Independence voters split 50/50 on 4 out of 5 charter review questions

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – Independence voters were pretty evenly divided on Election Day on whether changes should be made to the Independence City Charter. Four of the five questions asked of voters when rounded to the nearest percentage came out to 50-50 results.

The only question approved, Question 1, passed by the slimmest of margins; just 24 votes out of more than 17,000. Three other questions failed by about 100 votes each.

Independence’s charter has been around for a long time. So long ago, one of the men who wrote it is now 97.

A citizen’s committee spent 600 hours reviewing changes that should be made for the first time in 40 years to put it in compliance with state law. This work was also to remove antiquated references from the 1961 60-page document. Those include taxes and fees we found the council could choose to levy on blacksmiths, goldsmiths, hawkers, hucksters and peddlers, palm readers and fortune tellers.

“We had lots of discussions about how to put this to the voters considering there were 40 years to catch up on changes,” Independence City Councilmember Bridget McCandless said.

“We could have done one question, but that didn’t feel like people would get to see the changes. You could have put on 400 changes that wouldn’t have been practical either.”

They settled on 5 questions. A little less than 50.1 percent of voters approved changes that will now allow the city to move records online. Currently, they also have to be maintained in paper form and city legal communications have to be published in the newspaper. But several other groups of changes narrowly failed by less than one percent.

Question 3 where 50.3 percent of voters said no, asked “Shall Articles 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10 of the Charter of the City of Independence be amended to provide that prior to the sale of a public utility, the City Council shall, by ordinance, call for an election of the registered voters of the City to determine whether the City shall sell such public utility; to make changes regarding City departments, offices, and agencies, and the coordination of emergency preparedness, but to leave the fire and police departments in the Charter; to provide requirements for the City budget, budget transfers, and financial policies; to remove penalties for City officers and employees who enter into contracts on behalf of the City without authority to do so; to provide processes for incurring debt and the issuance of bonds and notes; to clarify that the City may license, tax, and regulate all businesses, occupations, professions, vocations, and activities as allowed by State law; to remove Sections 9.1 through 9.5; and to remove Article 10?”

Question 4 where 50.4 percent of voters said no asked “Shall Articles 6, 7, and 13 of the Charter of the City of Independence be amended to remove example election forms; to provide that council districts are established by ordinance; to clarify election processes; to remove a provision regarding political designations in campaigns; to provide that candidates shall be disqualified if they are in arrears to the City for fees or taxes, are delinquent in paying State income taxes, or have unresolved municipal warrants; to clarify the referendum process; to remove required ballot language; and to clarify that franchises and utilities are subject to State laws?”

Question 5 where again 50.4 percent of voters said no asked “Shall Articles 11, 12, and 14 of the Charter of the City of Independence be amended to make changes relating to public improvements, special tax bills, and special assessments; to amend provisions related to the Planning Commission, the planning director, the Board of Adjustment, and the Comprehensive Development Plan; and to provide that the City Planning Commission shall have all powers proscribed in Chapter 89, RSMo.; to make changes to provisions relating to lawsuits against the City; and to provide that meetings, records, accounts, and votes of the Council and the City shall be open as required by State law?”

This means rules governing the likes of special codes for dairy farms remain on the books in Independence.

“I don’t know those sections got affected so we still have some antiquated language that needs attention and I don’t think anybody disagrees that the charter needs some love,” McCandless said.

“We just need to find a way that we can get the electorate to come along to see our vision of this forward-looking city and the rules that we need to get there.”

There are no automatic recounts in Missouri. Independence City Council would have to request and pay for it themselves.

FOX4 couldn’t find a fortune teller or palm reader here in Independence to tell us what will happen for certain, but since the city doesn’t currently have any council meetings scheduled within the window to request the recount unless they call a special session, it looks like the results of those close votes will stand.

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