CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY-FIRST COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. R-15-168 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Don Harris
RESOLUTION
title
Creating A Task Force To Review The Charter Of The City Of Albuquerque And Make Recommendations On Certain Potential Revisions (Harris)
body
CREATING A TASK FORCE TO REVIEW THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON CERTAIN POTENTIAL REVISIONS.
WHEREAS, the City Charter which created Albuquerque's current form of government was adopted by the voters in 1974; and
WHEREAS, City Charter Review Task Forces were established in 1988, 1998, and 2009 to revisit the Charter and to make recommendations for improving and refining the Charter in light of changes brought about by population growth, annexation and the complexity of issues facing the City; and
WHEREAS, each Task Force recommended changes to the Charter which were proposed as Charter Amendments and put before the voters in 1989, 1999, and 2009 respectively and in each case several of the proposed amendments were approved by the voters; and
WHEREAS, approximately five years have passed since the last Charter Review Task Force was assembled to analyze the Charter provisions, and in that time several critical issues have materialized relating to the requirements of the Charter; and
WHEREAS, it is timely to convene a Charter Review Task Force to provide an analysis of certain City Charter matters, and whether certain revisions should be proposed to improve the City's governmental structure and operations; and
WHEREAS, the Charter Review Task Force created by this resolution should submit its recommendations to the Council in time for placement on the ballot for the October 6, 2015, regular municipal election.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. CREATION OF A CHARTER REVIEW TASK FORCE
A. A 14 member City Charter Review Task Force is established to review the City Charter and evaluate provisions that should be amended, added or deleted.
B. The Task Force shall be made up of the following members, each of whom is required to be a resident of the City of Albuquerque:
1. One member selected by each Councilor;
2. One at-large member selected by the full City Council who shall chair the Task Force; and
3. Four members appointed by the Mayor.
C. The Task Force shall hold its first meeting as soon as possible after the appointment of a majority of members, and shall provide its recommendations for City Charter amendments in a report to the Council and the Mayor on or before June 15, 2015. Upon presentation of its recommendations, the Task Force may be discharged or may continue at the direction of the Council.
D. The charge of the Task Force shall be to examine the City Charter for the purpose of recommending amendments. The charge includes but is not limited to examination of the following:
1. Potential Council remedies in the event a timely Mayoral appointment is not presented for positions which require the advice and consent of the Council; and
2. Potential Council remedies in the event timely appointments are not made to the "Intragovernmental Conference Committee" established under Article XIX of the Charter in 2009; and
3. The provision of the Charter that requires nine and only nine Council Districts so as to potentially allow more than nine districts; and
4. The provisions relating to public financing of campaigns and other election provisions in need of update or revision; and
5. The provision in the Charter requiring photo identification for voters in regular municipal elections.
E. As an advisory task force, meetings of the Charter Review Task Force are not strictly subject to the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, but the Task Force shall nonetheless meet only in open meetings that, as a matter of policy, generally adhere to standards of the Open Meetings Act relating to notice and accessibility by the public. The Task Force shall hold at least one public hearing during which input from the public will be sought.
F. The Council and the Administration shall provide staffing and resources to the Task Force.
SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. If any section, paragraph, word or phrase of this resolution is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this resolution. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution and each section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase thereof irrespective of any provision being declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This resolution is effective immediately.
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