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The city council has decided to propose a change to the city of Redmond’s charter. This is a big deal. It may sound like it is not going to affect much, but it will.

There were good reasons debated back-and-forth years ago to put this charter into the place we are today. I do not believe the mayor or council have given us good reasons or any real benefit for the citizens to make this change.

For the mayor position it is being proposed to change the length of the term from two years to four years. This limits the community from choosing a mayor every two years. Voting on the mayor frequently is a good practice as this keeps the mayor in front of the community at all times. Also, the mayor then has to work closely with the council and staff constantly.

Another proposed charter change limits the councilors to a maximum of two terms. They would then need to step away from volunteering in this capacity for two years. This only limits options for our citizens. Let our people vote their choice. Again, there are no good reasons or benefits for the citizens to make this change.

The third change to the charter would be to limit who can run for office. It is being identified as nepotism. Being on council when George Endicott and his wife Krisanna were on council together, it was challenging and is honestly not something I would want to repeat.

I also appreciate Carl Vertrees’ prospective in a letter to the editor saying that in this case, it may be discrimination rather than nepotism. That is worth thinking about. It made me rethink my position and change the way I am looking at this potential charter change. We would be limiting people and their choice in voting if we followed the desires of the current leadership. I do believe that this charter change was brought forward by and with emotion, not brought forward on how it would benefit the citizens.

I am a proponent of term limits, when they make sense. Mostly it is when people gain financially from an elected position. I am not aware of this happening from these volunteer positions.

I would ask each of you to think about the charter changes. Are they going to benefit for you and the voters of Redmond? Each of these changes would only take away from the Redmond citizens by limiting their ability to make a difference with their vote.

Jay Patrick

Former Redmond city councilor

Editor’s Note

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