COMMITTEE SEEKS SWEEPING CHARTER CHANGES

As city voters prepare to elect council members by district for the first time next month, there's talk about drastically changing the makeup of the council and the way candidates are elected.

Talk is also focusing on the city charter's vague conflict-of-interest laws. Some city officials want to add meat to a provision that says a council member can be punished -- even impeached -- for breaking those laws.

The talk is coming from the city's Charter Review Committee, which is considering a series of sweeping recommendations that would have to be approved by the City Council and eventually voters. They are:

-- Adding two council seats, both of which could be filled by elections at-large. Now there are seven seats, including the mayor's.

-- Reverting to pre-1981 laws when the mayor was elected by the council, not by city voters.

-- Developing comprehensive ethical guidelines and a standard of conduct that council members would have to follow. It would establish a committee that would review potential conflicts of interests and divvy out penalties.

Councilman Al Spradling III, who is running for mayor against Councilman Melvin Gately doesn't think a review committee is necessary. "I think the council should enforce its own ethical standards. I have a problem with adding an outside review committee," Spradling said.

But charter committee member Donald Strohmeyer doesn't think the current system that requires the council to monitor itself is working. "We need a way to watch the council better," said Strohmeyer. "There are too many conflicts of interest. It's difficult for the council to judge its own members."

Though the committee remains split, some members think that the mayor should be elected annually by his colleagues.

"It could be passed around from within the council; it allows leaders to develop," said committee member Loretta Schneider.

The present system, where the mayor is elected at-large every four years, "gives him more power than he actually has," Strohmeyer said. "The mayor often speaks for the city with an implied authority that doesn't exist."

Mayor Gene Rhodes, who is not running for a third term, opposes any changes to current election laws. "No way would I support anything like it. It's another way of watering down control," he said.

While Spradling agreed that the council should elect the mayor, Gately said he is "pleased with the present method. That's why I'm so excited about my candidacy."

Both said it is premature to discuss expanding the council, since April 5 marks the first time city voters will elect council members by ward.

In other city races James Williamson Jr. and Frank K. Stoffregen are vying for Ward 1; Tom Neumeyer and Brenda Dohogne are running for Ward 2; and Ward 6 sees Jay B. Knudtson against Richard L. Eggimann.

The charter committee is expected to hold public hearings in April and May before making recommendations to the City Council, committee chairman Paul Stehr said.

"Personally, I think it ought to stay the way it is," Stehr said, referring to city election laws. However, he said he supports holding the council more accountable.

"I think there should be a standard of conduct that councilmen should go by, and if they don't they should be penalized," Stehr said.