Charter members claim city misled voters

Two charter committee members have expressed concern about recent voter-approved changes to the city charter, saying voters did not know what they were approving.

At the Council Committee on Administration meeting Wednesday, two former council and charter committee members, Carolyn McDowell and Kenneth Wildhaber, said the ballot language on changes to the charter approved April 3 was unclear and voters may not have realized what was being approved.

The two amendments that McDowell and Wildhaber objected to changed the charter to remove the council from the hiring and firing of employees below department directors and remove the need for council approval on hiring or firing employees in the police department, except the police chief.