CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A decision to put home rule on the ballot was postponed until March 2023 by the Clarksville City Council Thursday night.
Legislation sponsored by councilmember Trisha Butler to add home rule to the November ballot passed first reading on June 3, with an amendment by Brian Zacharias moving the ballot initiative to 2024 (the next presidential ballot).
On Thursday, council members voted 7-5 to postpone. Voting “no” were Zacharias, Butler, Wallace Redd, Ambar Marquis and Wanda Allen. Vondell Richmond was absent.
What is home rule?
In essence, home rule would allow Clarksville to change its charter – essentially the city’s constitution – by referendum every two years. Other major Tennessee cities, including Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis, have home rule charters.
Clarksville currently has a “private act” charter, which requires approval of the state Legislature to change. A home rule charter would remove the state government from the equation, taking city matters to the citizens.
‘We need to think about what we’re doing here’
As in last month’s meeting, several council members expressed concerns about the complexity of changing the city’s charter.
“We need to think about what we’re doing here,” said Wanda Smith. “It’s just too much; we need to think about what we’re doing. … We need to educate ourselves before we educate the people.”
“Even with all the hours I’ve done, I still have some questions myself,” Stacey Streetman added. “It’s a monumental change, to think about changing your charter.”
Streetman, who made the motion to postpone, went on to suggest that if the referendum is to occur under a different council’s watch, then those council members should be the ones to approve it.
“This council could be the exact same next year. It could also be greatly different,” Streetman said. “I think, the next council, if they’re the ones going to have to be educating everyone and talking to everyone about it, they should get also have a buy-in on this.
‘It’s not about any of the 13 people sitting up here’
Redd told colleagues that the option of home rule could curb what he called government overreach.
“It’s not like this would be something that would happen tomorrow,” Redd said. “Someone said it would be hard for the government to get anything done if there’s home rule. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I think, in many cases, government does a lot more bad than it does good.”
Butler spoke in defense of her ordinance, saying that the 2024 postponement was enough of a wait.
“We should not postpone this; we already postponed it for two years,” Butler said. “It’s not about any of the 13 people sitting up here. It’s that a decision that big deserves to be put to the people.”