The League is working with two cities on charter revision processes, Brookings, SD, and Mt. Vernon, NY. While both charters are quite different, the cities have a common interest in community outreach for revision ideas and infusing equity and civic engagement into their charters.
Brookings, SD, created its city charter 20 years ago and based it on the League’s Model City Charter, creating a council-manager system of government, a nonpartisan city council and mayor elected at-large. Mt. Vernon, on the other hand, was founded in 1892 and has made very few changes to its charter since that time, with the charter reflecting typical structures found in New York—a partisan city council and no city manager—and details guiding city processes filling 112 pages, compared to 25 pages for Brookings.
The League has contracts to work with the charter commissions in both cities over the next year to review charter provisions and gather input from the community. In both cases, the charter commissions will conduct considerable outreach to hear community voices and the League, led by Senior Fellow Derek Okubo, Matt Leighninger and Doug Linkhart, will help inspire public interest by making charter provisions relevant to the community.
Commission members in both cities have indicated an interest in infusing equity and engagement into their charters, principles emphasized in the recently revised 9th edition of the League’s Model City Charter. Strategies for implementing these principles highlighted by the League in this edition include gender-neutral language, council seats elected by district for cities of a size and diversity to warrant doing so, provisions for incorporating public input into budgets and city operations, and professional management that answers to the legislative body.
Brookings City Manager Paul Briseno contacted the League for assistance partly because we had published not only the Model City Charter, but also the Guide for Charter Commissions. With that guide now over 12 years old, the League’s current practice is to help communities conduct broader community engagement during charter revision processes, with in-person outreach to community organizations often accompanied by digital outreach to the community as a whole.
Coincidentally, the League is also working with Sioux Falls, SD, 57 miles from Brookings, on a strategic planning process. Under leadership from Derek Okubo, we are working with Forward Sioux Falls to help the community create a visioning document that incorporates multiple community goals for infrastructure and other improvements.
As these assistance projects proceed, we will report on progress and results. In the meantime, please feel free to contact us for ideas on how we might assist your community with charter revisions, strategic planning or other pursuits.
