One of the proposed changes would make it easier for the City Council to hire or fire the city manager, city attorney and city clerk. A second, very similar change concerns only the majority vote needed to hire or fire the city manager. The third would set a new schedule for choosing the vice mayor.

In August, council members voted 4-1, with David Tilki voting no, to ask voters to consider changing the charter so that the three so-called "charter officials" could be hired or fired on the vote of three council members. Currently, the charter requires that at least four of five council members vote to remove someone from any of those offices.

Tilki unsuccessfully tried to get fellow council members to include a cooling-off period in the proposal to require two three-fifths votes at two separate meetings at least 10 days apart.

Tilki has said that allowing a simple majority to fire the city manager, city attorney or city clerk could lead to political instability. Proponents say the change would make sure that charter officials pay close attention to the City Council.

A committee of residents charged with reviewing the charter had recommended the change. The same proposed change has gone to voters twice in the past 16 years and was rejected both times.

The last time the council removed a charter official was in 1997 when the council voted 4-1 to oust Cheryl Mortenson, the city clerk at the time.

The third proposed charter change is considered a housekeeping item. It would set the schedule for selecting the vice mayor for the second regular council meeting in March.

Currently, the charter says the vice mayor will be selected after each city election, but several years ago the city went to an election schedule in which there is no election held every third year. The proposed change would disconnect the selection of a vice mayor from the election schedule.

Oldsmar charter referendums

Providing that charter officials be appointed and removed by three-fifths (3/5) vote

Shall the City Charter, pursuant to Ordinance 2002-16, be amended to provide that the City Manager, City Clerk and City Attorney be appointed and removed by a three-fifths (3/5) vote of the City Council instead of a four-fifths (4/5) vote?

Providing that city manager be appointed and removed by three-fifths (3/5) vote

Shall the City Charter, pursuant to Ordinance 2002-19, be amended to provide that the City Manager be appointed and removed by a three-fifths (3/5) vote of the City Council instead of a four-fifths (4/5) vote?

Selection of the vice mayor at the second regular meeting in March

Shall the City Charter, pursuant to Ordinance 2002-17, be amended to provide that the Vice Mayor be selected annually at the second regular Council meeting in the month of March, instead of the first regular meeting of the Council following the regular election?