America's FirstSettlementEstablishedt559
OfficeofCityAttorneyTO:FROM:DATE:RE:MEMORANDUMMayor and CityCouncilWil-liam D. Well-sCity AttorneySeptember7-, 2009CharterReview
The Charter ReviewCommissj-on hasincorporatedmany of thechangles suggested bythe City's consul-tantand theCityAttorney's Office and, Ibelieve, hasproposedamuch improvedCharter.However, t,hereare two significantissues that theCRCdeclined tochangethat, in my view,should becloselyconsideredby Councilatitsspecial Committee of the Wholemeeting.These two issuesare:1.WhojudgesCouncil candj-datequalifications?Section0.03(a)oft.heproposedCharterprovidesthat. a candidateforCouncil-mustbea residentof t.he City, mustbequalifiedas aFloridaelector, mustbe assigned avoter registrationnumber byt.he Supervisorof El-ectionstovote ina cit.yprecinctfor notless than oneyear priorto the end ofqualification,andmustbe aresident of a decLared district for atleast oneyearpriorto the endofqualification.From ti-me to time,a candidatef ora Council seathasexecutedan affidavit withtheSupervisorofElections,at.t.estingto his or herqualifications,whenthereis a strongbasis toquestionthequalificationoft,hatcandidate.What istheprocessthat shouldbefollowedtohavethisissue resol-vedpriorto an election? The current Charterprovidesa definitiveanswerin SectionL4,which states/"Thecouncilshallbe thejudgeof theelection andqualificationof itsmembers and of
themayor"TheproposedCharterhas no suchprovision,P.O.Bor 1291032521180 Goaernmenta.I CenterPeraacola,Florid,a,(850)435-1615 FAX(850)595-1290
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