At their May 7, 2024 meeting, City Council (except for Councilors Black and Patton who voted “no” and Councilor Jones who was absent) broke their PROMISE to you that they would put a proposal for four-year terms with a nonpartisan primary on the November ballot for the voters to decide. This is known as a ballot referendum.
Instead, all on their own, they unilaterally approved an ordinance changing the City Charter and implementing staggered four-year terms with a primary beginning in 2026. This is known as adopting the change at the table.
They took this action despite the city’s own polls (here and here) showing significant public opposition to four-year terms and after assuring the public multiple times and as recently as their April 2, 2024 meeting (see videos below) that they would NOT do this on their own.
Livable Raleigh contacted the UNC School of Government to verify that the City Council can reverse the action they took to approve the ordinance, and what the process entails.
The UNC School of Government advised us:
“If they’ve already formally adopted the ordinance, a member will need to make a motion to repeal. That motion would need to pass by a majority vote to repeal the ordinance.”
Our inquiry and their response with the relevant portion highlighted are below:
REFERENDUM REFERENDUM
On May 7, 2024 when the motion was made, seconded and called, Mayor Pro Tem Melton said this:
“I really don’t know what I think about this issue. We’ve talked about it a lot. What I heard a lot was, referendum, referendum.”
Mayor Pro Tem Melton expressed his concern about the sudden reversal from a ballot referendum to enacting the change at the table on their own without a vote of the public.
Here we have included video clips of six council members making public statements from the City Council table illustrating what Melton noted. They all expressed their intent to put the issue of four year terms on the November 2024 ballot as a referendum question for the voters to make the decision. These statements were made as recently as April 2024 and as far back as May 2023.
Three of these council members, Mayor Baldwin, Mayor Pro Tem Melton and At-Large Councilor Forte broke their word.
4/2/24 Mayor Baldwin expresses her support for a referendum. On May 7, Mayor Baldwin voted to make the change without a vote of the people.
4/2/24 Councilor Jones reconfirms her support for the referendum saying ultimately it needs to go to the voters.
1/16/24 Councilor Forte states her support for adding a ballot referendum in the fall for term lengths. On May 7, Councilor Forte voted to make the change without a vote of the people.
1/16/24 Mayor Pro Tem Melton notes there is a consensus for adding a referendum to the November 2024 ballot. If you listen closely you can hear Mayor Baldwin and Councilor Branch voice agreement with Melton. On May 7, Mayor Pro Tem Melton voted to make the change without a vote of the people.
1/16/24 Councilor Patton reconfirms her support for putting the question of term lengths on the ballot for voters to decide.
5/16/23 Councilor Jones is concerned about losing the trust of the people. Says council needs to do what the public wants, not what council wants.
5/16/23 Councilor Patton states her support for a referendum vote so voters can express their opinions.
5/16/23 Councilor Black says she is in favor of a referendum to re-establish trust with the public.
Repeal and let the Voters Decide
City Council can take a two step process to put this back into the hands of the voters.
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- First, vote to repeal the ordinance that amended the City Charter.
- Second, adopt a new resolution to place the referendum on the November 2024 ballot. This is a multi-step process that requires starting over from the beginning:
- 1st meeting – Adopt a “Resolution of Intent” for the proposed Charter Change that sets the date for a Public Hearing
- 2nd meeting – Hold the Public Hearing
- 3rd meeting – Adopt an ordinance to revise the City Charter subject to approval by a vote of the people
- 3rd meeting – Adopt a resolution calling for a special election to place the referendum on the Nov, 2024 ballot
TAKE ACTION – Contact the City Council and tell them to:
Repeal the Change of Term Lengths and let the Voters Decide!
Email – citycouncilmembers@raleighnc.gov (sends email to ALL councilors)
Livable Raleigh Editorial Team
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