VOTERS IN PLATTE CITY WILL DECIDE THE QUESTION IN APRIL
City officials in Platte City are proposing to change the terms of office for mayor and aldermen from the current system of two year terms to four year terms.
The proposed change will go before voters at the municipal election to be held April 8. At a Dec. 17 meeting, aldermen unanimously voted to take the matter to the voters.
If approved, the change to four year terms would not take effect right away. In other words, anyone on the ballot for a city spot in April would still be elected to a two year term. Also, anyone serving at the time the change is approved by voters would serve out their current two-year term. They’ll have to run for re-election at the end of their current term to then earn a four-year term, according to city documents.
A staff report sent to aldermen recently indicates Mayor Steve Hoeger had requested that city staff begin to research the steps needed to change elected officials’ terms of office from two years to four years.
“Moving from two-year to four-year terms for elected officials is a practical and forward thinking change,” Hoeger responded when asked by The Landmark for comment.
“It allows newly-elected leaders the time they need to fully understand their roles and make meaningful progress, provide a more stable and consistent environment for governing and is fiscally responsible by reducing the frequency and cost of elections. Many offices outside of local government already operate successfully on four-year terms, and this change aligns with best practices for effective leadership and long-term planning in our community,” Hoeger added.
Per Missouri state law, the aldermen may approve an ordinance to pose the question of term of mayor and/or aldermen to the voters at a municipal election.
According to ballot language furnished by the city, there will actually be two questions posed to voters on this topic.
Question 1 is a yes/no on whether voters want to change the mayor’s term from this point forward from two years to four years.
Question 2 is a yes/no on whether voters want to change the terms of office for aldermen to four years from the current two years.
The questions must pass by a simple majority vote to take effect.
