REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Study Session: Initial Presentation of the Report to Council Regarding the Comprehensive Review and Proposed Update of the City Charter by the Charter Review Committee, commonly known as the “Charter Project,” including the Charter Review Committee’s Recommendation
Report
BACKGROUND
The idea for a comprehensive review and update of the City Charter (now commonly referred to as the “Charter Project”) was incorporated into the Governance and Ethics Committee Work Plan in early 2025. An outline for the project was first formally presented to the Governance and Ethics Committee on May 1, 2025. Senior City staff were supportive of the project based on their own assessment, and feedback from the different departments responsible for implementing its terms, that a number of Charter provisions were ambiguous, out of date, not aligned with current City operations or best practices, and/or not aligned with current laws. With support from the Committee, the project concept was presented to the full City Council on July 15, 2025. Recognizing the potential benefits of the project, the Council directed staff to take the initial steps to form a Charter Review Committee for purposes of implementing the “Charter Project” (the Charter Project CRC). Council direction included terms for the CRC’s composition, selection process and purposes. Staff advertised the availability of CRC positions and, with the City Clerk, implemented the CRC lottery selection and appointment process. On September 16, 2025, the City Council appointed the CRC members and formally established the CRC by adoption of the CRC Bylaws.
Section 2 of the City Council adopted Bylaws for the Charter Project CRC describes its purpose as follows:
“The purpose of the CRC is to work with City staff, with input from the community, to facilitate the implementation of the “Charter Project.” The Charter Project involves a process for comprehensive review of the City Charter to identify provisions in the Charter that should be corrected, clarified or modified for the Charter to be fully consistent with applicable state law, aligned with current best practices for City operations and, in general, easier to understand and apply. At the end of the process, the objective of the Charter Project is to produce a draft comprehensive Charter Amendment for presentation to the City Council and, if the City Council so directs, possibly the voters at the November 2026 Election.”
Section 3 of the Bylaws sets forth a list of the CRC’s duties. Section 3.4 describes the CRC’s ultimate duty as follows:
“Make a Recommendation to the City Council regarding a Comprehensive Amendment of the City Charter. To implement the Charter Project City staff will be preparing draft revisions to the City Charter for consideration and input by CRC Subcommittees and/or the CRC itself. At the end of the process, the CRC will be expected to make a recommendation to the City Council on one or more proposed amendments to the City Charter. The proposed “top to bottom” review process is intended to be driven by practical and legal considerations, with the prime objective being to bring the Charter up to current “best practices” for City operations. It is not intended to implement any major restructuring of City operations or to change the City’s election process. In the end, it will be up to the Charter Review Committee to recommend, and the City Council to decide which, if any, of the proposed changes will be presented to the voters as part a comprehensive update to the City Charter. In order to coordinate with the City Council’s summer meeting schedule, and to meet the timing requirements for submittals of measures to voters at the November 2026 election, the CRC shall endeavor to finalize and present its recommendation(s) to the City Council by no later than June 29, 2026.”
To implement the Charter Project, over the last eight months the CRC has been meeting in public (10 times) and in Ad Hoc Subcommittee working groups (28 times) to (1) hear from stakeholders regarding proposed Charter changes, (2) discuss and resolve issues regarding what changes made sense as part of the project versus what issues might better be implemented by Council policy or a future Charter update, (3) review proposed language prepared by the City Attorney’s office to implement approved changes, and (4) ultimately, develop a formal recommendation for Council consideration. Back on April 7, 2026, the CRC also checked in with the City Council with a progress report. That report also included a presentation of the CRC’s proposed comprehensive reorganization of the Charter to make it more user-friendly. After a series of meetings in May, the full CRC met again on June 3rd. At the June 3rd meeting, the CRC considered all of its previous actions, made a few minor modifications to the Charter language presented based on requested input from staff, and approved the proposed Charter update in substantially the form presented as its recommendation to the City Council for submittal to the voters at the upcoming November 2026 election.
DISCUSSION
The upcoming June 9th study session is intended to be the first step in a multiple step process.
• On June 9th, assisted by designated CRC representatives, the City Attorney will lead a presentation that summarizes the Charter Project process and the resulting CRC recommendation. The CRC’s formal written report on the Charter Project (“CRC Final Report”), currently being finalized, will also be presented. Time permitting, City Council questions will be asked and answered, and any preliminary Council input provided.
• On June 15th, a special City Council meeting has been scheduled, dedicated to the Charter Project. At that meeting, further Council questions and input will be solicited, with the possibility for Council direction to the CRC and project staff. Depending upon progress made and Council direction, one or more additional meetings may need to be scheduled.
• If Council desires to proceed to place one or more Charter Project measures on the ballot, the full ballot package would need to be delivered to the County Registrar by no later than August 7, 2026. In order not to intrude on the Council’s scheduled summer recess, that means any final City Council action on a Charter update ballot proposal would need to occur at the Council’s currently scheduled July 14, 2026 meeting.
The Charter Project presentation on June 9th, and the pending CRC Final Report, will contain the following information:
1. Charter Project Origins and Objectives. A description of the origins and objectives of the Charter Project.
2. The Process. A summary of the process and approach used to implement the Charter Project. This will include details on: (a) the creation and function of the six CRC Ad Hoc Subcommittee “working groups;” (b) the solicitation and provision of stakeholder input; (c) benchmarking with other “comparable” charters and charter update projects; and (d) the categorization of proposed changes into “levels.”
3. The Results. A summary of the proposed changes resulting from this process. Changes presented will include Charter-wide updates and conventions, along with the Article by Article, Section by Section changes, ranging from mere corrections, wording updates and reorganization (“Level One”) to changes that are recommended but may be so substantive or sensitive they warrant consideration as a stand-alone ballot measure (“Level Three”). An underline strikeout version of the Charter showing the proposed changes, and a “clean” version showing those changes “accepted” (i.e., how the updated Charter would look if the changes were approved) will also be presented. Both versions will be “annotated” with comments in the margins for each Section explaining the nature of changes made, highlighting relevant stakeholder input and, for more significant modifications, explaining the groups thought process that went into the development and ultimate recommendation of the proposed changes.
4. The Final Recommendation. The CRC’s final recommendation on what the City Council should consider placing on the November 2026 ballot. This will include identification of any recommended Level Three changes that may warrant consideration as a separate ballot measure.
5. What’s Next. Steps required if the Council decides to place a measure on the ballot, including things that could be done to help inform the voters.
Although the CRC Final Report is still being worked on, in order to help prepare the City Council for the upcoming study session, attached to this report are the current City Charter and the versions prepared that show the actual CRC recommended changes to Charter. Both underline/strikeout and “clean” versions are attached. Both versions contain Article by Article and Section by Section explanatory “annotations” in the margins as described above. Please note that the proposed modifications to the Civil Service provisions of the Charter (currently Article XI, Proposed Article VII), are subject to meet and confer discussions with the City’s bargaining units which, as of the drafting of this report, were still ongoing. The final Report and presentation will include an explanation of the meet and confer process and the progress made with the bargaining units.
The CRC and City staff look forward to the upcoming presentation and discussion on June 9th.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact to the City for this item other than staff time and administrative resources. Depending upon Council direction, additional staff time and resources would be needed to prepare any item for placement on the November ballot. If a measure passes, substantial additional staff time and resources would also be necessary to implement the Charter section reference changes throughout existing City documents that reference the Charter, and to prepare any contemplated ordinances or policies. Ultimately, it is expected that the modernized terms of any approved comprehensive Charter update will result in net savings to the City in staff time and resources.
COORDINATION
This report has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office with input from the CRC Report and Presentation Ad Hoc Subcommittee.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Hear the presentation, pose questions and provide any initial feedback.
Staff
Reviewed by: Courtney Mohammadi, Legal Executive Assistant, City Attorney’s Office
Approved by: Glen Googins, City Attorney
ATTACHMENTS
1. City Charter (current)
2. City Charter with Proposed Modifications, Underline/Strikeout with Annotations
3. City Charter with Proposed Modifications, “Clean” Version with Annotations