A clean sweep: Indian River Shores voters pass all 11 proposed charter amendments

Janet Begley, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·3 min read

INDIAN RIVER SHORES — Voters here overwhelmingly passed all 11 proposed charter amendments in a special mail-in election that ended Tuesday.In the rare all-mail election, 934 voters — 22.73% of the town's 4,109 registered voters — cast ballots, according to the Supervisor of Elections Office.

All 11 issues passed with at least 91% of the vote, according to final, unofficial results from the elections office

"The number of ballots returned showed substantial engagement on the part of our residents," Mayor Brian Foley said Tuesday night. "I believe the charter amendments will streamline the town's administration, and we appreciate our citizens who took the time to vote."The proposed charter changes were recommended by last year's Charter Review Committee. Results are:

  • Amendment 1: Relocate the section of the charter concerning territorial boundaries from Section 1-2 to an appendix: Yes: 825, 92.28%; No: 69, 7.72%

  • Amendment 2: Should the town have all governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to conduct municipal government, perform additional functions and render municipal services in the exercise of any power for municipal purposes as provided for in the Florida Constitution and the laws of Florida, as amended from time to time, expect when expressly prohibited by law or this charter: Yes: 859, 93.07%; No: 64, 6.93%

  • Amendment 3: Members of the Town Council may not serve as members of boards, commissions, authorities and agencies which they have created, unless required by Florida law: Yes: 882, 95.45%; No: 42, 4.55%

  • Amendment 4: Repeal Section 3-2 of the charter, which established the town clerk as a charter officer, and make the position a non-charter officer position: Yes: 820, 91.42%; No: 77, 8.58%

  • Amendment 5: No private property shall be taken by the town, except for a public purpose and with full compensation paid to each owner: Yes: 843, 95.80%; No: 37, 4.20%

  • Amendment 6: Emergency ordinances: To meet a public emergency, the Town Council may adopt an emergency ordinance but such ordinance may not levy taxes, grant, renew or extend a franchise, regulate the rate charged by any public utility or annex land into the town: Yes: 812, 92.48%; No: 66, 7.52%

  • Amendment 7: The Town Council shall not approve or undertake approval to be included in any proposed taxing district without submitting the proposed district to the electors of the town for vote at a general election or a special election: Yes: 839, 95.67%; No: 38, 4.33%

  • Amendment 8: Nepotism is prohibited. Neither the Town Council, town manager nor any charter officer or their relatives can be employed or contracted by the town: Yes: 846, 95.92%; No: 36, 4.08%

  • Amendment 9: The Town Council shall appoint a Charter Review Committee every 10 years to review the Town Charter and applicable county, state and federal laws and submit proposed amendments to the Town Council. Passage requires approval of electors: Yes: 834, 95.53%; No: 39, 4.47%

  • Amendment 10: The Town Council, by ordinance or by the electors, may submit proposed charter amendments to the electors utilizing the procedures for municipal charter amendments as stated in Florida Statutes: Yes: 859, 93.78%; No: 57, 6.22%

  • Amendment 11: Reorganization of the numbering of articles and titles of articles of the Town Charter: Yes: 885, 96.83%; No: 29, 3.17%

Janet Begley is a local freelance writer for TCPalm.com. If you like articles like this and other TCPalm coverage of Treasure Coast news, please support our journalism and subscribe now.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Voters Select from 11 Charter Amendments-