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Summary
of Proposed Amendments to the Polk County Charter
in November, 2002
The
following summarizes the changes proposed to the voters by
the Charter Review Commission in 2002, along with election results.
1.
Change Section 2.1 of the Charter to provide for seven county
commissioners instead of five. Five of the seven commissioners
would be elected from single-member districts and two would
be elected from at-large districts.
Rationale.
Polk County is one of the largest counties in the State that
has a county commission with only five members. Increasing
the number to seven and designating five of the districts
as single-member districts will provide better representation,
and give the voters a closer look at candidates for office.
It will also decrease the cost of running for election and
broaden the base of potential candidates. In a single-member
district only the voters within a district votes for the commissioner
representing that district. Each of the five districts would
be approximately equal in size. Two of the county commissioners
would be elected at-large, that is all voters in the county
would be able to vote for candidates for those two seats.
ELECTION RESULT: FAILED
2.
Change Section 8.3.1 of the Charter so that any proposals
by the county commission to the Charter for approval by the
voters shall require a majority plus one of the county commissioners.
Rationale.
The current Charter language requires approval by "not
fewer than four" county commissioners. If the voters
approve an expansion of the county commission to seven, the
number four would not be applicable. If the voters do not
approve the expansion, the phrase "majority plus one"
will still be applicable.
ELECTION RESULT: APPROVED
3.
Change Section 8.4 of the Charter to remove the requirement
of a fixed number of 13 members for a Charter Review Commission.
Rationale.
The only thing changed is the statement that the Charter Review
Commission shall consist of thirteen persons. The manner of
appointments remains the same (three by the chair of the county
commission, two each by the remaining commissioners, and a
total of two by all the constitutional officers.) The number
13 would not be applicable if the voters approve the expansion
of the county commission to seven members; if the voters do
not approve the expansion, the number 13 is redundant and
can be eliminated.
ELECTION RESULT: APPROVED
4.
Change Section 2.5 of the Charter to provide for a salary
of $49,500 for county commissioners.
Rationale.
The salary of non-charter county commissioners is set by Florida
statute. If Polk County were a non-charter county the salary
of county commissioners would be approximately $72,000. In
2000, the Charter was amended and the base salary was set
at $33,500. The Charter Review Commission felt that a base
salary of $49,500 would be more in keeping with the responsibilities
of the office, and encourage more qualified candidates to
seek office. The average salary for charter counties in Florida
is approximately $58,000.
ELECTION RESULT: FAILED
5.
Change Section 5.2.1 of the Charter to provide for non-partisan
elections for the offices of Clerk of Circuit Court, Property
Appraiser, Sheriff and Tax Collector.
Rationale. Currently
the only non-partisan county officer is the Supervisor of
Elections. The Charter Review Commission believes that all
of the five constitutional officers should be non-partisan,
because party affiliation does not seem logical when applied
to these offices, which are basically administrative in nature.
ELECTION RESULT: APPROVED
6.
Change Section 5.2.3 of the Charter with respect to the qualification
for election of non-partisan candidates so that it conforms
to the Constitution and Laws of the State of Florida.
Rationale. The
current Charter states that, in order to qualify for candidacy
to a non-partisan office, a candidate must obtain the signatures
of qualified electors equal to one and one-half per cent of
the total number of registered electors of the county. Because
of recent changes to the Florida Constitution and Florida
law this requirement is no longer effective, and is eliminated
in the proposed revision. Instead this Section will be changed
to state that qualification shall be as provided in general
law.
ELECTION RESULT: APPROVED
7.
Add Article 8 to the Charter establishing a Polk County Efficiency
Commission.
Rationale. The
County budget the forthcoming year is almost $850,000,000.
The Charter Review Commission believes there should be some
citizen oversight of these expenditures and therefore proposes
to the voters that an Efficiency Commission be established
which would provide the means to periodically study the organization,
structure, and effectiveness or efficiency of any board, officer,
department or other governmental unit included within the
annual budget of the County.
ELECTION RESULT: APPROVED
8.
Change Section 6.1 of the Charter to reduce from 6% to 4%
the minimum number of elector's signatures required from each
commission election district on a petition to initiate an
ordinance.
Rationale. Currently,
the Charter requires that petitions to initiate an ordinance
include at least 6% of the electors qualified to vote in the
last preceding general election and further provides that
the number of petitions shall contain at least 6% of the electors
in each commission district. This proposed change would reduce
the latter percentage to 4%.
ELECTION RESULT: FAILED
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