High Springs votes 3-2 on November referendum about city charter (2024)

The High Springs City Commission voted Thursday to proceed with half of the recommended charter changes sent from the Charter Review Committee.

The four approved changes will appear on the November ballot for High Springs voters to pass. The other four recommended changes will be reviewed in the future by the City Commission for inclusion on a ballot next year.

The City Commission voted 3-2 on the referendum inclusion, with commissioners Tristan Grunder and Byran Williams in dissent.

However, the commission had a tough time reaching that vote.

The motion, made by Commissioner Andrew Miller, failed to get a seconder when he first proposed it. A second motion by Grunder, to put all eight items on the November ballot, also failed without a second.

After a pause for another motion, Mayor Katherine Weitz said she would pass the gavel to Grunder to second a motion or make her own. But, Commissioner Wayne Bloodsworth spoke up to say he would second Miller’s motion if made again.

Miller made the motion, Bloodsworth provided the second, and Weitz provided the third vote to push the item forward.

The four charter changes for the November ballot are as follows:

• Updating Corporate Boundary—Shall the City’s corporate boundary be updated to that of the present-day boundary and provide for the ability of the City to change its boundary as prescribed by law?

• Charter Amendment Updating Public Notice Requirements—Shall the City’s Charter be amended to allow for electronic advertisem*nt of public notices in the event the City has followed the requirements of Fla. Stat. 50.0311 and requires five weeks of online publication in the event of electronic advertisem*nt?

• Updating Oath of Office and Ability to Alter Appropriations and Reductions—Shall the City’s Charter be updated to require commissioners and charter officers to assert they are not precluded from holding office pursuant to Article VI, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution prior to taking office, and allow the City Commission to make supplemental appropriations or reductions and require the City Manager to inform the City Commission when revenues will be insufficient to meet appropriation amounts?

• Updating Public Owned Lands—Shall the City’s Charter be amended to update the names of public parks and add the Sports Complex to the list of public-owned lands?

These changes met with general approval of the commission and public comment. However, disagreements over the other changes combined with a packed upcoming ballot caused commissioners to pull back from the other recommendations.

Three of the four recommendations deal with the role of commissioners, prohibiting a single commissioner from directing the city manager, allowing the commission salary to continue year after year without the need to vote, allowing the commission to censure members and letting a commission majority remove members for breaking the charter or missing meetings.

Another recommendation would prevent the city manager and city clerk from being the same individual and require the manager to become a High Springs resident within a year of accepting the position.

City commissioners disagreed over the idea of censuring or removing other commissioners. Public commenters also split on the idea.

Some pointed to past examples of commissioners needing to be disciplined for improper actions while others worried about cliques forming on the commission and ending in censures.

The Charter Review Committee originally listed 15 recommended changes, but in an effort to cut down on the number of questions on the referendum, combined several changes into the same question.

But Weitz and Miller worried that some voters would approve of some parts of the question but not others. For example, one question would have asked if the manager and clerk could be the same individual and if the manager should gain residency within one year of work.

Some voters might think the manager and clerk should be able to be the same person but still want them to live within the city.

Waiting on those four items will allow the commission to adjust the questions for a future ballot.

Weitz also pointed out that this year’s ballot will be packed with referendums. Alachua County has a question on the ballot along with six state referendums, which includemarijuana and abortion.