City Charter Referendum Ordinance

PROPOSEDORDINANCE NO. ______ ORDINANCE NO. ______ AN ORDINANCETO BE ENTITLED:AN ORDINANCE PROPOSING A NEW CHARTER FOR THECITY OF PENSACOLA, FLORIDA; REPLACING THEEXISTING CHARTER; PROVIDING GENERAL POWERS OFTHE CITY; PROVIDING CORPORATE BOUNDARIES;PROVIDING A MAYOR-COUNCIL FORM OF GOVERNMENT;PROVIDING FOR AN ELECTED MAYOR; PROVIDING FOR A NINE MEMBER COUNCIL COMPRISED OF TWO AT-LARGESEATS AND SEVEN DISTRICT SEATS; PROVIDING TERMLIMITS ON ELECTED POSITIONS; SPECIFYING THE SCOPEOF AUTHORITY FOR MAYOR AND COUNCIL; PROVIDINGFOUR YEAR TERMS OF OFFICE; PROVIDING ANELECTIONS PROCESS; PROVIDING A DISTRICTINGCOMMISSION; PROVIDING FOR RECALL, INITIATIVE ANDREFERENDUM; PROVIDING A CHARTER REVIEWCOMMISSION; PROVIDING CHARTER TRANSITIONPROVISIONS; REQUIRING A CODE OF ETHICS; PROVIDINGFOR A REFERENDUM THEREON; REPEALING CLAUSE;AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF PENSACOLA, FLORIDA:WHEREAS, the Charter Review Commission was created to review the current Charter of the City of Pensacola and make recommendations as to any changes; andWHEREAS, the Charter Review Commission adopted a revised City Charter at itsmeeting on August 19, 2009, and recommended it to the City Council; andWHEREAS, the City Council received and considered the revision to the City Charter recommended by the Charter Revision Commission; andWHEREAS, the City Council adopted the revised City Charter with some changes at itsmeeting on September 10, 2009; andWHEREAS, the proposed revision of the City Charter needs to be submitted to theelectors of the City of Pensacola for their consideration and approval before becoming effective; NOW, THEREFORE,BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF PENSACOLA, FLORIDA:

SECTION 1. The City Council calls for the holding of a referendum of the electors of the City of Pensacola on November 24, 2009, to consider and vote for or against the approval of the revised City Charter as adopted by the City Council on September 10, 2009.SECTION 2. The Supervisor of Elections of Escambia County is hereby appointed as theclerk of a special municipal election to be held on November 24, 2009, by mail ballot inaccordance with the Florida Mail Ballot Election Act, Sections 101.6101 - 101.6107, FloridaStatutes. He is requested to submit a plan for conducting said election to the Secretary of Statefor approval. The City of Pensacola shall bear all costs of the election.SECTION 3. The City of Pensacola shall reimburse the Supervisor of Elections for anycosts incurred by that office directly related to the preparation for, conducting of, and certifyingthe results of the referendum on the proposed City Charter revision.SECTION 4. The language to appear on the ballot of the referendum on the proposedCity Charter revisions shall be:QUESTION ___________________________ CITY OF PENSACOLACHARTER REPLACEMENT QUESTIONShall the City of Pensacola replace its current Charter with a completely revised Charter providing for:

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A Mayor-Council form of government, replacing a Council-Manager form of government;

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A nine-member Council with two at-large seats and seven district seats;

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Four-year staggered terms of office instead of two-year terms of office;

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Term limits of three consecutive terms;

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Recall, initiative and referendum,as described in Ordinance No. _____?YES _____ for Approval NO ______ for Rejection SECTION 5. The appropriate officials of the City shall cause to be published in anewspaper of general circulation of the City the notices of the referendum required by theexisting City Charter and applicable Florida law.

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SECTION 6. In the event the foregoing proposal is approved by a majority of theelectors voting on the proposal, the following Charter for the City of Pensacola shall replace theexisting Charter, to-wit:

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HARTER

FOR

THE

C

ITY

OF

P

ENSACOLA

PREAMBLE

We the people of the City of Pensacola, under the Constitution and laws of the State of Florida, in order to secure the benefits of local self-government and to provide for an honest,effective, and accountable Mayor-Council government, do hereby adopt this charter and confer upon the City the following powers, subject to the following restrictions, and prescribed by thefollowing procedures and governmental structure. By this action, we secure the benefits of homerule and affirm the values of representative democracy, professional management, strong political leadership, citizen participation, and regional cooperation.

ARTICLE IGENERAL POWERS OF THE CITYSection 1.01.General Powers and Corporate Existence.

The City of Pensacola (“City”), located in Escambia County, Florida, shall have allgovernmental, corporate, and proprietary powers to enable it to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for municipal purposes except when expressly prohibited by law.

Section 1.02. Construction.

The powers of the City under this Charter shall be construed liberally in favor of the City,and the specific mention of particular powers in the Charter shall not be construed as limiting inany way the general power granted in this Article.

Section 1.03. Intergovernmental Relations.

The City may participate by contract or otherwise with any governmental entity of theState of Florida or any other state or states or the United States of America in the performance of any activity which one or more of such entities has the authority to undertake.

ARTICLE IICORPORATE BOUNDARIESSection 2.01. Corporate Boundaries.

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