Voters in the City of Springfield will consider four proposed updates to the City Charter this November.
Springfield’s Director of Public Information and Civic Engagement Cora Scott said the Charter was initially written in 1953. It's been reviewed and updated periodically over the decades as times have changed and city government has grown.
“The challenges that we face, the operations, the services that we offer,” Scott explained, "they’ve all changed. We have 26 different functionally diverse departments offering public services from the airport to the zoo. So, yes, while the city has grown and changed, the constitution of our city, the charter has not been changed necessarily to keep up with that."
Question 1 will ask voters to approve language that would "clarify when city leaders can delegate some of their duties to their subordinates." The language makes clear that the city manager would still be ultimately responsible, but Scott said it would replace language in the charter that requires anyone in the role of city manager to sign off personally on a wide array of decisions.
Question 2 would “reduce the number of steps needed to approve rules for city employees.” The full ballot language uses the term “Merit Rules,” which is a public sector term that equates to the private sector concept of a company's employee handbook. The new charter language would take changing those rules from a three to a two-step process.
Question 3 proposes giving the City Council the ability to pass purchasing rules by ordinance. It maintains the city’s competitive bidding process. Scott said this change, like most of the changes, is about making the city’s governance work more efficient for the community, including members of the public doing business with the city.
“We're taking a look in Springfield to make sure that we're being as efficient as we can. So that's the intent and the motivation behind all of these specific changes,” Scott explained, “with the exception of number four, which is really just looking at modernizing outdated language.”
That proposal Scott mentioned, the fourth question voters will see, would replace gender specific language with more gender-neutral language. The over 60-year-old document still uses male-centered pronouns by default.
As Scott said, it “specifically is taking it from 1953 and acknowledging that there are females working in our city government.”
Any change to the charter has to be approved by voters. Scott said the city isn’t advocating for one position or another on the questions, but they come from working with staff to find ways to do their jobs better.
“We're not trying to sway one way or the other on these,” Scott said. “These are just suggestions and options that our internal team has put forward for consideration. So, really, no trying to convince here. It is really just here's some options that would respond to some of the concerns in the community, as well as staff who have to live with these processes. So, really, it's just putting it out there for consideration.”
Excused absentee voting is happening now. No-excuse, in-person voting will start two weeks prior to the election. Election day is Nov. 3.
Find the full ballot language for the charter amendments at springfieldmo.gov and in sample ballots from the Greene County Clerk’s Office.