Jackson considering charter government

If you ask Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs and members of the city’s Board of Aldermen, they’ll tell you Jackson’s municipal government is functioning properly and serving local citizens well.

But they also believe there’s room for improvement, which is why they’re looking into the charter form of government.

The possible establishment of a charter government, also known as home rule, was a major topic of discussion Tuesday afternoon at the Jackson Board of Aldermen’s annual retreat and work session.

“I think this may be the most important long-term discussion item we’ll have today,” Hahs said as he introduced the subject.

Jackson is currently classified as a 4th Class Missouri city, which means, among other things, the city government is limited to the power and authority specifically granted to it by state statute.

“In other words, the only things a 4th Class city can do, the only things Jackson can do, is what the state legislature has said we can do,” Jackson city attorney Tom Ludwig told the aldermen and other city officials at the retreat. “But as a charter city, you can do anything the legislature hasn’t prohibited.”

According to the Missouri Municipal League, there are presently 40 cities operating under the charter form of government, including Cape Girardeau, which adopted home-rule governance in 1981.

Other charter cities in Missouri include St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Jefferson City and Columbia. Several suburbs in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas have also adopted home-rule governance and Sikeston voters approved the charter form of local government in 2002.

In order to become a charter government city, Ludwig said the first step would be for the aldermen to pass an ordinance calling for the question of whether the city should form a charter commission to be put on the ballot and voted on by Jackson residents. In addition to voting on whether Jackson should move toward creating a charter form of government, voters would also be asked to elect a 13-member charter commission that would be responsible for drafting the charter document.

The process, Ludwig said, would be “the board passes an ordinance saying they want to put it before the voters. We get a slate of candidates to be the people who write the charter and, once it’s written, you get it out before the public, hold your public meetings and make sure everybody understands it. Then, within a year of the commission being elected, you put it back on the ballot for the people to approve.”

Assuming the charter is approved, Ludwig said “the day after the election, the City of Jackson would be operating under its charter just like Cape does, Sikeston does and the other 38 Missouri charter cities do.”

Creating and governing under the charter form of government is simple, Ludwig said.

“If you’ve heard anything about this being brain surgery or something extremely difficult, it’s not,” he said.

Board member Katy Liley asked Ludwig whether there are “any negatives” to the charter form of government.

“The only negative of a charter, in my opinion, is if you have people who write a bad charter,” he said. “You have to have people write it who understand city government.”

One challenge to gaining local support for the charter form of government, Ludwig noted, “is you have been a very successful 4th Class city. Your biggest obstacle to making the charter city proposition work is convincing people you can do even better as a charter city.”

Having a charter, he said, would make it possible for Jackson to create a utility commission and deal more effectively with certain issues unique to Jackson.

“Tom, isn’t a lot of the advantage that you can write rules and policies to fit our community as long as they fit within general state statues?” asked former mayor and current alderman Paul Sander.

“That’s exactly right,” Ludwig replied.

The city attorney gave the aldermen a packet of materials for their review, including copies of the Cape Girardeau and Sikeston charters. Hahs asked the aldermen to review the handouts and said the topic could be discussed at a board study session in December. At that time, he said they could decide whether to pass an ordinance calling for an April vote on creation of a charter commission.

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