City Council unanimously withdrew 13 proposed referendum ordinances recommended by the Charter Review Commission after determining the commission failed to meet a deadline required under the city’s home rule charter.
The action Monday at council’s regular meeting removes a series of charter amendment questions introduced at council’s June 8 meeting for possible placement on the November ballot.
The proposals addressed topics ranging from the creation of a city health department to ethics board changes, limits on board and commission service, police leadership, environmental rights and other governance issues.
Council voted to withdraw the measures due to the failure of the commission to timely issue its report within six months of appointment as required by the city charter.
Council Solicitor Michael Gombar said the vote permanently removes the measures from consideration.
Under the city’s home rule charter, an 11-member Charter Review Commission must be appointed at least every five years, but no sooner than every three years.
The commission is required to review the charter and submit a report to council, the mayor and residents within six months of its appointment.
The city’s most recent commission was appointed in September 2024, with members officially seated and beginning their work in August 2025.
The charter states that council and the mayor must place proposed amendments on the ballot by ordinance, but officials said that obligation no longer applied because the commission missed the deadline.
Council’s vote to withdraw the proposals came after weeks of questions about the timing and legality of the proposed referendums.
Charter Review Commission Solicitor Ed Stock did not immediately responded to a request for additional comment on the legal issues surrounding the proposed referendums.
Council recessed during its June 22 committee of the whole meeting and met in executive session to discuss the matter.
Speaking Monday before the vote, Councilman Raymond Baker said the issue ultimately came down to the commission’s failure to comply with requirements established in the charter.
“There are deadlines, there are rules and laws that must be followed,” Baker said.
During public comment at Monday’s regular meeting, Evelyn Morrison, commission chair, criticized council’s concerns over the referendum questions and argued that voters should have the opportunity to decide the proposed changes.
“I think it’s up to them to decide how they want to, if they want to, change their government in any kind of way,” Morrison said.
Morrison also said commission members had invited council members to attend their meetings and offer feedback on the proposals.
“You had an opportunity to refer for your constituents, but you chose not to,” she said.
In an interview last week, City Managing Director Jack Gombach said the commission’s role was to request that referendum questions be placed on the ballot and that the matter must then move through council before reaching county election officials.
City administrators, he said, had raised questions about several of the proposed charter amendments, particularly a referendum that, if passed, would have created a municipal health department.
Gombach said Reading was studying how such departments operate in other Pennsylvania communities. Relatively few municipalities maintain their own health departments, he said, noting state regulations require a range of services that the city does not provide and that could carry significant financial and operational implications.
With Monday’s vote, the 13 proposed charter amendments will not appear on the November ballot.