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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 02/06/2007 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 030, 2007, SUBMITTI ITEM NUMBER: 40 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: February 6, 2007 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Mark Radtke SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 030, 2007, Submitting to a Vote of the Registered Electors of the City of Fort Collins a Proposed Amendment to Article II,Section 1(e)of the City Charter Pertaining to the Term of Office of Mayor. RECOMMENDATION There is no staff recommendation. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This proposed Charter amendment would change the current two-year term for the length of service for the office of mayor to a four year term, commencing in April, 2007. BACKGROUND At its January 23, 2007,work session,City Council directed staff to draft a Charter amendment that would lengthen the term length for the office of mayor from two years to four years. Fort Collins is the fifth largest city in Colorado, and the only city among the nine largest to have a two-year,rather than a four-year term for mayor. The tenth and eleventh largest cities(Boulder and Pueblo) do not directly elect a mayor. The next largest cities—Greeley, Longmont and Loveland have two-year terms for mayor. The proposed Resolution would present to the electors of the City the question of extending the term of the Mayor from two years to four years. Three options for transitioning to a four year mayoral term are being presented to the Council. Each spells out the timing of the proposed change and the effect that each would have on the number of consecutive terms that the incumbent Mayor would be eligible to serve. After the transition period, the term limits would conform to the limits that apply under the State Constitution, namely, a maximum of two, consecutive, four-year terms. The options are as follows: February 6, 2007 -2- Item No. OPTION "A": (maximum of six years for the incumbent Mayor) Shall Article II, Section 1(e) of the Fort Collins City Charter be amended to state that the term of the Mayor shall be four years rather than two years,beginning in April, 2007; that any person who is elected Mayor at both the April, 2005 election and the April, 2007 election will be ineligible for re-election as Mayor in 2011; and that any other person elected as Mayor in 2011 or thereafter will be eligible to serve a maximum of two, consecutive, four-year terms as Mayor? OPTION "B": (maximum of eight years for the incumbent Mayor) Shall Article II, Section 1(e) of the Fort Collins City Charter be amended to state that the term of the Mayor shall be four years rather than two years,beginning in April, 2009; that any person who was elected Mayor at both the April, 2007 election and the April, 2009 election, will be ineligible for re-election as Mayor in 2013 ; and that any other person elected as Mayor in 2013 or thereafter will be eligible to serve a maximum of two, consecutive, four-year terms as Mayor? OPTION "C": (maximum of ten years for the incumbent Mayor) Shall Article II, Section 1(e) of the Fort Collins City Charter be amended to state that the term of the Mayor shall be four years rather than two years,beginning in April, 2007, and that the person who is elected Mayor at the April,2007,election and thereafter will be eligible to serve a maximum of two, consecutive four-year terms? ORDINANCE NO. 030, 2007 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS SUBMITTING TO A VOTE OF THE REGISTERED ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE II, SECTION 1 (e) OF THE CITY CHARTER PERTAINING TO THE TERM OF OFFICE OF THE MAYOR WHEREAS , Article IV, Section 8 of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins provides that the Charter may be amended as provided by the laws of the State of Colorado ; and WHEREAS , Section 31 -2-210, C .R. S . , provides that Charter amendments may be initiated by the adoption of an ordinance by the Council submitting a proposed amendment to a vote of the registered electors of the City of Fort Collins ; and WHEREAS , Article II, Section I (e) of the Charter of the City of Fort Collins states that the term of office of the Mayor shall be two years ; and WHEREAS , Fort Collins is the fifth largest city in Colorado, and the only city among the nine largest to have a two-year, rather than a four-year term for mayor; and WHEREAS, Article XVIII, Section 11 of the Colorado Constitution states the maximum number of consecutive two-year terms that a mayor may serve is three terms, or a total of six consecutive years ; and WHEREAS , if the term of the office of mayor is lengthened to four years, such constitutional provision would limit the number of consecutive four-year terms that a mayor could serve to two terms, or a total of eight consecutive years ; and WHEREAS , this constitutional provision also authorizes the voters of the City to lengthen, shorten or eliminate such term limits ; and WHEREAS , in view of these term limits, the Council believes that the wording of the ballot measure presenting the proposed change in the term of the office of the Mayor should clearly state how the transition from two year terms to four year terms would occur and, more specifically, how many consecutive terms of office the incumbent Mayor would be eligible to serve if the Charter amendment is approved by the voters . NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows : Section 1 . That the following proposed change to Article II, Section 1 (e) of the City Charter shall be submitted to the registered electors of the City as "Proposed Charter Amendment No. " at the regular municipal election to be held on Tuesday, April 3 , 2007 : Section 1 . Membership ; terms. (e) Terms. Except as otherwise provided in Section 18 of this Article and Section 3 (d) of Article IX, the term of office of the Mayor shall be four (4) years, and the term of office of all other members of the Council shall be four (4) years each; provided, however, that all such officers shall serve until their successors have been elected and have taken office . The terms of the mayor and other members of the Council shall begin when they take the oath of office, which shall occur as the first order of business at the first regular or special Council meeting following their election or appointment. Section 2 . That the following ballot language is hereby adopted for submitting Proposed Charter Amendment No to the voters at said election: CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. (Option A . maximum of six years for the incumbent Mayor) Shall Article 11, Section 1 (e) of the Fort Collins City Charter be amended to state that the term of the Mayor shall be four years rather than two years, beginning in April, 2007 ; that any person who is elected Mayor at both the April, 2005 election and the April, 2007 election will be ineligible for re-election as Mayor in 2011 ; and that any other person elected as Mayor in 2011 or thereafter will be eligible to serve a maximum of two, consecutive, four-year terms as Mayor? YES NO -2- CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. (Option B . maximum of eight years for the incumbent Mayor) Shall Article II, Section 1 (e) of the Fort Collins City Charter be amended to state that the term of the Mayor shall be four years rather than two years, beginning in April, 2009 ; that any person who was elected Mayor at both the April, 2007 election and the April, 2009 election, will be ineligible for re-election as Mayor in 2013 ; and that any other person elected as Mayor in 2013 or thereafter will be eligible to serve a maximum of two, consecutive, four-year terms as Mayor? YES NO CITY-INITIATED PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT NO. (Option C . maximum of ten years for the incumbent Mayor) Shall Article II, Section 1 (e) of the Fort Collins City Charter be amended to state that the term of the Mayor shall be four years rather than two years, beginning in April, 2007, and that the person who is elected Mayor at the April, 2007, election and thereafter will be eligible to serve a maximum of two, consecutive, four-year terms? YES NO -3 - Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 6th day of February, A. D . 2007, and to be presented for final passage on the 20th day of February, A.D . 2007 . Mayor ATTEST : City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 20th day of February, A . D . 2007 . Mayor ATTEST : City Clerk -4-