City of Winter Park releases charter amendments for 2020 Election

There are 11 proposed Charter amendments on the upcoming 2020 Election ballot in Winter Park and we have all of them listed for you here.

1. Gender Neutral, Preamble Title Changes and Sections 1.01 and 1.03 – The City of Winter Park wants to know if its residents want the Charter to be amended to be more diverse and inclusive by deleting gender-specific language in favor of gender-neutral terminology.
2. Annual Base Salary of Mayor and City Commissioners – The Commission last increased their pay by $10,000 in 2010. Prior to that date, the Mayor made $3,000 a year. If this amendment would pass, the Mayor would make $15,000 a year and City Commissioners would make $15,000 for their annual base salaries.
3. Form of Government – This would simply clarify the City’s form of government as a Commission – Manager form of government, which is already how they operate.
4. Form of Ballot and Elections – This would require that city elections and ballots be consistent with state law and to delete a subsection on poll workers, which apparently conflicts with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections.
5. Citizen Referendum Petitions – This amendment would change the deadline for citizen referendum petitions from 30 day s to 4 days after an ordinance has been adopted.
6. Filling Commissioner Vacancies – This would allow the Winter Park Commission to appoint a replacement for a City Commission seat if faced with a vacancy in office within 60 days of a general election.
7. Board Appointments and Election of Mayor – This is meant to clarify the timing of the election of the Vice Mayor and to delete the Mayor’s board appointment authority and to establish the size of all City boards to seven members, three of which would be appointed by the Mayor and one to be appointed by each of the four commissioners.
8. Quorum, Voting, and Video-Conferencing – Commission currently requires that members not miss more than three meetings each year and this amendment would allow video conferencing to count as attendance.
9. Auditor Contract Term – This amendment would change the contract term for the City’s auditor from three years to five.
10. Nonpartisan Elections – This amendment would prohibit candidates for mayor or commissioner to campaign as a member of any political party and from accepting campaign contributions from any political party. It would also establish maximum civil fines for any violations.
11. Charter Amendment Process – So boring, this would renumber where the Charter Amendment Process is filed in the actual charter. It would also change the deadline from 60 to 180 days to hold a vote on a proposed charter amendment.

You can click HERE to read all of the proposed amendments for yourself if you’ve already watched everything in your Netflix cue, washed your dishes, walked your dog, and brushed your hair 100 times – literally if you have nothing else to do with your life.