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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Actions 08-12-97 SpMtgROANOKE CITY COUNCIL --. SPECIAL MEETING Tuesday, August 12, 1997- 2:00p. n~ Emergency Operations Center Conference Room Room 159, Municipal South Agenda 1. Call to Order. Roll Call. Opening Remarks. Mayor David A. Bowers. Status report. Wilbum C. Dibling, Jr., City Attorney. Discussion of issues remaining to be resolved. City Council. Advice as to future actions. City Attorney. 7. Adjournment. H:~AGENDA.97V~,UG12.MOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 12, 1997 ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED In May, 2000, which offices will be elected for 4-year terms and which offices will be elected for 2-year terms commencing July 1, 2000? Alternatives: Elect Mayor and 3 district members for 4-year terms. Elect Vice-Mayor and 2 district members for 2-year terms. Elect Mayor, Vice-Mayor and 2 district members for 4-year terms. Elect 3 district members for 2-year terms. In May, 2000, which district members will be elected for 4-year terms and which district members for 2-year terms? a. If Alternative 1.a. is selected, there are at least 4 alternatives: (1) Districts 1, 4 and 5 elect members for 4-year terms (These are the districts in which Council members who will receive short terms in the 1998 election reside). Districts 2 and 3 elect members for 2-year terms. (2) Numerical order - 1, 2 and 3 receive 4-year terms; 4 and 5 receive 2-year terms. (3) Odd-even - 1, 3 and 5 receive 4-year terms; 2 and 4 receive 2-year terms. (4) By lot. b. If Alternative 1.b is selected, there are at least 3 alternatives: (1) Numerical order - 1 and 2 receive 4-year terms; 3, 4 and 5 receive 2-year terms. (2) Odd-even - 2 and 4 receive 4-year terms; 1,3 and 5 receive 2-year terms. (3) By lot. H:\ELECT\ISO1297.1 /~ppmve amended Charter language. Approve ballot question as amended at July 15, 1997, Work Session. D080897 Roanoke City Charter New §4.1 to Replace Repealed §4 §4.1 Composition of council; election of mayor, vice-mayor and members; terms; creation of election districts: vacancies: continuing body. (a) On and after July 1, 2000, the council shall consist of the mayor, vice-mayor and five (5) other members to be elected and to serve for the terms set forth in this section. (b) The mayor of the city shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city on the first Tuesday in May, 2000. The mayor shall serve for a term of four (4) years from the first day of July next following the date of election and until a successor is elected and qualified. (c) The vice-mayor of the city shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city beginning with the regular councilmanic election on the first Tuesday in May, 2000. The vice-ma, a~or elected on the first Tuesday in May, 2000, shall serve for a term of/~._._ years from the first day of July next following the date of election and t~til a successor is elected and qualified. Beginning with the election on the first Tuesday in May, aoc. ¢, and thereafter, the vice-mayor shall be elected for a term of four (4) years from the first day of July next following the date of election and until a successor is elected and qualified. (d) In addition to the mayor and the vice-mayor, the council shall consist of five (5) members who shall be elected from and be qualified voters in election districts established by council with one council member to be elected from each district. The election districts shall be designated district 1, district 2, district 3, district 4 and district 5, and the boundaries of each district shall be established by ordinance of city council pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. On the first Tuesday in May, 2000, _;3 council members shall be elected, one (1) each from districts __~ terms of four (4) years, nem~sd~ofCOuncil members shall be elected, one (1) each from districts4~) for two (2) years. Thereafter, Council members shall serve for i~-~s of four (4) years. All terms of council members shall commence on the first day of July next following the date of election, and all council members shall serve until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. (e) The Council shall, by ordinance and in accordance with the general laws of the Commonwealth, divide the City into five election districts for the purpose of electing one member of council from each such district. H: \EL~C~\~. 3 (f~_ Nothing herein contained shall be construed to affect the terms of council members elected or appointed under the provisions of this charter prior to the regular councilmanic election in the year 2000 or thereafter until their respective terms expire. (g) No person may be a candidate for the office of mayor or the office of vice-mayor and for the office of council member in the same election. (h) Any vacancy in the office of mayor, vice-mayor or council member shall be filled within thirty days, and until the day upon which the terms of office of council members elected in the next following regular councilmanic election shall commence, by a majority vote of the remaining members of council, and if as much as two years of any such unexpired term of the mayor, vice-mayor or member of council remains at the time of such next regular councilmanic election, a mayor or vice-mayor or council member, as the case may be, shall be elected at said election for the remaining portion of such unexpired term. Any vacancy in an election district shall be filled by a qualified voter of such district. (i) The council shall be a continuing body, and no measure pending before such body shall abate or be discontinued by reason of the expiration of the term of office or removal of the members of said body, or any of them. D080897 BALLOT QUESTION Shall the Roanoke City Charter of 1952, as amended, be amended effective January 1, 2000, to provide for a seven member City Council consisting of a Mayor and Vice-Mayor separately elected at large and five (5) Council members who shall each be elected from and be a qoalified voter in an election district established by Council with one Council member from each district? [] YES [] NO WILBURN C. DIBLING, .IR. CITY ATI'ORNEY CITY OF ROANOKE OFFICE OF CITY ATTORNEY 464 MUNICIPAL BUILDING 215 CHURCH AVENUE, SW ROANOKE, VIRGINIA 2401 !- 1595 TELEPHONE: 540-853-2431 FACSIMILE: 540-853-1221 F.-M AIL:cityatty ~ ci.manok~ va.us WILLIAM X PARSONS SI'EVEN J. TALEVI GLADYS L. YATES GARY E. TEGENKAMI~ ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEYS July 7, 1997 The Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council Roanoke, Vir~'nia Re: Re_~rt of Modified Election District Task Force Dear Mayor Bowers and Members of Council: The Modified Election District Task Force made its final report to City Council on Monday, June 16, 1997. At that time, this matter was referred to me for the purpose of establishing a public hearing to be held at the Civic Center. This report provides background information for Council and recommends a public hearing on July 28, 1997, to be advertised on July 18, and two City Council work sessions, one before and one after the public hearing. As I have previously advised Council, unless the terms of some members of Council are cut short, new election procedures, if approved by the electorate, would first be applicable to the election to be held on the first Tuesday in May, 2000. The Task Force has recommended that in May, 2000, the Mayor be elected at large and three Council members be elected from districts. The Task Force has further recommended that on the first Tuesday in May, 2002, the Vice-Mayor be elected at large and the other two Council members be elected from districts. Implementation of the foregoing timetable can be accomplished by holding a referendmn in either November, 1997, or May, 1998. Although Council has not acted on this issue, I am attaching a proposed chronology that assumes a November, 1997, referendum. If a referendum is to be held in November, there is much work to be done by City Council and myseff in a very short period of time. In my report to City Council, dated August 8, 1994, I advised you that, since Virginia observes the Dillon Rule, local government referenda are not permitted unless expressly authofiz~ by the Oencnd Assembly. Thc State Code, however, authorizes two alternative The Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council July 7, 1997 methods of amending a city charter. The first procedure, requiring the conduct of a public hearing after advertisement of the text of the proposed charter amendment, is the one that City Council commonly follows. The second procedure, which has not recently been utilized in this City, permits the holding of a referendum with respect to a proposed charter amendment. Specifically, §15.1-834 of the State Code permits a m~micipality to hold an election to determine if the qualified voters desire that the city council request a specific amendment to the city charter from the Creneml Assembly. Thus, when a referendum is held, the electorate votes to approve or reject a specific amendment to the city charter. What this means is that (1) the specific charter amendment language, including all the details of the modi_.'fied clection district plan agreed to by City Council, and (2) thc specific language of thc question to be placed on the ballot must be agreed to so that a Writ of Election can be obtained from the Circuit Court sixty days in advance of the date of the referendum. Some of the details have been addressed by thc Task Force; for example, the Task Force has recommended that the Mayor and Vice-Mayor be elected at large and that the City Council consist of seven members of which five should be elected from districts. The Task Force, however, did not address all the details. Some of the questions left to be resolved by Council are as follows: 1. What objective guidelines will City Council adhere to in completing and approving the modified election district plan? 2. Which districts will elect Council members in May, 2000 and which districts in, May, 2002? e How will the Vice-Mayor be elected for the period of July 1, 2000 to July 1, 2002? Is time a need for adjustment of the proposed district boundary lines? Does the language of the proposed Charter amendment accurately describe City Council's agreed upon plan? Does the language to be placed on the referendum ballot accurately and fairly set out the question to be considered by the electorate? The Honorable Mayor and Members 3 of City Council July 7, 1997 In order to allow Council the opportunity to adequately consider and resolve these and other issues, I am proposing two City Council work sessions. One would be held before the public hearing and ~ second after the public hearing. The work session prior to the public hearing will prepare Council to betier understand issues that may be raised by citizens at the public hearing. The work session after the public hearing will afford City Council the opportunity to consider any issues raised by citizens at the public hearing. The proposed dates and times on the attached chronology have been established with the assistance of Mary F. Parker, City Clerk, who has taken a poll of Council members. Please note that a date and a time for a third Council work session have been set aside in case a third session is needed. City Council will need to approve the proposed schedule for work sessions and public hearing by motion. Although Council will have some latitude in modifying the proposed a_~es for the work sessions and public hearing, I cannot emphasize too strongly that Council has many important issues, some of which are keenly political, to resolve in a very short time if ii referendum is to be held in November. I shall be pleased to respond to any questions members of Council may have with respect to the ~ discussed in this report. I look forward to working with you in resolving these important public policy issues. With kindest personal regards, I am Sincerely yours, Wilburn C. Dibling, Jr. City Attorney WCD:f Enclosures CC: W. Robert Herbert, City Manager Mary F. Parker, City Clerk CHRONOLOGY PART I. REFERENDUM ON MODIFIED ELECTION DISTRICT SYSTEM 07/15/97 8:30 a.m. 07/18/97 07/28/97 7:00 p.m. 07/29/97 2:00 p.m. 08/12/97 2:00 p.m. 08/18/97 08/19/97 09/06/97 10/24/97 11/04/97 City Council holds first work session to consider modified election district system recommended by Citizen's Task Force. Publish Notice of Public Hearing in The Roanoke Thnes and Roano~ T bune. City Council holds public hearing on election district plan recommended by Ci~zen's Task Force. Second City Council work session. Reserved for third City Council work session if needed. City Council adopts resolution approving language of proposed Charter amendment and question to be placed on ballot and directing City Attorney to take action necessm~ to cause a referendum to be held. File petition requesting entry of Writ of Election by Circuit Court. Writ of Election entered by Circuit Court must be filed with State Board of Elections 60 days prior to date of referend-m.* §24.2-682. See §24.2-684 as to form of ballot. Text of or an informative summary of proposed Charter amendment must be published at least 10 days prior to referendum. §15.1-384 (§15.2-201 af~ 10/01/97). Referendum as to proposed Charter amendment. City Attorney will seek Depatanent of Justice preclearance of date and procedures relating to referendum under the Voting Rights Act (not preclearance of plan; this comes only after General Assembly approval). CHRONOLOGY PART I I. IMPLEMENTATION OF MODIFIED ELECTION DISTRICT SYSTEM IF APPROVED BY ELECTORATE Janum3t 13, 1998 March 14, 1998 March 15, 1998 May 12, 1998 Introduction of Charter bill at 1998 Session of General Assembly. End of Session. By this date, General Assembly should have enacted Charter amendment and Governor should have signed into law. Submission to Department of Justice seeking preclearance of approved plan under Voting Rights Act. Last day for Department of Justice to act on plan unless Depamnent requests additional information in wh/ch case Department receives an additional 60 days in which to act. First Tuesday in March, 2000 First Tuesday in May, 2000 First Tuesday in May, 2002 Filing declarations of c~didacy for first election under new system. Election of Mayor and 3 Council members under new system. Election of Vice-mayor and 2 Council members under new system. ALL OF THE ABOVE ASSUMES A FAVORABLE RESPONSE FROM DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND NO LITIGATION