Politics & Government
On the Ballot: 5 Novi Charter Amendments
Novi's charter had not been reviewed since more than 35 years ago.
Novi residents will find five charter amendments on the ballot in next month's elections.
Novi's current charter — the "constitution" of the city — was first adopted in 1969 and had not been formally reviewed since more than 35 years ago. In March, a committee of city council members, city staff and community members assembled to review the current charter, as requested by the city council.Â
>>See a video above, from the City of Novi's Youtube channel, of City Manager Clay Pearson explaining the charter amendments.Â
Below are the five proposed amendments to the city charter that will be included on the Nov. 5 ballot. None will impact current millage rates or increase taxes.
Proposed Amendment 1
Shall the Novi Charter be amended to restate the entire charter in gender neutral terms?The current charter references "he," "him," and "his" when describing duties and responsibilities of various legislators and administrators in the city. The proposed amendment is to restate the charter in gender-neutral language. Read more.
Proposed Amendments 2 and 3
Shall section 15.2 of the Novi Charter be amended to allow publication of notices, ordinances and proceedings through one or more of the following: in a newspaper, on the city's website, or by any other means appropriate to properly inform the public?Shall section 3.12 of the Novi Charter (election notices), section 6.1 (council meetings), section 7.5 (publication of ordinances), section 8.7 (emergency appropriations), section 8.11 (annual audits), section 9.15 (taxes' due date notification) and section 14.1 (public utility franchises) be amended to delete references to publication being required by newspaper or posting in certain public places and replace such language with the requirement that publication shall be "as required by law or this charter?"
The City of Novi uses various means to provide open and transparent government functions, like the comprehensive city website, which has more than 14 years of archives, electronic newsletters, social media, video and more. Read more.
Proposed Amendment 4
Shall the Novi Charter be amended to reorganize and restate the existing section 4.6 (description of the city's administrative plan) and combine it with section 4.13 (description of the Finance, Public Safety and Public Service departments and authorizes the council to create other departments), so that section 4.13 is deleted entirely and section 4.6 establishes the administrative departments and office by both council and city manager?
The City of Novi uses a council-manager form of government with the city council being responsible for the legislative functions. The city council appoints a city manager to oversee all administrative operations of the city and to implement its policies. This change would allow the city manager to create and reorganize departments while keeping city council's right to do the same. Read more.
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Proposed Amendment 5
Shall section 8.10 of the charter, which requires that all funds withdrawn from the city's treasury be drawn pursuant to the authority and appropriation of council and be upon "checks" signed by two different officers of the city, be deleted?
When first adopted more than 40 years ago, checks with two signatures provided the only means of "checks and balances" in accounting procedure. Today, there are more streamlined accounting practices. Payment records of all public funds in Novi are and will continue to be available online at cityofnovi.org. Read more.
Find out what's happening in Novifor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The City of Novi provided this information.
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