The Jackson Charter Review Committee
Under the revised Jackson City Charter of
1997, language was added to require a periodic review of the
charter. The pertinent language is found in Article XXI, Section
21.1:
Charter Review. A
charter review committee of at least seven members, none of whom
shall be elected or appointed officials, shall be appointed by the
council ten years after this charter is adopted, and each ten years
thereafter. The committee shall examine the charter and may
recommend to the council either initiation of the charter revision
process, or any specific amendments which appear to the committee to
be necessary or desirable.
Under that authority,
the City Council in March, 2008, appointed 13 members to the Charter
Review Committee (two of whom later resigned their appointments for
job-related reasons). The committee began its review of the charter
on April 21, 2008. Three officers were elected: chairman, Ken Wyatt;
vice chair, Kathy Klaus; parliamentarian, Mike Swope. City Clerk
Lynn Fessel serves as the committee’s clerk. Both City Manager Bill
Ross and City Attorney Jules Giglio also provide the committee with
staff support.
Two options are available
for proposed changes to the charter: 1) A revision of the charter
entails substantial change, and the committee may recommend to the
council that it initiate a revision if the committee believes that
option is desirable; and 2) specific amendments, which the committee
may recommend to the council for placement before the voters.
As the committee conducts
its review, opportunity is made available in each meeting for public
comment. Alternatively, citizens are invited to contact committee
members individually to pass along any input on charter issues.
The Charter Review Committee is
comprised of the following members: Lee Hampton, Paula Harris,
Anthony Horne, Renate Hurd, Kathy Klaus, Warren Renando, Richard
Saltzgaber, Michael Swope, John Vanderpool, Jon Williams and Ken
Wyatt.
