City Charter Review May Bring Term Limits for City Officials

The city reviews its charter every five years. The Dunedin City Commission discussed on Jan. 19  The commission must complete the review process of the city's governing document or charter, by August to get any charter changes on the ballot for Dunedin voters to ultimately decide in November.

Possible changes to the charter recommended by the city commission:

• The city commission agreed there should be term limits for commissioners and the mayor.

"I have always been a strong supporter of term limits...incumbents are very, difficult to beat. When there are open seats, it is typical for more people (to run). I wish politicians of all levels would have self-imposed term limits," said Commissioner David Carson.

• The city commission agreed they should reach a super majority (4 out of 5 votes) instead of a simple majority (3 out of 5 votes) to hire and fire the city clerk. They decided the city clerk, a city employee, should have this extra layer of protection. They thought the city attorney and city auditor, contract positions, did not need the additional protection.

• The city commission agreed with the idea of the vice mayor not being able to serve consecutive terms to encourage rotation. They asked City Attorney Tom Trask to work on the language to cover extenuating circumstances such as having three new commissioners and only having the most recent vice mayor with experience on commission.

• The commission may shorten the time it has to consider a citizen charter amendment. Currently they can wait 150 days before acting on a citizen initiated charter amendment. The City Attorney Tom Trask will research the reason behind this length of time.

• The commission may change the number of meetings required by charter to 24 meeting per year. Currently the commission must meet two times each month. Commissioner Julie Ward Bujalski said sometimes in the summer with the budget they need to meet more, but around the holidays they need to meet less.

Changes that will NOT be made to the charter:

• The city commission decided not to make formal training for first-time public officials required before taking office a charter change. They decided instead to have a workshop session to come up with ways to provide the training to avoid on the job training.

• The city commission decided to keep language in the city charter that holding office is a "public service to the community and is not actual compensation for services rendered."

Next steps:

• The commission will review the possible changes to the city charter again at the Feb. 21 city commission meeting. The city attorney, Tom Trask, is currently working on updating the changes to the charter based on the commission's recommendations on Jan. 19.