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Consideration of amendments to Section 2.04.020 of the Wauwatosa Municipal Code related to vacation of the office of alderperson; selection of replacement
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Submitted by:
Jennifer Tate, City Attorney
Cody Pansing, Assistant City Attorney
Zach Kessler, Director of Municipal Services
Deyanira Nevarez, City Clerk
Department:
City Attorney & Municipal Services
A. Issue
Section 2.04.020 of the Wauwatosa Municipal Code outlines the circumstances under which an alderperson’s office shall be deemed vacant; the composition of a committee to nominate replacements; and the selection process of replacements by the Common Council.
This chapter of the code is written assuming sixteen alderpersons from eight aldermanic districts. As of this year’s April election, the Common Council is composed of twelve alderpersons from twelve districts.
As a result, the Common Council must amend Section 2.04.020 of the code to ensure the aldermanic vacancy and replacement process is aligned with the current structure of the Common Council.
In addition, the recent resignation of an alderperson has brought to light several areas of this section of the code where language is ambiguous and thus difficult to interpret in practice and apply consistently.
City staff have reviewed Section 2.04.020 and are proposing several amendments to the ordinance related to both the number of alderpersons on the Common Council, and language which would benefit from clarification.
B. Background/Options
In addition to technical amendments necessary to reflect the City’s transition from eight aldermanic districts with sixteen alderpersons to twelve single-member districts, staff are proposing several substantive clarifications intended to improve the administration of aldermanic vacancies and reduce ambiguity in future vacancy situations.
The current ordinance largely assumes appointment as the mechanism for filling vacancies. The proposed amendments instead establish a clearer framework for determining when vacancies should be filled by election and when appointment may be appropriate.
Key staff-proposed amendments include:
• Clarifying the distinction between vacancies that should be filled by election and those that may be filled by council appointment
• Establishing a formal preference that aldermanic vacancies be filled by election whenever practicable and within a reasonable timeframe
• Requiring the Common Council to formally determine, by resolution, whether a vacancy will be filled through a regularly scheduled election, special election, or appointment
• Requiring the Council to articulate on the record the reasons why an appointment is necessary when an election is not pursued
• Clarifying the authority of alderpersons who change residency after election
• Simplifying and modernizing the process for selecting members of the aldermanic selection committee to reflect the City’s current single-member district structure
Staff’s proposed amendments are intended to preserve the Council’s authority under Wisconsin law while creating a clearer and more transparent local process for handling future vacancies.
Finally, Alderperson Gustafson has proposed several amendments to Section 2.04.020, which are attached to this file. Staff reviewed Alderperson Gustafson’s proposal as part of the evaluation of potential ordinance revisions and incorporated several elements into the staff-proposed amendments where appropriate.
C. Recommendation
Staff recommend that the Committee review the proposed amendments to Section 2.04.020 and make a recommendation to the full Council.
D. Attachments
1. Staff Proposed Amendments to 2.04.020 - Clean Version
2. Staff Proposed Amendments to 2.04.020 - Redlined Version
3. Alder Gustafson Proposed Amendments to 2.04.020