Council considering options in updating charter

Kerr clarifies 'strong mayor' intent

Council considering options in updating charter

By Shea Johnson
Staff Writer

Posted Jul. 26, 2015 at 10:41 AM 

ADELANTO — Mayor Rich Kerr recently addressed the possibility the City Council could support switching to a "strong mayor" form of government, insisting the potential shift isn’t being considered as a means to benefit him or any Council member.

Kerr's comments came during Wednesday night’s Council meeting in response to a woman who expressed concern over a move. Earlier this month, Mayor Pro Tem Jermaine Wright confirmed to the Daily Press that the Council was considering overhauling its city charter.

Ongoing talks over making such a move, which would require a change to the city charter and be passed to voters on the November 2016 ballot, has fanned the suspicion by a few current and former city employees who have suggested the plan is further evidence of a power play at City Hall.

The "strong mayor" form of government is most prevalent in major cities and is a system where the mayor acts as the city's chief executive. The Council currently employs the "weak mayor" system, which is popular among smaller cities and provides no more authority to the elected mayor than other council members have.

"Even if it goes to vote and it gets voted in, it can't happen while I'm sitting here anyway," Kerr said. "It will take effect on the next election if it gets voted in."

If put on the ballot next year and approved by voters, the new government would be enacted beginning after November 2018, when Kerr would be up for reelection.

"So I just want you to understand that. This isn't for me, this isn't for anybody else up here on the Council," Kerr said. "This is something we feel strongly about as a Council. We're discussing it — heated discussions about it — and talking it over and seeing what it's going to do."

Meanwhile, Wright said Wednesday that it was being overlooked that the "strong mayor" possibility was just one charter update being discussed by the Council. Officials are also discussing whether to divide the city into districts in order to provide better representation to the city's north side.

Shea Johnson may be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.