City of Gresham
Measure No. 26-68
BALLOT TITLE
CHARTER AMENDMENT TO REPEAL LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF CITY EMPLOYEES
QUESTION: Shall the Charter be amended to repeal the provision that limits the number of city employees based on city population?
SUMMARY: The current charter limits the number of full-time city employees based on a ratio of 6.5 employees per each 1,000 of city population. Repeal of the limitation was recommended by the Charter Review Committee (CRC) and approved by city council. The measure would take effect on January 1, 2005.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
The current Gresham City Charter was adopted May 2, 1978. It was last revised by the voters on November 3, 1998. Pursuant to the terms of the charter, the city council convened a Charter Review Committee comprised of local citizens to complete a periodic review of the charter and address a variety of issues and concerns that had been raised regarding the document. On January 20, 2004, the 2003 Charter Review Committee recommended to council that the charter provision limiting the number of city employees based on city population be referred to the voters for repeal. On August 3, 2004, council approved sending the measure to the voters at the November 2004 election.
The current charter limits the number of full-time city employees based on a ratio of 6.5 employees per each 1,000 of city population. The limitation was added to the charter through the initiative process in 1994 as a method to control growth of city government. The current city staff to population ratio is approximately 5.25 employees per each 1,000 of city population. It was the opinion of the Charter Review Committee that the provision was unnecessary and that a staffing limit based on city population was an artificial means by which to control growth or measure the effectiveness of the city government or its operational efficiencies.
If approved by the voters, the measure would take effect on January 1, 2005.
Submitted by:
Debbie Jermann,
Gresham City Clerk
No arguments FOR or AGAINST this measure were filed