What is a city charter, and how does it affect me?

Posted 1/25/22

When many hear the term city charter, they have no idea what it means or how it concerns them.

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What is a city charter, and how does it affect me?

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OKEECHOBEE -- What is a city charter, and how does it concern me?

When many hear the term city charter, they have no idea what it means or how it concerns them, but the Okeechobee City Charter affects everyone who lives in, travels through or does business with the city.

Okeechobee’s charter has not been reviewed and updated since sometime in the 1960s, and one of the first items on Councilman Bobby Keefe’s to do list when he was elected councilman was to make sure that was done. Upon his urging, the council appointed a charter review committee, and they held their first meeting on Dec. 15, 2020. After over a year meeting together, they completed their review and made their recommendations to the city council.

During the Jan. 24 town hall meeting, Okeechobee City attorney John Fumero, explained a charter is like a constitution. “We amend our constitution from time to time, but honestly, rarely. The same thing with the charter, it’s supposed to withstand the test of time.” Although it is built to last, most municiplalities review their charter periodically, generally every 10-20 years. Included in the proposed changes is a provision calling for a review of the charter every 10 years.

When the review committee met, they decided to scrap the entire charter and start again using ideas gleaned from examining charters from other communities. One of the biggest changes to the charter is a citizens’ bill of rights.

Fumero went through each article of the proposed charter during the town hall meeting, and explained some of the recommended changes. In addition, he said some portions of the charter can only be changed if the citizens vote for it. This means, the city council and staff want to make sure the public has every opportunity to read and understand the charter before it goes on the ballot in November.

When asked why the Okeechobee residents should be concerned about what is in the charter, Keefe said, "I believe it is important to know and understand what the city charter is and what is in it because it lays the groundwork for how the city residents are governed. Even at the local level of our municipality, our government is ‘for the people, by the people.’ City of Okeechobee voters will have an opportunity to put in place an updated and relevant charter which has new and updated elements which the 107-year-old original charter did not have. This is a wonderful opportunity for the citizens of Okeechobee to have a voice in their government.”

To see the present charter visit present city charter

To view the proposed charter, go to the cityofokeechobee.com website. Under the government tab, look for the Charter Review Advisory Committee tab. Scroll down to Current draft of city charter as of Nov. 4th joint workshop...

proposed city charter

government, city council, city charter

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