Mayor of the Century asks voters to approve charter changes: NorthEscambia.com

Voters in the Century city limits are considering three amendments to the city charter when they vote in the general election, and the mayor is asking residents to vote for each of them.

“I ask all residents and voters to support the three questions on the ballot,” Mayor Luis Gomez Jr. said recently. “This is about securing a strong future for Century, and every vote counts in shaping the future for our city.”

What is a charter?

The Century City Charter is the document that establishes the city, outlines its powers, and describes how the city should function. The charter has not been updated in more than 40 years, and this often causes problems in the functioning of the city. (Pictured left: the first part of the original 1979 city charter, creating the Town of Century, Florida from the city of South Flomaton, Florida. Click to enlarge.)

One of the big problems for the city was a spending limit for the mayor of less than $200, without approval from the City Council. And in recent years there has been a lot of tension and even a standoff between the mayor and the city council over hiring. The mayor cannot hire employees without council approval, even at the lowest level.

Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr., in his own words, violated the city charter last month by exceeding his spending limit by $161,590. And he says it saved the city almost $200,000. Gomez informed the council afterward that he approved an insurance proposal for $161,790 without council approval to avoid a $134,883 premium increase and choose a cheaper policy to save $190,173. The city has yet to fully comply with a public records request regarding the insurance issue to verify the mayor’s claims.

The charter has other problems with outdated provisions that do not follow changes in current state law.

How were the recommended changes made?

In recent years, the city convened a charter review committee to draft a new draft charter, and the City Council began reviewing those changes. There were several hiccups along the way, from the pandemic to incorrect documents, that delayed the process.

The voluntary charter review committee spent approximately three years creating a concept for a completely new charter, from start to finish. The city attorney submitted another draft design around a city manager and not a mayor, but the City Council later shelved that version.

Now the city has scrapped the entire recommendations of the Local Citizens’ Charter Review Committee, opting instead for three changes of its own, but not a complete rewrite.

Early this year, the city put the three charter amendments up for a vote without ever formally approving them. That caused the supervisor of the Escambia County elections office to get involved, forcing the city to give final approval before SOE had completed voting. (Pictured left: the original signature page from the 1979 city rights treaty.)

The City Council voted to approve the three questions for the vote at their July 2 meeting; the approval came in the form of three regulations. That was step one, but ordinances require a second reading and a final vote to become official.

Escambia County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) Robert Bender said the city was given a deadline the week of the Aug. 20 primary election to submit ballots for the November election.

The city had a regular meeting scheduled for Aug. 20, but they rescheduled the meeting and two workshops because the council chambers were being used for primary votes under an agreement with Bender’s office. The meeting was moved to the next day, August 21. The charter voting ordinances were on the agenda that evening, but the vote was deliberately postponed until September 17 – after the SOE deadline – at the request of Mayor Luis Gomez Jr.

“Madam President, I would like to have these three points on the table until September 17,” Gomes said during the meeting without explanation. He did not tell the council about the deadline imposed by Bender’s office, nor did he disclose to the council that the bylaw amendments had been submitted for a vote two days earlier.

Without any discussion, the city council unanimously approved the mayor’s request, without further explanation about the voting points.

This week, the city did not respond to a request from NorthEscambia.com for more information about the charter voting questions or interviews.

What are the items on the ballot?

These are the items that will appear on the ballot for voters who live within Century city limits. The exact wording can be found in the sample ballot pictured to the left (click to enlarge).

Question 1:
AMENDMENT TO THE CITY STATUTE, PROVIDING THAT THE PURCHASE OF CITIES WILL BE GOVERNED BY A COUNCIL-APPROVED PURCHASING POLICY
To amend the Town of Century Charter to remove specific bidding, contracting, purchasing and expenditure requirements and procedures from the Charter, and to provide that the Town’s bidding, contracting, purchasing and expenditures shall be governed by municipal ordinances , policies and procedures adopted by the municipality. Municipal council. Will the amendment described above be adopted? (Click for PDF.)

The First Amendment to the City Charter would allow city purchases to be governed by purchasing policies approved by the City Council.

Currently, the charter requires the city to receive bids and award contracts for expenditures of $500 or more. The mayor can also approve expenses of up to $200. The mayor has a limit of $500 in the event of an emergency, and most notify the council president immediately. There is currently no charter provision that allows the mayor to spend more than $500 under any circumstances without City Council approval.

If the change is approved, the current requirement to receive bids and the mayor’s spending limit would be removed from the statute. Instead, the city council will be able to set purchasing guidelines and limits, and make any desired changes at any time.

Question 2:
CITY STATUTE AMENDMENT RELATING TO THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE MAYOR
To amend the Town of Century Charter to expand the powers of the Mayor to select, appoint, suspend and remove Town employees and appointed administrative officers, by limiting the requirement for Council approval of such actions solely to the selection, appointment , suspension or removal of the Municipal Clerk, Municipal Clerk and Municipal Clerk. Will the amendment described above be adopted? (Click for PDF.)

The Second Amendment to the city charter would allow the mayor to hire and fire employees at will. The mayor would only need City Council approval to hire or fire a city manager, city attorney and city manager.

Currently, the charter requires the mayor to advise the city council and seek approval for the appointment or dismissal of a municipal employee. Without conical approval, the mayor cannot hire, fire or suspend any employee.

Question 3:
CITY CHARTER CLEARANCE AMENDMENT
To amend the Town of Century Charter to correct scribal and codification errors and to bring charter provisions into compliance with the requirements of the Florida Election Code. Will the amendment described above be adopted? (Click for PDF.)

The third proposed amendment would amend the charter “to correct clerical and codification errors” and affirm the charter provisions of the Florida Election Code.

Scribes’ errors, by common definitions, are typographical errors, misspellings, omitted words, or other common errors—essentially typographical errors.

While the mayor and council members are currently elected to four-year terms, the mapped language stating a two-year term would be changed to reflect a four-year term. Language requiring voters to register and qualify with the county clerk’s office would also be removed, as voter registration is now handled by the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections. A requirement that voters live within city limits “on Election Day” would be eliminated, as would a requirement that the city clerk maintain registration books.

A current provision as an outline for allowing charter changes by voters would be replaced to align with wording in Florida statutes.

Otherwise, the city has not specified what would be changed in the charter as “authorship and codification errors,” nor has it specified who will have the authority to make any changes in the future.

NorthEscambia.com photo and images, click to enlarge.