Some of you may have heard that The Tempe City Council is planning to propose placement on the ballot of a Charter Amendment that would allow for the creation of a publicly (i.e. taxpayer) financed election system in Tempe. Discussion by the City Council was on held August 6, and was sent back to the Council working group for community feedback and details. It will come back to the Council for discussion on September 3.

The ballot language itself is vague, just as so many progressive plans are. At the August 6 meeting, supporters noted their intent is to place this on the ballot, then design an ordinance that would get to the details of the system financing, amounts, oversight and other issues. The ordinance then would come to Council for conditional approval and would go into effect if the Charter Amendment was approved by the voters. In other words, the council was asked to place something on the spring 2016 ballot that could have great impact on a number of stakeholders, all without having the details up front.  Continue reading →