Primary Ballots Due August 16th, City of Yakima Charter Amendments Explained

Prop 2 on your primary ballot is a basic City of Yakima Charter Clean Up. Below are the amendments that need voter approval to bring the Charter up to date.

Summary of City Charter Amendments

 Numerous amendments to the Yakima City Charter will be considered by the voters in the City of Yakima on August 16, 2011.

Please note the summaries are not intended to suggest how a person should vote, but rather to provide a simple and concise summary of the proposed amendments.

In addition to the specific substantive amendments identified below, revisions were made throughout the proposed Charter to replace outdated references to “Commission” with “Council”.  References to “he”, “him” and “his” were replaced with appropriate gender-neutral terms.

Article II – Officers – Council-Manager Form of Government

Section 1.B.(1):  Deletes reference to the 1970 federal census data.

Section 1.C.(1):  Deletes the paragraph in its entirety that refers to the 1977 municipal election and renumbers each subsection thereafter.

Section 1.E: Deletes the last paragraph that refers to the vote of the people of November, 1976.

Section 3.  Removes outdated reference to the Mayor’s authority to appoint a Municipal Court Judge.

Section 4:  Removes reference to a specific minimum salary level for Council members and provides that the Mayor’s and Council members’ salaries shall be established by Ordinance.

Section 13:  Deletes the last sentence that refers to the amendment of November, 1958 and its effective date.

Article III – Elections

Section 1:  Provides that municipal elections shall be held in a manner consistent with State law.

Article VI – Additional Powers and Limitations on Officers

Section 1:  Deletes the last sentence that refers to the amendment of November, 1972.

Section 5:  Provides for the inclusion of “elective official”.

Section 6:  Revises the reference to public bidding requirements to state “a specific sum to be set by ordinance within the limits established by State law”, and removes the reference to $2,000.

Article VIII – Special Boards

Section 1:  Provides clarification to the City Council members’ authority to appoint committees and commissions to assist in administering City operations and programs.

Article X – Claims

Section 1:  Revises the process for initiating claims for damages and the filing of such claims to require compliance with State law.

Article XI – Franchises

Section 2:  Deletes the outdated language mandating that franchise ordinances must “be submitted to a vote of the electors of the City at a general or special election and shall not become operative unless approved by a majority of the electors voting upon said franchise”.

Section 7:  Removes reference to a specific penalty value for failure to file a report regarding franchise cost analysis and provides that the penalty determination for said reporting failure shall be a condition of State law, ordinance and specific franchise provisions.

Article XIII – Amendments

Section 1:  Provides clarity as to how the charter may be amended to be consistent and compliant with State law.

Article XIV – Schedule

Section 3:  Inserted the word “amendment”.

Article XV – City Emergency Hospital

Deletes this outdated provision in its entirety.  Each section renumbered thereafter.