Changes may come from review of Carson City charter

Mayor Marv Teixeira is feeling OK, but also said he knows something could happen that prevents him from serving his full term.

"My name is not in an obituary," Teixeira joked after being asked about a proposed addition to the Carson City Charter. "I'm old but I'm still hanging in there."

Turns out the city doesn't have a specific provision for replacing the mayor, though the document does explain how a supervisor who dies or resigns in office should be replaced.

"You need provisions in place before something happens so you don't end up in court figuring it out," said Alan Glover, the clerk-recorder, and a consultant to the city's Charter Review Committee.

The charter allows the supervisors to enact codes, such as building codes, vehicle codes and health and safety codes, said Glover.

Teixeira agreed with Glover regarding this subject. He expects the mayor pro-tem, Supervisor Robin Williamson currently, would be appointed to mayor and that someone else would be appointed to her vacant Ward 1 seat, he said.

There are other questions, however: Would there be a special election to one or both seats? Would the replacement mayor get a raise? Sitting on the charter committee are nine people appointed by the five supervisors and four state legislators who represent Carson residents, and they ask such questions before suggesting changes to the document.

They make recommendations to the supervisors about what they believe are necessary additions to what local officials refer to as the city's version of the U.S. Constitution. And these changes are expected to last well beyond the services of Teixeira, Williamson and any other elected officials now in office.

Current committee members are people who have been long involved in government. Chairwoman Donna DePauw, for example, spent years on the Parks and Recreation Committee and helped create the Shade Tree Council and Question 18 Quality of Life funding system. This is her 14th year serving on the Charter Review Committee, which meets a handful of times once every two years.

"It allows people to come in and talk about things they see in the charter that could be changed," DePauw said. "And the more opinions, the better."

Posing the question about the mayoral succession was Supervisor Shelly Aldean. In 2003 she replaced Supervisor Jon Plank, who died in Dec. 2002. Aldean herself also used to sit on the Charter Review Committee.

Committee members' suggested changes are presented to the supervisors for their approval. The wording is refined by the District Attorney's office, then presented to the state Legislative Council Bureau for their recommendation and, finally, to legislators for their consent before the city charter is amended.

Committee members need to finish up quickly and the supervisors need to approve suggestions - and allow the district attorney's office to ready the language of the proposed additions - before Sept. 1 for consideration by the bureau. The next state Legislative session begins in February.

There are about a dozen charter cities in Nevada. Carson's charter was created in 1969, when the city consolidated its services with Ormsby County's.

With new elected officials, "priorities change," DePauw said. The charter, however, shouldn't be changed simply for the sake of change because, "we're using taxpayer dollars."

Other topics the committee has examined include allowing supervisors to approve an ordinance that allows elected officials benefits similar to those granted unclassified employees.

The group's is scheduled to meet again on June 27 for what is expected to be their last meeting until 2008.

•Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.

For your information

Ideas for changes in the city charter can be presented to Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover until mid-June. Contact his office at 887-2260 or send written suggestions to aglover@ci.carson-city.nv.us.