Agenda Date: 04/14/2026
Subject:
Title
Charter Review Committee (CRC) update and recommendations
Body
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From: |
James L. Becklenberg, City Manager |
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Prepared by: |
Colleen L. Norton, City Clerk |
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Presentations: |
Jose Briones, CRC Chair |
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Reid Betzing, City Attorney |
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Mike Gent, Deputy City Manager |
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Colleen L. Norton, City Clerk |
PURPOSE:
To provide an update on the Charter Review Committee’s (CRC’s) final review and recommendations for potential council-initiated amendments to the city’s charter.
LONG-TERM OUTCOME(S) SERVED:
High-Quality Governance
DISCUSSION:
The council-appointed CRC has met seven (7) times from August 2025 through March 2026. All fourteen members were provided with a full copy of the city’s charter for comprehensive review and discussion. At all meetings, city staff from the city manager, city attorney, and city clerk offices were available to provide background and statutory substance to encourage and facilitate discussion.
Over the course of all meetings, and through robust discussion and consideration of each section, the CRC narrowed 39 sections for final council consideration, with the top 11 noted below. For most, if not all, of the sections recommended for consideration, specific language was not crafted. Rather a direction or concern was noted with the understanding that should council opt to place recommendations on a future ballot, the onus would be on staff to draft the ballot language so as to comply with statutory requirements, legal review, and council approval.
1. Sec. 8. Amending the Charter
2. Sec. 23. Qualifications of Council
3. Sec. 27. Council Meetings; Open and Executive Sessions
4. Sec. 34. Procedures (related to Recall)
5. Sec. 36. Ordinances, Resolutions, and Motions
6. Sec. 45. Initiative
7. Sec. 46. Submissions (related to Initiative and Referendum)
8. Sec. 47. Referendum
9. Sec. 65.5. Preservation of Neighborhood Land Use Restrictions
10. Sec. 70. Submission of the Budget
11. Sec. 89. General Obligation Bonds
BACKGROUND:
The Littleton City Charter, Sec. 124, directs that council shall periodically appoint/convene a Charter Review Committee to perform a comprehensive review of all charter sections and make recommendations to council for amendments and deletions. In 2014, the inaugural Charter Review Committee presented council with thirty recommendations to amend the city’s charter. Of those, council referred ten (10) to the ballot with all but three (3) successful.
Prior Actions or Discussions
Council approved creation of the 2025/2026 CRC via resolution 39-2025 on April 15, 2025.
FISCAL IMPACTS:
Should council forward any of the CRC’s recommendations or recommendations of their own to a ballot at a November election, there may be associated costs related to community outreach and education, as well as those costs associated with a coordinated election.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff asks for council consideration of recommendations as presented and solicits direction on which CRC recommendations, if any, should be considered for drafting of potential ballot language.
ALTERNATIVES:
• Council may consider placement of all, some, or none of the committee’s recommendations on an upcoming ballot, either in current or future years, and direct staff to draft language as appropriate, for potential ballot questions.
• Council may consider placement of council-initiated questions for inclusion on an upcoming ballot and direct staff to draft language to facilitate this process.
• Council may consider continuing the review by CRC to more narrowly focus recommendations related to potential charter amendments.