The Portland Charter Commission tabled discussion on leadership models after a presentation and public comment Wednesday night, agreeing to revisit the discussion next week.

The commission also talked about bringing in outside facilitators to help with discussion around one of the most important reforms commissioners are looking at – how the balance of power should be divided between elected and appointed officials at City Hall.

“They can provide, first of all, more professional facilitation expertise for that discussion, but also relieve me of the burden of having to multitask facilitation of the discussion and participation,” commission Chair Michael Kebede said.

While no decisions were made about leadership, the commission did act on two other significant proposals. Commissioners opted to move forward with a proposal for universal resident voting, which would grant voting rights in municipal elections to residents regardless of citizenship or immigration status, but rejected a proposal to increase city councilors’ pay.

The commission was scheduled to hold a public hearing, deliberate and vote on leadership models Wednesday, though Kebede had said before the meeting that the scheduled vote was not expected to be a final decision. He also addressed concerns that arose during public comments Wednesday after some residents said they were surprised to see leadership models already coming up for a vote without a first read.

“I believe the purpose of a first read is to give public notice of items that will be deliberated and voted on,” Kebede said. “My belief of the governance proposals before the public now is the public has had ample exposure to these proposals, so the purpose of a first read has been served.”

The balance of power between the elected mayor and appointed city manager are a key question the commission is looking at in its review of the structure of city government. And commissioners are under pressure to make decisions soon, as a preliminary report on recommendations is due May 9.

A final report must go to the City Council by July 11 and voters must approve the recommendations in November in order for them to be enacted.

The commission is looking at a handful of leadership models, including a proposal from Commissioner Nasreen Sheikh-Yousef that calls for a strong elected mayor and strong council, and a compromise proposal brought forward by commissioners Marpheen Chann, Ryan Lizanecz and Shay Stewart-Bouley that combines elements of Sheikh-Yousef’s proposal with a proposal that was brought forward by three members of the commission’s governance committee.

COMPROMISE PROPOSAL

The compromise proposal removes the mayor from the council and gives the position oversight over the city budget, but the mayor wouldn’t have unilateral power to hire and fire staff. The proposal also calls for a new position of ombudsman, who would report to the City Council and facilitate requests for information and respond to constituents.

The city manager, city attorney, city clerk and ombudsman would be nominated by a joint legislative and executive committee, and the appointments would need council approval. A joint committee also would nominate department heads, which the council would approve.

Commissioner Robert O’Brien has proposed a variation on the compromise framework that would keep the mayor as a member of the council. Rather than creating an ombudsman position, O’Brien has proposed separate offices of information and oversight, which would respond to requests for information and offer legal opinions, among other duties.

The commission heard from a dozen people during a public hearing on the leadership models.

Sarah Louden spoke in favor of the proposal from Sheikh-Yousef. “Voters in Portland today have made it clear that they are fed up with the status quo and want strong elected leadership,” Louden said.

“Structural and meaningful change for our city does not mean merely repackaging or relabeling the titles of individuals within the current system,” Louden added. “It means a municipal government structure that is truly democratic and representative of voters’ demands. It means elected individuals who are able to promote change in policy with access to staff and resources.”

Catharine Hartnett spoke in favor retaining a city manager or similar position to run day-to-day operations. “I feel it’s important to have a city manager or administrator running a city of this size, someone who is focused on the numbers, who is focused on budgeting and staffing and in that way is meeting the needs of the city,” Hartnett said. “If that function were put into an elected mayor position, I think that gets messy very quickly.”

UNIVERSAL RESIDENT VOTING

The commission also voted, against its attorney’s advice, to move forward with a proposal for universal resident voting, which would give all residents of legal voting age the right to cast ballots in municipal elections, regardless of citizenship or immigration status. The vote was 10-2 with commissioners Dory Waxman and Peter Eglinton voting against the motion to send the proposal to the attorney to put it into formal charter language.

“While it is impossible to say definitively how Maine courts would rule, we, Perkins Thompson, think the better position on this issue is, absent an amendment in state law, a municipality does not have home rule authority under Maine’s constitution to amend its charter to extend the right to vote to noncitizens,” said Jim Katsiaficas, the commission’s attorney.

When the commission submits its final report on recommendations to the City Council, it will need to include an opinion from an attorney that the proposed revisions don’t contain any provisions prohibited by state or federal laws. Some commissioners questioned whether they could seek a second opinion on the issue, though it was unclear late Wednesday whether that would happen before the commission votes on the formal language.

Finally, a proposal to set a new minimum stipend for city councilor pay failed after commissioners voted 6-6, resulting in a tie. The council has the ability to set its pay, which is currently set at an annual stipend of $6,947 plus benefits including health insurance, and the proposal called for a new minimum of 1.35 times the current state or city minimum wage, whichever is lower, multiplied by 20 hours per week for each week of the year, which would work out to about $17,900.

Voting against the proposal were Waxman, Eglinton, Chann, Stewart-Bouley, O’Brien and Commissioner Marcques Houston. Voting in favor were Kebede, Sheikh-Yousef, Lizanecz and Commissioners Zack Barowitz, Catherine Buxton and Pat Washburn.

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