The city charter is "like the constitution" of a municipal government, and Tucson's hasn't been updated in more than a decade, so city officials say it's time for a change.
A Charter Review Committee is reviewing the document and proposing changes to update the city's guiding principles and governance structure. For example, one proposal is to expand the mayor's authority.
What is a charter?
"The charter defines the powers and responsibilities of the mayor and City Council, which is the governing body of the city," said Lenny Porges, a member of the charter review committee.
"The charter is the document that gives the city the right to home rule under state law. Charter cities have the right to determine their own election system, determine their form of government," said Kasey Nye, chairman of the charter review committee. "The charter can only be changed by voters."
"The charter really defines the roles and responsibilities of who's in government," said Sarah Brown Smallhouse, a member of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council's board.
The charter change process:
1) Charter Review Committee drafts changes
2) Committee seeks public feedback on proposed changes
3) Committee incorporates feedback into its recommendation
4) Committee sends recommendations to City Council, which may alter them
5) City council votes on whether to put proposed charter changes on November citywide ballot
Tucson's process has reached Step 2.
Some of the major proposed changes so far, subject to public review and suggestion:
- Expand the mayor's role to be an equal vote on all council decisions, or eliminate his vote and give him solely veto power, like a president. Currently, the mayor can vote only on specified items on the council agenda, or break ties in certain circumstances.
- Change council member elections to a ward-only system. Currently, council members are nominated in a primary in the ward they seek to represent, and the general election is city wide. This proposal would mean the general election would be limited to the residents the person would represent.
- Change the process by which city department heads are hired and fired. Currently, the process of hiring depends on the department in question. The committee calls it "patchwork."
- Change the limits on property taxes. According to the charter review committee, Tucson is the only Arizona city that has a cap on primary and secondary property taxes, and the cap has not been indexed to inflation, so it matches the rate set in 1969.
- Allow the city to use sales tax revenue to pay off loans. The city now is prohibited from using sales taxes to pay bonds, and Tucson is the only city in Arizona with that restriction.
- A number of other changes to clean up the document or make it consistent, including gender-neutral language, renumbering items that are confusing and change department names to match current naming structure.
Why does it matter outside of city limits?
The city's welfare has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the cities and unincorporated Pima County residents, Smallhouse said.
"It would be very difficult to have a failing Tucson and a prosperous region," she said.
She said she hopes the charter changes proposed can fill voids people see or perceive in city governance.
"From inside government and outside government, there's been a call for increased accountability, better transparency, more efficiency, just a system that works better," she said.
What could changes mean?
"I think people generally assume the mayor has a lot more authority and power than he does, and a lot of people don't realize for example that the city manager doesn't have the authority to hire and fire people who report directly to him or her," Smallhouse said. "It's very hard to carry out your responsibilities when you don't have the appropriate authority."
The Southern Arizona Leadership Council has researched what has worked in other cities, as a way to advise the charter review committee about tried and true practices.
The committee looked at the charter in categories: form of government, elections, fiscal issues and cleaning up language, said Nye, chairman of the charter review committee.
"For every issue we had at least two public meetings to discuss and deliberate on those issues, obtain information from city staff and elsewhere to try to make informed decisions," he said.
"The goal is a comprehensive system reform that results in better public services with a lower tax burden," Smallhouse said.
Want to weigh in?
Two meetings are scheduled for public input on the proposals:
March 10, 5 p.m., El Pueblo Neighborhood Center, 101 W. Irvington Road
March 12 5 p.m., Morris K. Udall Regional Center 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road
Comments can also be submitted online:
Email: cityclerk@tucsonaz.gov
Mail: City Clerkâs Office, P.O. Box 27210, Tucson, AZ 85726
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