Voters in the City of Springfield said no Tuesday to updates to the Springfield City Charter.
Speaking to KSMU in October, Springfield’s former 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 and the needs of city staff have grown and evolved. She said these changes were recommended by city staff. There were no real advocacy or campaigns for or against the changes.
Question 1, which asked voters to approve language that would "clarify when city leaders can delegate some of their duties to their subordinates," was defeated with 57% of voters casting "no" votes. It would have replaced language in the charter that requires anyone in the role of city manager to sign off personally on a wide array of decisions.
Sixty-five percent of voters said no to Question 2, which would have reduced the number of steps needed to approve rules for city employees. The full ballot language used 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 have taken changing those rules from a three to a two-step process.
Question 3, which proposed giving the City Council the ability to pass purchasing rules by ordinance and maintained the city’s competitive bidding process, was turned down by 60% of voters Tuesday. Scott said this change, like most of the changes, was about making the city’s governance work more efficient for the community, including members of the public doing business with the city.
The fourth city charter question put before Springfield's voters, which would have replaced gender specific language with more gender-neutral language, was defeated by 55% of voters. The over 60-year-old document still uses male-centered pronouns by default.
In a statement, the City of Springfield said, "With 59 of 59 precincts reporting, the City of Springfield acknowledges the results of the Nov. 3 election, in which voters did not approve four proposed updates to the City Charter. The voters have spoken, and the City recognizes and respects the democratic process. City officials thank residents for learning about the measures and for their participation in the election."