Proposed Charter Amendment 15

PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENT #15

Section 3.01 of Article 3, Section 4.01 of Article 4 and Section 5.05 of the Charter of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County shall be amended as follows:

1. Section 3.01 shall be amended by deleting such section in its entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the following new Section 3.01:

“Section 3.01. Metropolitan County Council Created.

The legislative authority of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Charter, shall be vested in the Metropolitan County Council, sometimes hereinafter called “Council”, which shall have a total membership of twenty-one (21) district councilmembers. There shall be twenty-one (21) council districts in the metropolitan government, which are hereby created and established in accordance with detailed description to be accomplished as provided in Section 18.06 of this Charter.

The provisions of this amendment shall become effective beginning with the metropolitan government elections to be held in August of 2007.”

2. Section 4.01 shall be amended by adding the following sentence at the end thereof:

“From and after September 1, 2007, the members of the urban council shall be three members selected by the metropolitan council, any provision in the Charter to the contrary notwithstanding. Members of the urban council so chosen by the metropolitan council shall be members a portion of whose district lies within the area of the urban services district.”

3. Section 5.05 shall be amended by deleting such section in its entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the following new Section 5.05:

“The vice mayor shall be elected by the council for a term of four (4) years and until his successor is elected and qualified. He shall be a member of the council, shall possess the qualifications of the mayor, and shall be compensated at the rate of forty-two hundred ($4,200) dollars per annum, payable semimonthly. In the event the office of mayor becomes vacant, the vice mayor shall serve as mayor and be compensated as such until the vacancy is filled at a special election or at a general election, as provided in section 15.03 if this Charter. During the time that the vice mayor shall serve as mayor, he shall cease to act as presiding officer of the council.”

FOR THE BALLOT

Amendment No. ______

This amendment would reduce the Metropolitan Council from forty (40) to twenty-one (21) members, would eliminate the positions of councilmember-at-large and the office of vice mayor, and would require that a vice mayor be elected by the Metropolitan Council from its membership effective as of the council term beginning September 2007.