By Herman Wang
Staff Writer
Chattanooga voters will be presented with three proposed City Charter amendments on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The first would allow the mayor to appoint EPB board members, subject to City Council confirmation, instead of board members nominating their replacements.
The second would change the city engineer from being a chartered official, freeing the position from being subject to mayoral appointment with each incoming administration.
The third would prohibit only elected officials in the city from being county, state or federal employees, clearing up a vagueness in the charter.
All amendments require a simple majority of votes to pass.
Mayor Ron Littlefield proposed the first amendment to bring the EPB board in line with other city boards.
The power board has what is known as a self-perpetuating board, where they pick their own members, Mr. Littlefield said. Quite frankly, we’re changing it because that type of selection has for good reason gone out of fashion over the years.
Board members would be able to name their own chairman, and all mayoral appointments would require City Council confirmation.
Some people are saying it might make it political cronyism if the mayor’s appointing the board members, but the City Council will have to confirm them, anyway, said City Councilman Manny Rico, who supports the measure.
The second proposed amendment would fix an error made when the City Charter was readopted in 2002.
Chattanooga’s government switched from its original commission form to the current council form in 1990, but the charter retained references to a board of commissioners until voters adopted an updated version four years ago.
However, the updated charter unintentionally reverted the city engineer to being a charter position.
It sneaked back into the language of the readopted charter, and we’re correcting an error, Mr. Littlefield said.
As a rank-and-file employee, the city engineer would have the same benefit package and vacation schedule as other city employees. The current city engineer, Bill Payne, said he supports the measure.
The third proposed amendment would resolve situations, such as with Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck, who also is a Chattanooga City Court officer.
Mr. Beck was appointed to the County Commission in 2005, and the city unsuccessfully filed suit in Chancery Court, arguing that, under the charter, Mr. Beck could not keep his city employment while serving on the commission.
The charter prohibits county, state or federal employees from holding any office with the city.
The proposed amendment, if passed, would replace any office with any popularly elected office.
There’s always some question whether someone is defined as an official, and this will clear up those conflicts, Mr. Littlefield said.
The proposed amendment also would give city officials greater latitude in appointing people to serve on various boards. For instance, City Council members have complained of not being able to appoint Hamilton County Schools teachers, Tennessee Valley Authority employees and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga faculty members to boards.
There are a lot of qualified people out there, and this gives us more choice, Mr. Rico said.
E-mail Herman Wang at hwang@timesfreepress.com
Staff Writer
Chattanooga voters will be presented with three proposed City Charter amendments on the Nov. 7 ballot.
The first would allow the mayor to appoint EPB board members, subject to City Council confirmation, instead of board members nominating their replacements.
The second would change the city engineer from being a chartered official, freeing the position from being subject to mayoral appointment with each incoming administration.
The third would prohibit only elected officials in the city from being county, state or federal employees, clearing up a vagueness in the charter.
All amendments require a simple majority of votes to pass.
Mayor Ron Littlefield proposed the first amendment to bring the EPB board in line with other city boards.
The power board has what is known as a self-perpetuating board, where they pick their own members, Mr. Littlefield said. Quite frankly, we’re changing it because that type of selection has for good reason gone out of fashion over the years.
Board members would be able to name their own chairman, and all mayoral appointments would require City Council confirmation.
Some people are saying it might make it political cronyism if the mayor’s appointing the board members, but the City Council will have to confirm them, anyway, said City Councilman Manny Rico, who supports the measure.
The second proposed amendment would fix an error made when the City Charter was readopted in 2002.
Chattanooga’s government switched from its original commission form to the current council form in 1990, but the charter retained references to a board of commissioners until voters adopted an updated version four years ago.
However, the updated charter unintentionally reverted the city engineer to being a charter position.
It sneaked back into the language of the readopted charter, and we’re correcting an error, Mr. Littlefield said.
As a rank-and-file employee, the city engineer would have the same benefit package and vacation schedule as other city employees. The current city engineer, Bill Payne, said he supports the measure.
The third proposed amendment would resolve situations, such as with Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck, who also is a Chattanooga City Court officer.
Mr. Beck was appointed to the County Commission in 2005, and the city unsuccessfully filed suit in Chancery Court, arguing that, under the charter, Mr. Beck could not keep his city employment while serving on the commission.
The charter prohibits county, state or federal employees from holding any office with the city.
The proposed amendment, if passed, would replace any office with any popularly elected office.
There’s always some question whether someone is defined as an official, and this will clear up those conflicts, Mr. Littlefield said.
The proposed amendment also would give city officials greater latitude in appointing people to serve on various boards. For instance, City Council members have complained of not being able to appoint Hamilton County Schools teachers, Tennessee Valley Authority employees and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga faculty members to boards.
There are a lot of qualified people out there, and this gives us more choice, Mr. Rico said.
E-mail Herman Wang at hwang@timesfreepress.com
