These days there are so many mailers, commercials and candidate forums, it’s easy to forget about the city charter amendments that Tallahassee city residents will see on their ballots this year. Here's a breakdown of what those amendments are and what voting yes or no on them would mean.
Perhaps the most controversial local charter amendment concerns increasing city commissioners’ pay. That’s Question 1 on the ballot. It reads, “Shall the Charter of the City of Tallahassee be amended to provide that members of the City Commission be paid an annual salary equal to the annual salary set by state law for members of the Board of County Commissioners of Leon County, Florida?”
What that means is that if Question 1 passes, city commissioners would earn the same salary as the county commissioners and the mayor. Right now, that’s $99,000 dollars per year. That’s a big increase over the $49,500 dollars city commissioners currently make. And it’s more than commissioners in other large Florida cities make.
But Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson says it could mean the difference between someone running for local office or not.
“It’s been very difficult when I was working full time -- I’m retired now -- to be able to do both," he said. "And I can see in the future there will be individuals who would like to serve, but they can’t do it because of the salary that we’re paid, which is half of what county commissioners and the mayor are paid.”
City commissioners receive the same medical insurance, flex bucks, 401(k), and pension benefits as other city of Tallahassee employees. They also get a supplement and a car allowance as benefits provided to elected officials.
The majority of Charter Review Committee members agreed that the commissioners should get a raise. But due to the chronic infighting on the commission, many knowledgeable observers predict this amendment will fail.
Question 2 would expand the jurisdiction of the Independent Ethics Board to include city commissioners when they’re serving as board members of outside governmental agencies. Think of the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, on which the city commissioners are all board members.
“The perception of corruption leads to loss of trust.”
That's Ernie Paine of the group Citizens for Ethics Reform. He was on the Charter Review Committee—a group of 10 people appointed by the city commission to vet proposed charter changes. The commissioners assigned four topics to the committee – but Paine proposed another, ethics-related, and it was approved, first by the committee and then by the commission.
Paine’s hope is that expanding oversight at City Hall will lead to a culture shift.
“The only way we can restore trust in city government is through transparency and accountability," he said.
Questions 3 and 4 have garnered less discussion from commissioners or members of the public. Three would eliminate the August primary election in two-person races, and 4 would enact a charter review once every 10 years.
That brings us to Question 5—proposed by Dennis Sutton, the city’s inspector general. It simply says, “Shall the Charter of the City of Tallahassee be amended to define the role of the Inspector General by charter rather than by ordinance?”
“Right now, the investigative division is only provided for by ordinance," said Sutton. "The audit division is provided for by charter."
Sutton is also the city's auditor. He handles whistle-blower complaints for most city employees. But because the inspector general reports to the commission, he says his office can’t process complaints involving commissioners, their staffers, or his own staff. He says a yes vote would change that, because the city commission cannot choose to abolish any office defined by the charter.
“This is an opportunity to bring the two and meet best practices into one office under one official instead of myself serving two roles at one time – both city auditor and inspector general – which is, frankly, unique anywhere that I know of.”
Not everyone agrees with the idea. Charter Review Committee member Jared Willis is president of the consulting firm Catalyst Strategies.
“My concern was that this would was something that would be weaponized, because we’re talking about whistle-blower complaints against city commissioners,” said Willis.
Willis ultimately changed his mind when the Charter Review Committee members decided to vote unanimously for Question 5 to appear on the ballot.
It’s been a long process. But now Tallahassee voters will have their say.
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The League of Women Voters has put out a guide on the city charter amendments.
