CITY OF EAST PROVIDENCE
RHODE ISLAND
CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION
AGENDA
May 10, 2023
6:30P.M.
City Council Chambers, City Hall, 145 Taunton Avenue, East Providence, RI 02914
6:30P.M. Open Session
OPEN SESSION
CALL TO ORDER
PUBLIC COMMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
NEW BUSINESS
Approval of Minutes
1.April 19, 2023
2.April 26, 2023
B. Vote to amend meeting schedule
C. Vote for Resolution to City Council on up or down vote for Charter amendments
E. Sec. 2-1 Number Selection and term City Council (Joseph Tavares)
F. Sec. 11-5 Non-Partisan ballot (Joseph Tavares)
G. Discussion Article I Basic Provisions
H. Discussion Article II City Council
V. ADJOURNMENT
RESOLUTION NO. 01
Resolution Requesting the East Providence City Council to Approve or Disapprove all Charter Commission Recommendations through a Clean Vote
WHEREAS, the East Providence City Council Approved a Resolution to place a ballot question to create a Charter Commission on June 16, 2020 and;
WHEREAS, the Resolution was approved and subsequently passed by the people of East Providence in the November 2022 General Election and;
WHEREAS, the Charter Commission serves an advisory body to the City Council to make recommendations on Charter amendments and;
WHEREAS, Despite this function, the majority of Charter Commission members derive their legitimacy through direct elected representation from their constituents and;
WHEREAS, the City Council has direct representation on the Commission through two (2) of its appointed members to make the Commission an inherently collaborative body and;
WHEREAS, both elected bodies value transparency and the innate importance of the democratic process;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the East Providence Charter Commission and the East Providence City Council will adhere to the following process to approve or disapprove a Charter amendment recommended by the Commission:
Section 1.
The Charter Commission shall consider and make recommendations on the City Charter, including all recommendations requested by the City Council or its members, and transmit them to the City Council immediately following passage by the Commission so the City Council may take action on them.
Section 2.
The City Council shall consider and vote to only approve or disapprove each recommendation in its entirety, i.e. take an “up or down vote” at the Council’s earliest convenience. If the Council chooses to disapprove of a recommendation by the Commission, it will state its reasoning in a medium of its choice, and give the Commission a chance to revise its recommendation and transmit it again. If the Council does not approve of the Commission’s second recommendation, the process may repeat. If at any point, the Commission chooses not to pursue action on a section of the Charter, disapproved by the Council or not, the Council shall not take independent action to make changes to any part of the Charter, nor shall the
Council make retroactive changes to sections already approved by the Council unless those changes come at the recommendation of the law department.
Passed and Adopted by the East Providence Charter Commission on this 10th day of May, 2023.
By: Marc Furtado
Chair
ATTEST:_______
By: Valerie Perry
Secretary
