Montrose Council Approval of the City Clerk

The Montrose City Clerk keeps the journal of City Council proceedings and records every ordinance, motion and resolution in full. The clerk is custodian of the City Seal, takes acknowledgments of city documents without fee under a notarial commission the council furnishes at the city's expense, and performs the duties that the charter, the council and the city manager require. Article VIII, Section 6 of the city charter now says the city manager shall appoint or remove the clerk. The council has no part in either decision.

A yes vote rewrites Section 6 so the manager stays responsible for appointing and discharging the clerk, "subject to the approval of the City Council."

Ordinance 2730 also sets out who runs the office. It gives the manager sole authority and responsibility for the supervision, management, administration and operation of the clerk's office, and for directing and evaluating the clerk. It limits the council's authority under the section to approving or disapproving an appointment or discharge. And it states that nothing in the section "shall be construed to authorize" the council, or any individual council member, to direct, supervise, manage or interfere with the clerk or the daily operations of the office. A no vote keeps the present wording.

Ordinance 2729 puts the matching police chief question on the same ballot, alongside questions on moving city elections from April to November and on lifetime limits for elected councilors. Under Section 5 of Ordinance 2730, the charter is amended if a majority of the votes cast on the clerk measure are for it.

Council approval of the clerk has been in the Montrose charter before. According to the ordinance's findings, a 1967 amendment gave the council approval over the manager's hiring and discharge of the clerk, and a 2014 amendment took that approval away. On August 18, City Attorney Chris Dowsey told the council that Councilor J. David Reed had substantially drafted the clerk and police chief language. After a speaker in public comment asked why the clerk and police chief ordinances were worded slightly differently, the council and the city attorney agreed to modify the clerk ordinance, and the modified version passed first reading.

At second reading on September 1, Reed read a statement opposing all four charter amendments, citing the division that comes with partisan politics. One resident spoke against the clerk ordinance and three spoke for it. The motion to adopt carried with Councilors Dave Frank and Reed opposed; the minutes record every other member as voting yes.