Important changes to the city charter could wind up on the 2008 ballot for voter consideration. The city’s 15-member Charter Review Committee has been conducting multiple forums in various communities for weeks, fostering a citywide conversation about what changes should be included to the city’s governing document.
One such forum was held July 31 at the Hervey/Point Loma Branch Library, where the public was given a chance to weigh in on important issues such as financial reform, the powers of elected officials and the possibility of making the strong mayor form of government a permanent idea.
Made up of eight members recommended by the City Council and seven others appointed by Mayor Jerry Sanders, the committee is expected to compile recommendations for the City Council on these and other issues by Sept. 13.
Driving this, in part, are the recommendations contained in the recent Kroll report, said John Gordon, financial consultant and charter review committee member.
The report aired the city’s financial problems in August 2006 and outlined 121 recommendations to regain a strong financial footing. Some of the recommendations cannot be implemented without changes to the city charter, however.
The changes would help right the city’s listing financial ship, Gordon said.
“In order to regain the ability to issue bonds, they [the city] have to prove to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the investment community that things have turned around,” he said.
The Financial Reform Committee is one of three subcommittees tackling potential charter-change issues. Other committees include the Duties of Elected Officials and the Interim Strong Mayor committees.
The Financial Reform Committee considers several functions of the finance and budget process.
Among the potential changes, the committee is toying with the idea of creating a chief financial officer position and separating the functions of the current auditor and comptroller department, according to Donna Jones, chair of the Financial Reform Committee.
According to the city’s website, the auditor and comptroller department provides oversight of the city’s fiscal management. The position is currently vacant.
The committee will also consider proposing an extension of the budget process, said Financial Reform Committee member Marc Sorensen.
“Right now the charter has a very tight schedule because it’s built on a city manager form of government and a much smaller city,” Sorensen said. “This is now a huge city with a huge budget and it takes time to understand it.”
He added that the addition of a budget analyst to the City Council’s staff would help council members understand budget issues more clearly.
He said the language for such charter changes should be codified by 2008 to give the public better access to information on the future budgets and audits.
The Duties of Elected Officials Committee will consider charter-change language that will outline the functions and powers of elected officials such as the city attorney, the City Council and the mayor, said Charter Review Committee chair John Davies.
As the committees hash out roles of elected officials, their members will also consider whether to recommend the interim strong mayor form of governance be made permanent.
In November 2004, San Diego voters approved changes to the city charter through Proposition F, which changed the City Council-City Manager form of government to the current Mayor-City Council structure.
The strong mayor form of government took effect Jan. 1, 2006, according to city documents.
The strong mayor provision expires in 2010.
Adrian Kwiatkowski, who sits on the Interim Strong Mayor Subcommittee, said he supports this type of government and said it should be permanent.
“Whether it’s Jerry Sanders, Donna Frye or Mickey Mouse, it’s their [voter’s] choice, and that person is accountable to the voters whether it’s Sunroad Enterprises or the financial problems of the city,” Kwaitkowski said. “The buck stops with the mayor.”
But where the buck starts may be the real question. Residents attending the July 31 forum in Point Loma took issue with several of the committee’s discussion topics, even questioning the validity of the committee itself.
Mignon Scherer, a Peninsula Community Planning Board member who attended the meeting, said the committee isn’t representative of San Diego’s racially and economically diverse population.
She pointed out that none of the board members live in council districts 4 or 8.
“You are not a government of the people and by the people,” Scherer said. “You are illegitimate and not representative of the people of San Diego.”
Former PCPB member Jarvis Ross reminded committee members who they are responsible to.
“I just hope you remember who the final people are that all this has to report to, and that is John Q. Public,” Ross said.
Several other members of the public also raised questions ranging from the benefits of a publicly elected Charter Review Committee to the personal motivations of committee members themselves.
In response, Davies said: “There is nothing secret or hidden about anything that we do or then what the City Council would do. And then, ultimately, nothing will happen unless you or we the people vote for it. This is a fairly fine committee of independent people with their own views who have no hidden agenda.”
The Charter Review Committee could be under public scrutiny if the viewpoints of Ross, Scherer and other public speakers are representative of San Diego’s greater community.