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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 f...
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