The Oakland Town Commission approved Tuesday, Oct. 14, the first reading of an ordinance amending recommendations the Charter Revision Committee proposed for the town charter.
“The CRC took its job seriously and undertook the task of the charter review with energy and enthusiam,” Town Attorney Stephanie Velo said.
The committee developed a list of issues worth discussing and amending over the course of six meetings.
The six proposed amendments address town commission vacancies, voting thresholds, requirements for run-off elections, qualifications for town commission, conflicting charter amendments, and errors and omissions.
For town commission vacancies, the Charter Revision Committee recommended increasing the time period in which the commission must fill vacancies in its membership from 30 days to 90 days. The amendment also stated if vacancies are not filled within the time frame, the positions must be filled by a special election rather than appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A proposed amendment regarding voting thresholds allows commissioners to vote on any matter as long as three commissioners (out of five) are present to do so. Previously, the town required all commissioners to be present for voting unless a commissioner required abstention pursuant to state law.
The CRC also recommended the town does not need to hold run-off elections if candidates don’t receive more than 50% of votes cast. The candidates who receive the most votes will be duly elected to the position they wish. This includes candidates running for mayor and the town commission.
The committee also proposed the removal of the collection of signature cards from 10% of the town’s registered voters or 100 voters, as an alternate method of qualification for the town commission. The only requirement is filing a written notice of candidacy and paying a $100 fee.
If interested residents demonstrate financial need, they still are able to qualify without paying the fee, as long as they meet all other requirements.
To eliminate confusion, the CRC recommended the removal of provisions to conflicting charter amendments made during the same election and asked to correct grammatical and wording errors for accuracy and consistency to sections 2.5, 3.4 and 4.4 of the Town of Oakland Charter.
Increasing retirement contributions
The town commission passed a resolution increasing Oakland’s retirement contribution to full-time police officers from 16% to 18%.
According to provided documents, this adjustment is recommended to remain competitive with surrounding local agencies and to strengthen the town’s efforts in recruiting and retaining dedicated officers for the Oakland Police Department.
This 2% increase is funded by the General Fund for Fiscal Year 2025-2026.