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Breaking down the Lawton Charter election ballot

LAWTON, OK._One week from Tuesday, Lawton voters will be faced with 11 proposed changes to the city charter. 

The ballot is four pages long, and city officials are worried the length of the ballot might deter some voters from coming to the polls altogether. 

There is also the concern that the sometimes confusing language on it might make it hard for voters to understand the proposals.

7 News is breaking down the ballot, a few propositions at a time.

Proposition two is all about the mayor.

It states two things: 1. The mayor must provide an agenda for each council meeting and 2: It expands the situations in which the mayor can cast a vote.

"Basically, the charter says that the mayor only votes in the case of a tie, on issues coming before the council, and this charter amendment would be modified to allow the mayor to vote on the annual budget and to vote on the appointment or removal of the city attorney or the city clerk," said City Manager Larry Mitchell.

Mitchell feels it is important that the mayor have a say, especially when it comes to the annual budget.

Proposition four clarifies when a council member can abstain from voting.

The amendment states that a council member can only abstain from voting if there is a declared conflict of interest.

"The issue here is that we've had in the past, there have been council members who have abstained from voting simply because they didn't want to cast a yes or no vote," said Mitchell.

This amendment would eliminate the option to vote unless there is a valid reason or bias.

Proposition six is all about keeping up with inflation. 

Right now, anytime the city has property to sell that is valued at $50,000 or more, there is a mandated public notice and public hearing to declare the property surplus before the sale.

That dollar figure was placed in the charter in the early 70's.

"This provision just changes that target level, that threshold, from $50,000 to $250,000. The feeling of the committee was that $50,000 value was established 40 years ago. 40 years ago, $50,000 was a lot of money," said Mitchell.

Finally, there is proposition five, which directs the city manager to prepare a budget and submit it to the council.  There is already a provision for that in the charter.  Mitchell said this simply strengthens the language.