Recommendations by Lexington’s first civic assembly on possible changes to the city’s charter were presented to the urban county council’s General Government and Planning Committee Tuesday.
Those recommendations include requiring the charter, which is similar to a city constitution, to be reviewed every eight years by a representative cross-section of 36 residents. That review would take no longer than 12 months.
“The reason why we thought that that was important is so that we can make sure that our charter stays relevant to all of the people living in Lexington,” said assembly member Catherine Zamarron.
The assembly also recommended increasing council member pay to around $59,987, the average salary for a Lexingtonian, while adding more accountability measures like publicly viewable attendance.
The findings were a result of a month-long civic assembly organized by nonprofit CivicLex in order to get more residents involved in tackling city issues.
Multiple council members, like District 5’s Liz Sheehan, praised the assembly for how it boosted civic engagement.
“We tend to hear from the same people over and over again and while it's great and we want to hear from them, we also want to hear from the broader community,” she said.
Each recommendation passed through the assembly with more than 80% approval from assembly members, but the presentation to council also included a dissenting report. Assembly member Bob Smith said they had the most discussion over the proposed pay increase.
“Dissent was based on not wanting to make the position appealing as a lifelong job,” Smith said. “We don't need more 50-year councilmen like in Congress, and we really don't want to make this so appealing that you can feel like this can be a lifetime position for you.”
The committee moved to forward those recommendations to the full council. Once the language is finalized, council members will decide whether to put those recommendations on the ballot for residents to vote on in November.
