Changes to council elections, public notices headline charter propositions

By Riley Funk

Voters have seven chances to make changes to St. Joseph’s city charter at the polls on Tuesday.

Propositions would amend seven sections of the charter, impacting issues including how the city’s governing body is elected and how officials are required to disseminate information about public notices. Residents can vote yes or no on each change separately.

The first proposed change to the city charter is Proposition 1, which aims to stagger the terms of the city council.

If approved by voters, changes would start in 2026. In that election, the mayor and four at-large councilmembers would be elected to four-year terms. The four district council members would be elected to two-year terms in 2026 and then run again in 2028 for a four-year term.

If the proposition passes, staggered council elections would be held every two years instead of all the seats being voted on at the same time every four years.

Mayor John Josendale said if voters approve the proposal, he believes it will improve continuity for the city council. He said new councilmembers would have guidance from those who already have served at least two years.

The mayor said that would be particularly useful when working on the city budget. Josendale said when he was first elected two returning councilmembers showed the new members the ropes.

“It takes you time to get up to speed,” Josendale said. “I think for new people coming in, whether it be a new mayor or a new councilmember, having four others that have been there for a couple of years at least, it makes a huge difference in your ability to hit the ground running.”

A newly elected council typically takes office in April and budget hearings take place in May with the city’s new fiscal year beginning July 1.

“The continuity of having all new members makes it difficult to be able to communicate and really understand the budget. You don’t really get to do any kind of deep dive into the budget,” Josendale said.

Kenneth Reeder is in opposition to the proposed change for several reasons. For starters, he said staggered terms break up the team.

“It helps perpetuate a sense of incongruity, no cohesion, no cooperation, no camaraderie can be built when you’re always in an election cycle,” Reeder said.

Reeder also points out the cost to taxpayers the staggered elections could bring.

“It doubles the cost to us, the taxpayer, by them going to staggered terms. It doubles our taxes to run elections,” Reeder said. “It doubles … because it offers up these elections all the time.”

Josendale said expenses for elections are planned.

“It’s part of our budget that we have to account for. It’s an expense that we have to absorb within the city. But it’s not a tax per se,” Josendale said. “We pay the county to run it because the county runs all elections, so we have an expense that we put out.”

Gary Wilkinson is a former member of the council who helped write the current city charter that was adopted in 1981. He said charter amendments should only be made in cases that greatly impact the city.

“I believe Proposition 1 is appropriate for a charter amendment,” Wilkinson said. “Now, as to whether it’s a good idea or not, I think that part should be should have been talked about a little bit more. Having an election every two years, it’s a big thing.”

He points out staggering terms will bring campaigns more often in the city.

“You’re going to have all the hoopla and you’re going to have everybody that’s going to have to go out and they get the campaign financing and the whole nine yards instead of every four years. Now it’s going to be every two years,” Wilkinson said. “But you’ll also have the ability to hire new officials every two years. You know, that might be a good thing. So there’s pros and cons to this issue. My only issue with that is it should have been vetted out a little bit more.”

Here’s a look at the other six proposed charter amendments.

Proposition 6

This amendment changes how public notices are released, allowing them to be posted on various online platforms, including social media and the city website. Currently, public notices must be run in the newspaper.

Public notices concern actions under consideration by local governments including taxes and fee increases, expenditures of government money, lists of delinquent taxpayers whose property may be sold and proposed changes to land use.

In an emailed response to News-Press NOW, St. Joseph City Manager Bryan Carter said he has told the council there is no plan to change the way public notices are published in the near future.

“The goal is always to make sure the public is informed and as long as they remain accustomed to looking in the newspaper, I would plan to keep publishing that way,” Carter said. “From my perspective, the most likely time when we may change would occur if the hard copy and e-edition of the paper were discontinued and the product became more similar to other broadcast news outlets that do not have an associated print publication.”

Carter said an important element of the charter amendment is that it only applies to the specific types of notice described in the charter.

“Many of the zoning and similar notices that we publish will still be required to be published in the newspaper under state law,” he said.

Jean Maneke, an attorney who has worked with the Missouri Press Association, said the proposed change to remove the requirement public notices be published in the newspaper should be cause for concern.

She cites the need for information to be published in forums that are independent of the city as well the fact that notices in a printed newspaper serve as an unchangeable record as reasons voters should vote no on the proposed amendment.

“Clearly this is a first step in an effort to move city financial info out of newspapers and onto some other forum,” she said.

Proposition 2

If approved, this amendment would restrict a person to running for only one municipal office per election.

Proposition 3

This proposition would amend the charter to require a two-thirds vote from the city council to remove a city manager. It would align the removal process with the current practice of hiring a city manager, which needs a two-thirds vote from the council’s members.

Proposition 4

This change would grant authority to the city council to restructure or create different city positions in coordination with the mayor and city manager.

Proposition 5

Passage of this proposition would remove the personnel board and museum oversight board from the charter and add them to the City of St. Joseph administrative code.

Proposition 7

The proposition will amend the charter to set a mandatory retirement age of 70 for municipal judges, effective following the 2030 election. The proposition aligns with the retirement age for circuit court judges.