Frederick City Council Workshop on Charter Revisions - August 28, 2024
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Frederick City Council Workshop on Charter Revisions – August 28, 2024
On August 28, 2024, at 3:00 PM, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen held a workshop to continue discussion of proposed charter revisions. The meeting was broadcast on Channel 99. The only agenda item was a continued review of charter amendments, with staff presenting several resolutions and ordinances. The board discussed a comprehensive resolution (A) and subsequent resolutions (B through G), as well as ordinances to move planning commission, personnel board, and zoning board of appeals out of the charter. Key decisions included setting a March 15, 2025 deadline for a compensation commission report, agreeing to separate contentious items into individual votes on September 19, 2024, and reaching majority positions on several structural changes.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public offered comments during the public comment period.
Discussion Items
- Resolution A (Comprehensive Charter Changes): The city attorney reviewed the consolidated document, which included consensus items such as changing the legislative body to "City Council" and members to "Council Members," lowering candidate age to 18, and revising residency requirements. The compensation commission was debated; Alderman McShane opposed it, but after discussion, the board agreed to include it with a March 15, 2025 report date. The mayor's role as president of the council remained unresolved. The board also debated whether the council should retain authority to create/abolish departments; no consensus was reached, so the provision was removed from Resolution A.
- Resolution B (Structure and City Council President): The recommendation that the council president be elected by peers was discussed. Alderman Shackleford requested research on succession models. The board did not reach unanimous agreement, so the item will be voted separately.
- Resolution C (Number of Seats and Districts): The committee recommended 7 members with 4 district seats and 3 at-large. Some members preferred 5-2. The board agreed to proceed with the committee's 4-3 language but noted it could be amended on September 19. The timeline for redistricting was debated; staff advised that districts could not be implemented in time for the 2025 election due to the need for a consultant, but the board directed staff to expedite the process.
- Resolution D (Term Limits): The committee proposed 2 terms for mayor and 3 for council. Debate on consecutive vs. total limits was inconclusive; the resolution will be presented as drafted.
- Resolution E (Open Primaries): The city attorney advised that the proposal may be unconstitutional. The board agreed to vote it down on September 19.
- Resolution F (Administration): The resolution covers mayoral appointment of department heads with advice and consent. Discussion included adding explicit authority for the mayor to establish and abolish departments, but was left for future amendment.
- Resolution G (Voter Qualifications): This allows non-citizen residents to vote in city elections by registering with the city clerk. It was presented as a charter amendment, though the same change could be made by ordinance. The board will vote on it.
- Ordinances (Planning Commission, ZBA, Personnel Board): These ordinances remove the boards from the charter and establish them by city code. The planning commission language proposed a non-voting council liaison; a majority of board members supported removing the voting seat, while Alderman Russell opposed. The issue will be decided at the September 19 meeting.
- Elected Officials' Comments: Alderwoman Kazemchak displayed her father’s naturalization certificate to highlight the importance of inclusive voting rights.
Key Outcomes
- Compensation Commission: The board agreed to establish a commission with a report deadline of March 15, 2025, to affect the next term. This item was removed from Resolution A and will be a separate vote.
- Council Authority over Departments: The provision allowing the council to create/abolish departments was removed from Resolution A due to lack of unanimity; it will be considered separately.
- Separate Resolutions: Six resolutions (B through G) and three ordinances will be presented for individual votes on September 19, 2024, rather than bundled.
- District Map: Staff will expedite hiring a consultant to create districts, but districts will not be ready for the 2025 election; all seats will be at-large that year.
- Vote on September 19: The board will hold a public hearing and vote on all charter amendments and ordinances. Some items (e.g., open primaries) are expected to be rejected, while others may be amended.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the mayor and board of alderman business meeting workshop for the 28th of August. We begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge the flag of the United States of America for which it's names. Invisible liberty and justice. We have minutes to approve August 14th, 2024. Move for approval. Second. Motion by Alderman McZemCh, second by Alderwoman Ash. All those in favor. That is 4-0 with Alderman McShane not present. Only item on our workshop agenda today is continued discussion of proposed charter revisions. I will turn this over to my chief of staff and the city attorney. Good afternoon, Mayor Board Guy and Sam's Chief of Staff to the Mayor. I just want to start by saying apparently I wear this tie when we talk about the charter review, because it's what I wore last time. And so I'll hand it over to you, Rachel. Thank you. Pretty much most days, yes. Okay. All right. I was just gonna launch right in here unless there's anything you want to talk about before we get started. Um you've got what I keep calling the big resolution is the first thing. Resolution A in front of you. I decided to go with letters because we've got enough numbers going on, and I didn't want to confuse things further. So as you can see, this is essentially the whole charter with some changes and comments and questions. So I'm just gonna get started, and I guess stop me if you want to stop me. Um just on the first page, very important here. The charter review committee recommended that the name of our municipal corporation here be the city of Frederick without the capital T. So I've made that change in Article 1, Section One. Well, actually take some getting used to, but that's that moving right along on page two. Excuse me. Does the city have an corporation document? Not the way a tr of traditional corporation does. Is the charter the document that incorporates us, or is there something else? I would say the charter. There is some information in SDAT. Uh I don't know if you can tell whether the T is capitalized there or not, but we can check that good question. I don't think I would really consider that a change of name, so I don't think it'll create any issues. I was thinking more along the lines of consistency. Does that mean we we have to change the water tower? Probably not. No, it's no. Okay. On page two. Article two, the Board of Alderman. There's been a consensus to change the name of the legislative body in accordance with Charter Review Committee recommendation two, uh, to be known as the city council, and for members to be known as members. We tossed around some other terms. Um, but that's what's reflected in this resolution. So we've got a city council made up of um currently five members. Um these comments I'm just pointing out some of the information about other recommendations on which there has not necessarily been a consensus at this point. So um here in the comments, I'm just pointing out that if you do decide to go with uh a seven-member body with some number of those being elected from districts and some at large that these sections will have to be changed, but that's not reflected in this document because um there's not been consensus on that yet.
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