a situation in which the county or state must appoint replacements if too few councilors remain to form a quorum.
Several councilors signaled support for clarifying vacancy language and for presenting the change as a separate ballot item so voters could consider each amendment independently. Staff said they would bring model language and timeline options back to the council for further consideration.
