Already it appears there could be a ballot issue in August asking Jefferson City residents for approval of a plan to deal with stormwater issues.
But there may be more issues on that ballot for voters to decide.
While the Jefferson City Finance Committee approved sending a measure to eliminate the firemen's pension board to the City Council for final approval, because administration of the Firefighter's Pension Plan has been transferred to Missouri LAGERS, two more potential changes to the City Charter were tabled for further discussion, especially in light of new council members Ron Fitzwater and David Kemna beginning their first terms.
One potential charter change would make the office of city prosecutor an appointed position instead of an elected one.
City attorney Ryan Moehlman said the change could lead to cost savings for the city. Currently, the city pays the elected city prosecutor approximately $35,000 per year. The charter amendment would allow flexibility either to appoint an associate city counselor to act as city prosecutor or to appoint outside counsel as city prosecutor.
If an associate city counselor were appointed to fulfill the duties of city prosecutor, then those duties would be carried out under the then-current salary of an associate city counselor. If the mayor and council desire to appoint outside counsel, there would be an opportunity to review RFP responses for comparison of rates and qualifications; this could potentially lead to lower rates.
Also, if an associate city counselor is employed to fulfill the duties of city prosecutor, this could lead to greater availability to the public for work on city prosecutor issues, i.e., as an already full-time employee, an assistant city counselor would be available to work on city prosecutor issues on a full-time basis. This greater availability could lead to reduced dockets on court days, which could lead to reduced expenses to operate the court (i.e., court staff time, security expenses, etc.).
Brian Stumpe ran unopposed in the April election and will be sworn in for another term as city prosecutor at Monday's City Council meeting. He was first elected to the post in 2011 and said the office has been handling 12,000-13,000 cases a year.
Another proposed amendment would change city clerk residency requirements. Currently, the charter says the clerk shall be a resident of the city. The change would instead state "comply with any residency requirements applicable to department directors as may be established by ordinance."
Moehlman said the rationale for the amendment is the city clerk is the only city employee the charter or ordinance absolutely requires to reside within the city limits at all times. There is no other legal obligation or requirement in state law compelling city clerks specifically to reside with a city's limits.
In its current form, in the event the position of city clerk becomes vacant, the current provision reduces the applicant pool of qualified applicants and prevents any otherwise qualified city employees who don't live within city limits from being promoted to the office, Moehlman said.
"The goals of having city management employees reside within the city are substantially advanced by removing this overly strict requirement and instead imposing on the office the same residency requirements as are imposed on departmental directors," he said.
Current City Clerk Phyllis Powell was clerk from 1982-86, then came back to the position in 1993 and has been there ever since.
Moehlman and Finance Committee members said the prosecutor issue would be the most contentious of the two, as citizens could see this as taking away control of something they've voted on for years. He did note the majority of municipalities in the state appoint their city prosecutors, and only Jefferson City and Fulton in Mid-Missouri elect theirs.
If the Finance Committee decides to send the charter amendments to the full council for consideration, they would have to act quickly to get them on the Aug. 8 ballot, since voters must approve charter changes.
To be placed on this ballot, a charter amendment must be approved by the council and submitted to the Cole County clerk no later than May 30. The next available election date after August is Nov. 7.