City Initiated Question asking voters to extend, without raising taxes, the 0.25% Sales and Use Tax (25 cents on a $100 purchase) for the Street Maintenance Program.  Pro/Con Statements are due to the City Clerk's Office no later than noon on September 20, 2024.

City-Initiated Charter Amendment related to Elections.  The proposed amendments to Article VIII of the City’s Charter include the following:

• Clarify the usage of the term “shall” by replacing with “will,” “must” or other appropriate language;
• Modernize the language to be more inclusive by removing he/she language;
• Remove requirement that Chief Deputy City Clerk serve on the Board of Election and allow the City Clerk to designate the lead election expert;
• Eliminate vague language for challenging nominations and qualifications of candidates (substituting the Municipal Election Code process); and
• Add rules for computation of time and add consistent deadline timeframes.

City-Initiated Charter Amendment related to Recall.  The proposed amendments to Article IX of the City's Charter include the following:

• Clarified the usage of the term “shall” by replacing with “will,” “must” or other appropriate language.
• Modernized the language to be more inclusive by removing he/she language.
• Revised and reorganized to make the description of the process and requirements flow better so they are easier to follow.  The process for a recall petition is set out chronologically and is consistent with the other Charter petition processes.
• Retained the same percentage requirements for signatures (based on first-choice votes with ranked choice voting) and increased timeframes for circulation of a recall petition, including an additional increase in the time to circulate a petition to recall the mayor.
• Updated the timeframe allowed for the City Clerk to examine petitions because volumes (such as numbers of petition signatures to review) have increased since these current provisions were adopted. The new timeframes are more in line with the examination periods in state statutes.
• Simplified the Petition Review Process (“Cure” Provisions) to eliminate the time for correction of technical deficiencies after submission of a petition.
• Updated the Protest process for consistency with the process for filing and deciding protests of other types of petitions, allowing more time for setting of the protest hearing and tightening timeframes for completion of the hearing and decision.
• Updated time for conduct of an election on a successful petition so they work with new election process timing and requirements. For a successful recall petition, the measure would be set for the next Tuesday for which all election deadlines can be met. If the earliest meetable date is less than 77 days before an upcoming November election, the recall issue must go to that election. However, if the recall election will be on the upcoming November ballot or later, and the office held by the subject of the recall is on that November election, the recall process terminates.
• Added computation of time provisions to clarify how deadlines are interpreted and setting updated deadlines based on business days (in increments of five) for actions the City must complete and calendar days (in increments of seven) for actions to be completed by others.

City-Initiated Charter Amendment related to Initiative and Referendum.  The proposed amendments to Article X of the City's Charter include the following:

• Clarified the usage of the term “shall” by replacing with “will,” “must” or other appropriate language. 
• Modernized the language to be more inclusive by removing he/she language. 
• Revised and reorganized to make the description of the process and requirements flow better so they are easier to follow.  The full process for initiatives and the full process for referenda are set out chronologically, rather than having a third section that combined some of the process requirements. 
• Updated method for setting the form of initiative and referendum petitions so that the Clerk is responsible for preparing a general statement of purpose, in consultation with the City Attorney, to fairly and accurately summarize the initiated measure or ordinance to be referred. 
• Removed the requirement that the entire ordinance be presented with each section of the petition when the referred ordinance exceeds two pages in length, instead the Clerk will prepare a summary of it. 
• Updated the timeframe allowed for the City Clerk to examine petitions because volumes (such as numbers of petition signatures to review) have increased since these current provisions were adopted. The new timeframes are more in line with the examination periods in state statutes. 
• Simplified the Petition Review Process (“Cure” Provisions) to conform to the Municipal Election Code, which does not allow for correction of technical deficiencies after submission of a petition. 
• Updated the Protest process for consistency between the two types of petitions, allowing more time for setting of the protest hearing and tightening timeframes for completion of the hearing and decision.
• Updated the time for conduct of an election on a successful petition so they work with new election process timing and requirements. For a successful initiative petition, the measure would be set for the next November election the City is able to coordinate with the County. For a successful referendum petition, the measure would be set for the earliest regular or already called special election for which election deadlines can be met, unless Council opts to call an earlier special election.
• Added computation of time provisions to clarify how deadlines are interpreted and setting updated deadlines based on business days (in increments of five) for actions the City must complete and calendar days (in increments of seven) for actions to be completed by others.