By Robert Haugh
Santa Clara’s proposed charter overhaul will have to wait another week.
At Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, City Attorney Glen Googins gave a detailed presentation on the current charter, the review process and the Charter Review Committee’s recommendations.
The presentation was so detailed that the Council only got through about half of the recommendations before the item had to be continued.
The Council is now expected to take up the rest of the charter review next week.
The proposed overhaul is the result of eight months of work by Santa Clara’s 13-member Charter Review Committee.
The goal, according to the committee, was largely to clean up and modernize the charter.
The draft reduces the current 18 articles to nine, reorganizes the document, updates outdated language and adds a glossary.
But the proposal also includes several significant changes to how City government operates.
If the Council approves the final package, voters would likely decide the charter changes on the November ballot.
Key recommendations include:
- Charter structure: Reduce the charter from 18 articles to nine and make the language clearer.
- Police chief: Keep the elected police chief, but clarify duties and add updated qualifications.
- City Council conduct: Add expectations for professionalism and prohibit councilmembers from directing staff outside the city manager structure.
- Finance and budgeting: Reflect the City’s current use of biennial budgets and update fiscal procedures.
- Procurement: Allow modern public works contracting tools, including design-build and best-value contracts.
- Parkland protections: Keep the two-thirds voter approval requirement for selling or changing dedicated parkland, while allowing some short-term leases and “secondary uses” with Council approval.
- Library Board: Expand the Board of Library Trustees from five to seven members and update its role.
- Salary Setting Commission: Make it an official city commission with authority over compensation and benefits for elected officials.
- City Clerk: Clarify the elected city clerk’s role and formally recognize a senior assistant city clerk position for day-to-day administrative duties.
The Council’s next discussion will determine whether the proposed charter overhaul moves closer to the ballot or faces more changes before voters see it.
[…] Charter review committee item took so much time for City staff to present at the last meeting that another meeting was […]
Just remember there’s an election in November and 2 of the seats up for election are currently held by 49er-elected councilmembers. These proposed charter changes need to be approved and placed on the ballot before Jed loses his council majority. Which means the City Attorney is in on the plan too.
I followed all the links, and I’m not seeing this one: Reduce the charter from 18 articles to nine. I think I can see the 18 current articles (the City Code?), of which 4 of them are Reserved today, so maybe those go away, which brings us down to 14, but what about the other 5?
Everyone
This has been a huge task taken on by so many people.
There is really no easy way this “Apple” could be eaten in just one bite.
Our Charter for sure needed to be updated, and I believe the work put in by everyone was genuine.
Sadly and it hurts me to say this being a lifelong resident of our City, that no matter what happens in our City everything and I mean everything is now under suspect and scrutiny. How I wish we never tried to help a NFL Franchise. Just a reminder, “Let no good deed go unpunished.”
I feel honored to have been able to be a part of this process and get the opportunity to meet so many other residents who all give so much of their time to this project.
I believe that as a group, we (and I mean everyone) have all worked very hard and diligently to get it updated, and more in line with current business practices and expectations.
Is it perfect? Not at all. However I do know this, no matter what we do for this one NFL Franchise, it will never be enough. I mean even if they got everything, it would still never be enough.
Just a really sad statement, but just the way most NFL Franchises treat their host Cities.
Burt Field
Burt–deep respect. But to say “Our Charter for sure needed to be updated” is questionable. The Charter is the City’s Constitution.
Are you also advocating to re-write the US Constitution? Which Amendment or Bill of Rights do you like removed? Remove the 1st Amendment? 2nd Amendment? 4th Amendment? 5th Amendment?
Keep the City’s Charter as it stands.
No.
About the City Charter:
The City Charter is the equivalent of the City’s constitution. It sets forth the basic rules for how the City is to be governed and operated.
https://www.santaclaraca.gov/our-city/government/city-committees/charter-review-committee-charter-project
https://ecode360.com/SA4626
Read it. No need to change it.
If the Charter is Amended, it ought to require the City Manager and City Attorney to be *elected* rather than ‘appointed.’
Having worked as a municipal lawyer for more than 30 years, focusing on procurement, I can safely say that non-competitive public contracting processes lead to bad deals under suspect circumstances. Where did the idea of amending the Charter to allow for other than low bid contracts come from?
I’m not sure why, but whenever anything suspect, that will cost Santa Clara taxpayers money, jedyork comes to mind. How can he benefit from this? I mean it is his council and staff, right? Did sud’s appointee char the committee again? Asking for a friend.