Jefferson City Council term limits among possible August ballot issues

Jack Cartee casts his ballot Tuesday, April 4, 2017 while voting at Southridge Baptist Church in Jefferson City.
Jack Cartee casts his ballot Tuesday, April 4, 2017 while voting at Southridge Baptist Church in Jefferson City.

Four changes to the City Charter could appear on the Aug. 8 ballot for Jefferson City voters to decide, with potential changes ranging from city employees' residency requirements to City Council members' term limits.

Earlier this month, the Jefferson City Finance Committee approved sending a measure to eliminate the firemen's pension board to the City Council for final approval, as administration of the Firefighter's Pension Plan has been transferred to Missouri LAGERS.

The Council Committee on Administration sent three more proposed charter changes to the council Wednesday.

One change deals with term limits for City Council members. City attorney Ryan Moehlman said the limit would go from an absolute eight-year limit to a limitation of four consecutive terms, with the requirement a person have a 23-month "cooling off" period before serving on the council again.

"This doesn't discourage civic-minded people to serve on the council, and it requires turnover in office so that someone can't become forever entrenched in an office," Moehlman said. "It makes the turnover happen, and it allows someone who wants to serve more than four terms take a cooling-off period."

Term limits were added to the City Charter in the 1990s. The requirement a person must be 21 to run for City Council would not change.

Another proposed change would make the office of city prosecutor an appointed position instead of an elected one.

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 salary of the associate city counselor. If the mayor and council appoint outside counsel, there would be an opportunity to review RFP responses for comparison of rates and qualifications, which could 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. 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.).

Moehlman said elected prosecutors are rare among charter cities in Missouri, with Jefferson City and Fulton the only two of 39 charter cities that elect a prosecutor.

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.

Moehlman said if voters approved the charter change in August it would go into effect immediately and undo Stumpe's new term. However, Moehlman said the city could still contract with Stumpe to continue doing the job for a time.

Another proposed amendment would change city clerk residency requirements. Instead of requiring the city clerk to be a resident of Jefferson City, the amendment would impose the same residency requirements that apply to department directors.

The city clerk is the only city employee the charter or ordinance absolutely requires to reside within the city limits at all times, Moehlman said, and there is no other legal obligation or requirement in state law compelling city clerks specifically to reside with a city's limits.

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. "In the last 30-40 years, the position has evolved into much more than a clerical position but more like a managerial position."

Current City Clerk Phyllis Powell was clerk from 1982-86, then returned to the position in 1993 and has been there since.

The proposed charter changes - along with a bill to put on the ballot a measure asking Jefferson City residents to approve a plan to deal with stormwater issues - will be introduced at Monday's City Council meeting. If approved at the May 15 council meeting, then they all would appear on the August ballot.