Ballot Questions for Nov. 2

As you prepare for the Nov. 2nd election, the Dover Download today included great information on the 20 Charter related questions that will be on the ballot. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

-----below text is from Dover Download——

The upcoming municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, includes 20 ballot questions pertaining to the City Charter in addition to the races for elected office. The City Council reiterated its support of the proposed charter changes at its meeting this week.

The City of Dover’s Charter is its Constitution. It sets out the city’s form of government and enumerated powers. Being the document of the people of Dover, all changes to the charter document, however minor, must be approved by Dover voters. At its Aug. 25 meeting, the City Council ratified 20 Charter amendment questions to appear on the ballot after a year-long public review process by the City Council’s Ordinance Committee. The process included public hearings. The Attorney General’s office has also reviewed and approved the amendment questions placed on the ballot.

Members of the City's Ordinance Committee recently released a video that explains all of the proposed changes that comprise the 20 ballot questions.

All but two questions are minor, housekeeping edits, such as correcting grammar and spelling or updating state statutes. Many of the proposed housekeeping edits arose when the City Council contracted in 2017 with a firm specializing in developing and publishing municipal codes to review the City of Dover’s Charter and Codes for accuracy and completeness.

Question 1 is the most substantive. If approved, it would allow the City Council to create by ordinance new ward lines in time for the 2022 state elections. This is considered a temporary fix to address a one-time need. Typically after the city receives census data from the decennial census, staff analyzes it and proposes boundary changes, if needed, to ensure populations in the ward remain equal as possible. However, 2020 Census data collection was challenged by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the City of Dover only recently received the data. There was insufficient time for staff to analyze the data to see if it warranted the proposal of ward boundary changes for voters to ratify at the Nov. 2, 2021, municipal election.

Question 2 clarifies when a vacancy on the City Council or School Board takes place. Currently, the charter is ambiguous about when a vacancy is recognized. A year ago, this came to light when an elected official moved out of Dover but didn’t immediately resign. Question 2 states that moving out of one’s district creates a vacancy and clarifies how that vacancy will be filled. It also clarifies that a vacancy also occurs if an elected member dies, resigns or is removed from office for just cause.

All the other proposed charter amendments make minor edits or clarifications.

Question 3 proposes to clarify that school board members serve for two years, from January to January, until their successors are sworn in.

Passing Question 4 would codify that the city’s annual budget is to be adopted each year by June 15, already a long-standing practice.

Question 5 proposes to clarify that the city’s Personnel Advisory Board is intended for matters involving city employees, not appointed or elected officials.

Question 6 aims to clarify the circumstances when a conflict of interest exists what action should be taken when such a conflict exists.

Passage of Question 7 would allow the City Clerk to issue some notifications by email, instead of only postal mail.

Question 8 proposes to clarify the responsibilities of a five-member Ethics Commission.

Passage of Question 9 would make the charter consistent with state law regarding potential charter violations.

Questions 10 and 11 are focused on grammar and style. Question 10 proposes to consistently spell out numbers less than 10 (“nine” versus “9”) and use numerals for 10 and above (“14” versus “fourteen”). Question 11 proposes nine minor changes of adding or deleting commas and apostrophes.

Question 12 proposes to remove six uses of gender-specific terms (“his”) with inclusive terms such as “their” or “the employee’s.”

Questions 13 and 17 propose to fix incorrect references to state laws.

Questions 14 and 15 propose five edits by inserting missing words (“or,” “as,” and “and”) in sentences.

Passing Question 16 would fix five spelling errors or typos, including correcting the reference to the “City of over” reference.

Question 18 proposes to moves a phrase from one section of the Waterworks article of the charter to another more relevant Waterworks section.

Questions 19 and 20 propose to correct the misuse of the terms. Question 19 would add “to” and delete an “and.” Question 20 would delete the word “section” and replace it with the word “article.”

The full text of the ballot questions is available online. The webpage has links to each section of the charter the ballot question proposes to change. Voters may also find sample ballots for their ward, including the full text of the ballot questions at the municipal election page. The full text of the ballot questions is also available at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 288 Central Ave., in Dover.