The Oakridge Charter is like the constitution for the city, governing how the city is run and guaranteeing certain rights to our citizens. The charter was last upgraded in in 2012 and the current proposed upgrade is the product of a two year exhaustive process by the Citizen Charter Review Commission.
Every update and change in the proposed 2024 Charter was put forward by a process of unanimous consent by all committee members. City Council and staff reviewed the charter in depth and completed a legal review of the changes before unanimously voting to put it forward as Measure 20-363.
Major changes to the City Charter include:
- Saves nearly $2,000 a year in redundant and unnecessary expenses.
- Requires two signatures on every check to better safeguard city money.
- Guarantees public comment at all city council and committee meetings.
- Requires video recordings of all public meetings be made available to the public.
- Requires a 2/3 vote to designate an emergency ordinance that would be effective immediately.
- Establishes lower, more standard signature thresholds for citizen initiatives and referendums to get on the ballot.
- Shortens terms for City Council President from two years to one year.
- Reformatted to better align with the League of Oregon Cities Model Charter.
- Removes and clarifies conflicting sections which have wasted city money in the past.
- Simplifies and clarifies outdated wording to improve readability and transparency.
A comprehensive website has been created to allow Oakridge citizens to compare the new proposed charter with the old charter line by line, including explanations on the reasons behind the proposed changes. Learn more about the proposed charter here.