EVERETT — Everett voters will decide the fate of five proposals to modify the city charter on the November 3 general election ballot. The proposals were whittled down from eight to five when two proposals were folded into existing proposals and a third was scuttled altogether by the Everett City Council.
In a 6-1 vote, the council removed a proposal that city voters could have decided to convene the charter review commission every five years instead of the current 10 years. Councilmember Scott Bader was the lone no vote to add the five year charter review option to the November ballot, saying during tonight’s council meeting the option should be submitted to voters to honor the work of the charter review commission proposals.
A motion led by Councilmember Paula Rhyne called for the removal of the every five years proposal because the full city council can change the charter any time the council chooses to do so through the regular council meeting process.
The five charter review proposals will include:
- Eligibility to hold elective office; no dual elected offices. Requires one year residency for districted council seats and would restrict Councilmembers and the Mayor from holding outside elected office.
- Number of council meetings set at minimum of 36 meetings per year and that at least 2 meetings are held per month.
- Matching Civil Service Commission duties to state law.
- Petition process, initiative threshold, referendum threshold matches the signature requirements for initiatives to that for referenda at 10%, creates a process for submittal of petitions and will require a fiscal impact statement for voters to see in advance of future qualifying ballot measures.
- Website noticing allows for website noticing as an alternative to newspaper noticing of city business.
Everett registered voters will decide to adopt or reject these five proposals on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot. In two weeks, the city council will decide on city residents who are registered voters to author the pro and con statements that will accompany each of the five proposals in the online and published voters guide for the general election.
Regarding the proposed restriction on Everett elected officials also holding other elected office, Bader tells EverettPost.com, “I think we were looking at what was going on both with the (Snohomish) County (Council) and then with former (Everett) council member (Mary) Fosse, and her also holding a state house seat. And I think we were hearing from–at least I was hearing chatter from–constituents that they didn’t feel they were getting served quite as well as they wish they were,” referencing an elected official holding down two simultaneous positions.
During tonight’s council meeting there was a motion to extend the term limits proposal from three terms to four terms but an amendment to do that failed 5-2, with Councilmembers Judy Touhy and Erica Weir voting to make it four terms but Councilmembers Bader, Rhyne, Luis Burbano, Ben Zarlingo and Council President, Don Schwab all voting to limit elected eligibility to three terms.