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SHANNON TANTheir goal is to pose a set of questions that voters would answer on Election Day.
LARGO - Should Largo change its city manager form of government? Adopt term limits? Hire an internal auditor?
Those are some of the questions the City Commission is considering as it reviews Largo's charter for the first time in more than two decades.
For now, commissioners have decided not to appoint a committee to evaluate the charter. On Tuesday, City Attorney Alan Zimmet outlined several charter provisions for commissioners to review.
The commission will provide comments and suggestions for changes, and discuss the issue again in April. The objective is to create a set of questions that voters would decide on at the November election.
"We all have self-interests here," City Manager Steven Stanton said. For example, changing the city's form of government would affect his job.
Even the Pinellas County Police Benevolent Association has chimed in on the issue of revising the charter.
Last month, the group's executive director wrote commissioners a letter asking them to amend the charter to protect the Largo Police Department.
The proposed amendment would require all seven commissioners to pass an ordinance in order to abolish the department, and voters to approve such a decision.
"Should the city think about protecting from abolition any department?" Stanton said. "That's an issue of significant concern, certainly to the employees."
While a 13-member committee reviews Pinellas County's charter every six years, Largo has not made any changes since the charter was adopted in 1974.
"We've got rules in there we're not following," Mayor Bob Jackson said.
That's because several provisions of the charter conflict with or are superseded by state statutes.
Other parts of the charter should be reviewed, according to the city attorney.
For example, some cities require the adoption of a resolution to authorize the borrowing of money.
But Largo requires two public hearings to adopt an ordinance, and that has affected the city's ability to close on loans and bonds effectively, Zimmet wrote.
Zimmet also outlined larger issues commissioners may want to review, such as having the commission, instead of the city manager, appoint the city clerk and the city attorney.
Among those issues are retaining the city manager form of government or switching to a strong mayor form of government, such as St. Petersburg's.
But while many residents are confused about what powers the mayor has, Jackson is not sure making such a change is the best thing for Largo.
Jackson, however, would like to change the way commissioners find out what's going on in the city.
He said he used to be able to call up city employees with questions. But now staffers are expected to report those inquiries to the city manager, Jackson said.
"That's a very intimidating position to put people in," he said.
In an effort to gather comments from the public, Commissioner Gay Gentry asked that copies of the "model charter" be placed in the Largo Library.
The Florida League of Cities regards Vero Beach's newly adopted charter as the state's current "model charter."
- Shannon Tan can be reached at shtan@sptimes.com or 445-4174.