EVERETT – Voters soon will get a chance to participate in Everett’s version of the constitutional convention, the City Council decided Wednesday.
After an advisory panel put the city charter under the microscope for several months, council members voted to place proposed amendments to the document on the Sept. 19 ballot.
The charter outlines how the city’s legislative, judicial and executive branches operate. It was adopted in 1968, updated in 1978 and updated again in 1996.
Proposed changes this go-round include giving politicians the ability to overturn voter initiatives, relaxing rules on selling city property and clarifying the roles of vice mayor and interim mayor.
The amendments also include “housecleaning” changes, such as lifting an ignored rule that places four-year term limits on park directors, and striking references to milk pasteurization and slaughtering animals.
“There are things I feel passionately about,” Councilman Paul Roberts said, smiling. “This is not one of them.”
His statement came not long after Council President Brenda Stonecipher used her gavel to cool a heated exchange between two councilmen.
Councilman Mark Olson, who proposed seven of 22 recommended changes to the charter, wanted to add a provision that would allow the council to set its own meeting calendar.
Many times, bare agendas result in council meetings that last only a few minutes. The current charter requires those weekly meetings to take place anyhow.
“I don’t think the interest of the community is served by having the legislative body meet for the sake of meeting,” Olson said.
Councilman Carl Gipson strongly disagreed, saying regularly scheduled council meetings give the public better access to the public servants at City Hall.
“I have to show up to work every day,” Gipson said. “If we can’t show up to work once a week, why run?”
Another proposed change would scrap a large section of the charter that deals with the sale or lease of surplus property.
Currently, city departments that want to sell or lease surplus equipment need the council’s permission first.
The 15-member charter review committee said the process, which was drafted before electronic transfers and computers, is unnecessarily complicated.
City Attorney Ned Johnston said if the changes are approved, the city is still bound by state law, which requires giving public notice before city property is sold or leased.
Another proposed change would allow city politicians to take the power to shape law away from citizens.
The change would allow the council to overturn voter measures with a supermajority vote after two years. Voter measures in the city can now be turned down only by a vote of the people.
Councilman Drew Nielsen said the charter change would mesh with the state’s rule on repealing such measures.
He added that the city has never seen a successful initiative, though one that would have blocked the construction of the Everett Events Center was proposed.
“Incorporating checks and balances that apply to that process is appropriate,” Nielsen said.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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