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Regular Council Meeting <br />December 13, 2021 <br />Page 8 <br />City Clerk Janice Ellis reported that Mr. Thompson had been operating a taxicab <br />company in Paris for almost eighteen years. She said he had submitted his application for a <br />license, submitted the required insurance and staff recommended approval. <br />A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Pilgrim and seconded by <br />Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes. Motion carried, 6 ayes — 0 nays. <br />30. Receive report from the 2021 Charter Review Commission, and provide direction to staff. <br />Chairperson Alix Putnam presented the Final Report of the 2021 Charter Review <br />Commission and recognized the Commission Members. She said the most discussed item was <br />the election of a mayor at -large and their recommendation was to move forward with electing a <br />mayor at -large. <br />Council Member Pankaj expressed his appreciation to the City Council in coming <br />together and selecting a diversified Charter Review Commission, and expressed appreciation to <br />the Charter Review Commission. Council Member Pilgrim expressed thanks to the Commission <br />and inquired about a timeline, if they decided to move forward with a mayor at -large proposition. <br />Mayor Portugal said there had been a late development and referred to City Attorney Stephanie <br />Harris to address it. Ms. Harris said she had consulted with outside counsel and they had <br />decided that a motion would have to be filed in the existing seventies lawsuit that divided the <br />City into seven single member districts, prior to moving forward with a proposition for voters to <br />consider electing a mayor at -large. She also said they would have to figure out who of the <br />petitioners were still living, and this could take six months to a year or longer. Council Member <br />Knox thanked the Charter Review Commission on their outstanding job and leadership. She said <br />she was the one who had placed this on the agenda because the Charter did not contain language <br />about who would or would not be able to serve on the Council and questioned if that topic was <br />discussed. Ms. Putnam said the Commission did not discuss that topic. Mayor Portugal inquired <br />about the language about City Council Member attendance with regard to missing three <br />consecutive meetings and if that would be in a twelve month period. Ms. Putnam said the <br />Commission did put language in the amended language but did not discuss the implementation. <br />Mayor Portugal said that staff had asked for direction and maybe, they should table this until <br />January 10th giving the City Council time to review the Final Report in depth. Mr. Path echoed <br />Mayor Portugal's suggestion and encouraged the Council to take time to review the Report. He <br />said a final decision would need to be made by January 24th in order to meet the deadlines, which <br />included writing the ballot language, have it translated into Spanish, and having booklets mailed <br />to every single registered voter in the City. Mr. Path reminded City Council that a Charter <br />Election could only take place every two years and said in addition to May 2022, the other <br />options were to call a Charter Election in November 2022 or May 2023. Council Member Stone <br />and Mayor Pro -Tem Hughes both expressed appreciation to the Charter Review Commission for <br />all of their hard work. Consultant Don Edmonds thanked the City Council for the opportunity to <br />work with the City Staff and the Commission. He said everyone was always professional, <br />cordial and respectful of each other. <br />