Voters to Decide on Five City Charter Amendments

Coral Gables voters will decide the fate of five City Charter amendments, which will be included in the November 8, 2016 General Election ballot. The proposed changes to the City Charter are:
Amend the City Charter to remove the Trial Board appeal process for employees; Approve a new provision for suspension of a member of the City Commission for reasons of incapacity;  Amend the City Charter to require that the Mayor appoints the Vice Mayor and any replacement thereof;  Amend the City Charter to provide procedures for the removal of City Commissioners under State Law; and  Amend the City Charter to provide for run-off elections in City Commission and Mayoral Races. In July of 2015, the Charter Review Committee was created at the request of the City Commission to review the City’s Charter – the constitutional document that establishes the underlying structure of our city government. The City’s Charter had not been reviewed for more than a decade. It was previously amended in 2004. A Charter Review Committee, composed of seven City residents, was appointed by the City Commission, the City Manager and the City Attorney. Members included former Mayor Raul Valdes-Fauli (chairperson), Bill Bonn, Jimmy Morales, Parker Thomson, Richard DeWitt, Tom Korge and Angelique Ortega Fridman. The Committee requested resident input and held a number of public meetings to discuss potential amendments to the City Charter for consideration by the City Commission.