Council votes down several charter changes

Aug. 4—While the Norman City Council approved several proposed recommendations from the Charter Review Commission, several were sent back to the drawing board during its Tuesday night special session.

Amendments to the City Charter cannot be adopted without voter approval, but first they are deliberated by the commission and the council before they reach a ballot.

Tax increment finance districts

The council pulled back on tax increment finance districts. The CRC was asked to consider a $5 million cap on TIF districts. Their vote deadlocked 5-5, but members discussed language that would require a vote on all TIF districts involving sales tax revenue.

Ward 4 Lee Hall was concerned that by not taking up oversight of the complex negotiations and pushing it back on the voters that it was not consistent with democratic representation of her ward.

Ward 5 Rarchar Tortorello was concerned the time it takes to obtain voter approval would delay development to the point that it would deter economic growth.

Ward 6 Elizabeth Foreman supported voter control over all TIFs saying it had "blighted her ward for years" and Ward 1 Brandi Studley supported a cap on TIF districts subject to voter approval.

Recall petitions

The commission recommended the city follow state law when it comes to recall petitions and suggested the charter be amended to prevent recall elections from occurring too close to elections.

The charter does not allow an official to be recalled within six months after being sworn in, but the commission wanted to add a cap to also close that window six months before the official's term ends.

The council pushed back with questions when it came to the recommendation that if a majority of the council was recalled — five members — the remaining four would be authorized to conduct city business. Mayor Breea Clark said it was possible all officials or 8 out of 9 could be recalled, an unacceptable scenario.

Clark also wanted the city to consider language that would shorten the length of time it takes to circulate a petition by counting Sundays and holidays toward the limit. She also asked City Attorney Kathryn Walker if there was any provision under state law to prevent a recall petition document from stating baseless accusations against the official being recalled.

Utility increases

All utility increases must be voter approved, but that has led to "sticker shock" because proposed rate increases are not routinely brought before the voters, the commission found.

The recommendation was to have staff prepare an annual rate study and if applicable, the council would be forced to call for that increase during the next council election.

Councilors expressed concern about voter fatigue if an increase appeared each year on the ballot. Concerned resident Cynthia Rogers said over time, voters tune out and vote no. Clark agreed.

A secondary concern was the amount of time and resources it places upon staff to educate voters ahead of rate increase elections, Clark said.

Rogers raised her concern that the charter amendment did not cure the problem of putting "wants" before "needs" to voters.

Filling of vacancies

The council also pulled back on the commission's recommendation to update language to reflect the council's history of using a recommendation committee for council vacancies or calling for a special election.

During previous council vacancies, Clark has used mayor-appointed committee members within the vacant ward to recommend an interim member or called for a special election.

Some discussion included whether all vacancies should be filled by a special election, but election dates are limited by state law. The appointment process adds flexibility to find an interim before the 60 day time limit is exceeded to call for a special election, Hall noted. Foreman said she would prefer to see the process of appointment codified in the charter after prior recommendations by committee were contested.

Term limits

No objection was raised to extending the terms of office for city councilors from two years to three nor to keeping the mayor's term at three years. The council wanted to revisit when the terms begin after the commission recommended the term start the first Tuesday following certification of the election instead of the first Tuesday in July.

Some recommendations from the commission were approved, including an increase to the stipend for councilors and the mayor by a committee, recreating the city attorney position as an at-will employee and extending the Norman Regional Hospital Authority Board from 9 to 11 members with 9 who must remain Norman residents.

The council also agreed with the commission that language should be added to state that anyone who files for municipal office must be a resident of the ward for six months and if the boundary of the ward changes, the candidate must live in the ward boundary at the time of filing for the seat.

Clark said the amendments which did not meet with council approval would be brought up for discussion at a future council study session.

Mindy Wood covers City Hall news and notable court cases for The Transcript. Reach her at mwood@normantranscript.com or 405-416-4420.