Florissant City Council Debates Charter Review Commission Bill

With one and another still contested by a , the current composition of the Florissant City Council appeared it could prove a problem. That became very clear during Tuesday night’s meeting.

Five councilors proposed Bill 8737, which would create a nine-person commission to review the Florissant City Charter, for first reading, but the bill came under fire from the other three councilors.

Ward 8 Councilman Mark Schmidt voted for discussion on the bill and took the floor to voice his concern regarding its timing.

“I find the timing of this bill highly suspect and frankly, irresponsible,” Schmidt said. “I don’t see a rush to do this before we have a full council. It takes advantage of the current makeup, and I find that highly irresponsible.”

Ward 2 Councilman John Grib and Ward 5 Councilman Keith Schildroth agreed with Schmidt about the timing of the proposal.

Grib emphasized that he’s not opposed to a review of the city’s charter, but he believes that there should be a full council established before taking on this endeavor.

Schildroth said that there are more pressing issues to be addressed than the charter-review commission, and he challenged the council to meet on a regular basis to make changes that need to be made to the charter.

The other councilors fired back at the allegations with their reasoning for bringing the bill forth.

Ward 9 Councilman Ben Hernandez said that there will never be an ideal time for this type of bill because the council will always be revolving and changing.

“We as a council need to work for the betterment of Florissant,” Ward 4 Councilman Keith English said. “Certain council members believes there are ulterior motives, and there’s not.”

English said with the passage of this bill, several changes could be made to the charter. He provided the example of in the case of the recent six-person mayoral race, with elections of three or more candidates, a primary and a general election may be established.

If passed, the ordinance would establish a nine-person, charter-review commission to be set up 60 days following its adoption. Florissant residents would have the opportunity to apply for the commission as long as they have lived in Florissant for two years, are older than 18 and a registered to vote.

Following the selection, the commission would meet twice a month, and the meetings would have to begin 90 days following the passage of the bill. The commission would work and meet about the charter until a written report of recommendations could be made to the council.

The city adopted the charter in 1963, and this would be the first time it’s been updated since its initial passage. 

With five people proposing the bill, English said it should pass automatically at the May 23 meeting.