OTHER NEWS
Chamber takes positions on charter amendments
In addition to the city council and school board seats and mayoral race, voters can also decide on three amendments to the City’s charter as proposed by the Charter Commission on the April 13 election. The commission met pursuant to the City Code to review the City Charter and make recommendations to the voters for changes. Three changes were approved by the Commission. The three changes (A, B and C) were reviewed by the Chamber’s Board of Directors, after being reviewed by the Chamber’s Issues Management Council. At its March 24 meeting, the Board issued the following recommendations:
Charter Amendment A
Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce recommendation: Oppose
The Charter Commission recommends a change to the format of the Mayor’s annual budget submission to the City Council. Issues Management Council members considered the proposed language and recommended that the change be defeated. The discussion about this amendment was that the change is unnecessary and more likely to cause confusion to voters with no substantive improvement in the city charter.
Charter Amendment B
Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce recommendation: Support
Charter Amendment B was presented by citizen Mary Glenski, a former city council member and state legislator. This Charter Amendment adds a member to the districting commission and ensures that each of the five districts will be represented by a member of the commission. The change will also balance the districting commission politically so that no party will have more than three commissioners.
Charter Amendment C
Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce recommendation: Support
This amendment would change the number of nominating petitions required for city council district voting to 50 registered voters. The mayoral and at-large nomination requirement for 200 registered voters would remain at 200. Individual districts contain only one-fifth of the voters compared to the at-large contests; thus, it’s more difficult to get 200 signatures especially if there are numerous candidates running for a seat.
