Ballot Measure Engagement

This ballot measure was passed by voters on April 2 by a vote of 76.49% to 23.51%. 

Official Ballot Language: Shall Section 19.16 of the Springfield City Charter be amended to require enactment of a code of ethics, to be reviewed by Council not less than every other year, revise provisions to address employee violations with disciplinary action up to and including termination, and add a legal defense to forfeiture of office or termination of employment if a prior, written advisory opinion from the City Attorney was obtained and relied upon in good faith?

Background: Currently, Section 19.16 of the City Charter requires an automatic forfeiture of office for any elected official, board or committee member or salaried officer or employee of the City who has a financial interest in violation of the section. If approved, this proposal would 1) require City Council to maintain and review at least every other year a code of ethics related to elected officials, appointed officers, board members and employees; 2) eliminate the automatic forfeiture provision for violations as applied to employees, allowing the city manager to apply discretion when addressing such violations; and 3) provide that having a prior written city attorney opinion on a potential financial interest matter, obtained and relied upon in good faith, can be used as a defense for addressing claims of a violation.

This measure would not modify the current review process or affect a determination of what is considered a financial interest violation and only addresses the outcome to the person(s) involved.

The board supports the conflict-of-interest City Charter amendment for several reasons:

• If a conflict of interest with an employee is identified, the current Charter language requires the employee and contract to be terminated. This language change would give the City flexibility in determining the best course of action for an employee if a conflict is identified.
• With the ongoing workforce shortage, this proposal would serve as an employee retention tool and help reduce turnover caused by the current required employee termination.
• The Chamber's Local Policy Agenda supports clarifying and updating the conflict-of-interest provisions in the charter regarding elected officials, city staff and direct and indirect city contracts.

However, the Chamber board encourages the City to consider the conflict-of-interest proposal, if passed, as just a first step in a larger process to address ongoing challenges.

This ballot measure was passed by voters on April 2 by a vote of 53.58% to 46.52%.

Official Ballot Language: Shall Sections 2.1(1) and 2.6 of the Springfield City Charter be amended to provide for a four-year term for the mayor instead of a two-year term, with the four-year term to first apply at the general municipal election to be held in 2025, and with the maximum consecutive years a mayor may serve to remain limited to eight years?

Background: The Springfield City Charter specifies City of Springfield mayors must run for election every two years and may serve a maximum of eight consecutive years, or four terms. All other council members, unless impacted by other special circumstances, are required to run for reelection every four years. The proposed charter change would extend the mayoral term to four years, limiting service to a maximum of two consecutive terms, or eight years total. If passed, this change would go into effect April 2025.

The board supports the extension of the current two-year City of Springfield mayoral term to four years for several reasons:

• A four-year term is consistent with current Springfield City Council member terms as well as several comparable and surrounding cities.
• An extended term will allow for long-term strategic planning and transformational investments, as well as continuity of leadership.
• An extended term will reduce the impact of frequent fundraising on the candidate and business community. It will also ideally encourage qualified candidates to run by removing the burden of campaigning every two years.
• This term extension to four years will still allow citizens the opportunity to impact local government while not placing the mayoral election on a separate cycle from City Council.
• The Chamber's Local Policy Agenda supports this term extension.