Jan 2022 Newsletter

Clark County Charter Amendments
       Jackie Lane, Board Member

This year saw a number of ballot measures (NINE!) to update the county charter. All but one of them were passed by voters. Most of these were the work of the Charter Commission, 15 people elected by us during the 2020 November election. A couple were submitted by the County Council.

The Charter Commission felt that they were not able to get everything they wanted on the 2021 ballot. Part of this was the sheer amount of work and the deadline to get final amendments to the Elections Office for the November ballot. Another consideration was not wanting to put too much on one ballot and risk confusion and/or voter fatigue.  So, next year will see another round of Charter Amendments.

Here is a summary of the amendments that were on the 2021 ballot, and what to look forward to for 2022. 

There were nine Proposed Charter Amendments on the 2021 November General Election Ballot. Of these, 7 were proposed by the Charter Commission. Six of these passed and are now law, one failed. 

Two additional Charter amendments were proposed by the County Council. Both passed. 

The 2021 Charter Amendments were: 

1. Change the County elected offices of Assessor, Auditor, Prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff, and Treasurer from Partisan to Nonpartisan.  PASSED
   Candidates can still tell voters that they belong to a particular party but it is not required, and the offices are considered nonpartisan. When you think about the jobs these people do, these are non-political positions. Evidently most voters in Clark County agreed.  

2. Change the County Council from Partisan to Nonpartisan.  PASSED.
   Again, candidates can still associate with one party or another. The vision is that the Councilors will focus on leading for all residents rather than representing a party’s interest.  It may take some time for this to be reflected in leadership and voter behaviors. It is worth noting that City, Port, and other elected offices within the county are nonpartisan and that works just fine. 

3. Increase County Council districts from Four to Five, and eliminate elected county-wide chair. PASSED.
   This amendment improves geographic representation – if you look at the current council, three of them are nearly neighbors (and live within the new County District 4). Also, the Chair becomes a more ceremonial position, selected annually by the council from among its ranks. (and no longer gets a 20% pay bump compared to the other councilors)
   –   Transition plan: Upon passage, the Chair (Quiring-O’Brien) becomes the new District 5 representative until the end of her current term, a new District 5 Councilor will be on the November 22 ballot. The councilors representing Districts 1-4 will continue to do so until their current terms end (D1 and D2 are on the 2022 ballot, D3 and D4 are up in 2024).
   –   This amendment included a map of the proposed 5 districts with the caveat it would be modified to meet redistricting requirements because of the 2020 Census. That work has been completed and as of this writing there is a proposed map that closely aligns to the map approved by voters. In that map, Councilors Quiring-O’Brien, Medvigy, and Bowerman all reside in District 4 (see ‘transition plan’ above).  

4. Charter Review frequency and commissioner terms: PASSED
   Revises the Charter review frequency from 10 to 5 years, and increases the term from 1 to 2 years. Ten years is a long time in these fast-changing times for a fast-growing county to review the County Charter.  Also, the commissioners found that trying to get the review and amendment work done in time to get changes to the next ballot was challenging. The two-year term provides for a longer process with improved public engagement.

5. Requiring the adoption of an Ethics Code and Autonomous review process. PASSED.
   The County Council has until July 31st to adopt a Code of Ethics ordinance for employees and elected officials. The Code of Ethics must include penalties for violations; establish an autonomous Ethics Review Commission comprised of independent reviewers to investigate complaints of potential violations of the Ethics Code; and create an Ethics Oversight Office in the County manager’s office to accept and investigate complaints.

6. Create a department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).  FAILED
   This would have created a Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as a commission appointed by the County Manager. A revised amendment will appear on the 2022 November ballot. 

7. Minor wording and corrections PASSED.
   This just cleaned up some language without making any material changes. 

8. Updated procedures for processing Initiative, mini-initiative, and referenda petitions. PASSED.
   This amendment was requested by the Auditors office to clarify and make minor corrections. 

9. Eligibility to vote on initiatives, mini-initiatives, and referenda that are limited in scope to the Unincorporated areas of Clark County. PASSED.
   This amendment limits who can vote or sign on to initiatives, mini-initiatives, and referenda that are limited in scope to the Unincorporated areas of Clark County to residents of unincorporated Clark County. City residents would not be able to sign those petitions or vote on those ballot measures. An example would be a citizen initiative to limit fireworks in the unincorporated county (most cities already limit or prohibit certain fireworks). City residents would not get to either sign the petition or vote on it.  

Details about all of these can be found starting on Page 94 of last years’ Voters’ pamphlet here.

Proposed 2022 Charter Ballot Measures. Note that these are abbreviated descriptions and we will all want to get full descriptions and do research before the November election!

• Ranked Choice Voting (RCV):
  This amendment would allow voters the option to rank up to six candidates for each county office. If no candidate receives more than 50% of first choice votes, the last place candidate is eliminated. Voters whose first choice is eliminated would have their second choice counted instead. This process of elimination would continue until there is a winner (or winners if used to get to top two in a primary). It is worth noting that there are bills being considered at the state level to use RCV in the Presidential Primary and to allow RCV locally. If the local option passes, we might not need primaries if 6 or fewer people file to run for an office.  

• County Manager Consultation:
  This amendment would require the County Council to consult with the Elected department heads (Assessor, Auditor, Prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff, and Treasurer) before selecting a new County Manager. Note that this is consultation only, the County Council still makes the final selection.

• Charter Preamble:
  This amendment would add a Preamble to the County Charter. The Preamble would acknowledge the area’s rich heritage, introduce the Charter and the structure, governance, benefits, rights and responsibilities it provides.

• County Elected Position Vacancies: This amendment would define how vacancies would be filled for the elected officials:

  • Assessor, Auditor, Prosecuting Attorney, Sheriff, and Treasurer.  It would temporarily fill with a pre-designated professional manager from the office until the next General Election (18 months or less)

  • County Councilor – Shall be appointed by the remaining county Council, after having noticed and accepted applications from the public, until the next general election. 

• Initiative and Referendum:
  Changes the initiative and referendum signature percentage requirements from 10 percent to 8 percent and allows for the transfer of signatures from the initiative process to the mini-initiative process.

• Diversity and Inclusion:
  Establish a Diversity and Inclusion Officer Position, and Establish a Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Commission.