City Charter Revision Sent To State Legislature

The proposed Eagleville city charter revision appears to be moving through the state Legislature, but the changes will not affect this year’s city election if the document is approved.

The new charter will require that a candidate for a city office must have lived within the city limits for at least a year in order to qualify, but the requirement will not begin until the 2010 election, according to a legislative legal services attorney.

The current city charter requires that a candidate either lives in the city limits or lives within the Eagleville voting precinct but owns property in the city. The candidate must have lived in or owned property in the city for at least 30 days.

The city sent the charter change proposal to the state soon after city councilmen gave their approval at their March 27 meeting. After a legal services review, the document was introduced to the House and Senate.

The charter proposal was filed for introduction as Senate Bill (SB) 4273 by Sen. Bill Ketron on May 2 and the bill passed on the first of three considerations on May 7.

SB 4273, however, did not include the words "beginning with the November 2010 election and thereafter" even though it implied that the new residency requirement for candidates would not take effect until after this year’s election.

"We just put that (beginning with the November 2010 election) in for clarification," said deputy legislative attorney Sally Swaney.

SB 4279, which has the wording "beginning with the 2010 election" added, was filed on May 7 and according to the state website was introduced and passed first consideration on May 8.

The companion House Bill (HB) 4271 by Rep. Curt Cobb, which states "beginning with the November 10 election," was filed for introduction on May 6. No further action was shown as of Sunday on the bill.

For a new law to be made, it must be considered and passed on three separate days (considerations) by both the House and the Senate. A private act, such as the Eagleville city charter, does not have to go to committee for review generally. After a bill is approved by the House and Senate, it goes before the governor who may approve it by signing it.

The legislature is about at the end of its two-year regular session but the Internet indicates the Senate will be in session on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week and the House beginning at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and at to-be-announced times on Wednesday and Thursday. The meeting schedule is subject to change.

If the state approves the proposed charter change, the proposal will come back to the city for consideration. When 60 days have passed after the city gets the document back from the Legislature, the city council can vote on it. The resolution accepting the private act must be approved by a 2/3 vote of the council.

Petitions signed by about 60 city residents were submitted earlier to Ketron and Cobb asking them to not sponsor the legislation concerning the city charter rewrite.

The petition says that the 1977 charter needs to be revised but that the action should not be done until the current Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe into some city operations is over and until after the November election.

One of the main issues for those who wanted the council to wait on rewriting the charter was the new residency requirement for city council candidates.