Voters who live in the corporate limits of the city of Huntington in Cabell and Wayne Counties will see four proposed Charter amendments on their General Election ballot Nov. 4.

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams said the city charter was adopted in 1985 and the four proposed amendments take into account advancements in technology that occurred in the intervening decades.

“The amendments take into account technology advancements and add clarity and flexibility to the charter,” Williams said. “If approved, the amendments will result in more efficient operations.”

The proposed charter amendments are as follows, according to the city’s website:

1.“Shall the Charter be amended to amend Section 9.12 of the official Charter of the City of Huntington as it relates to personnel powers and duties of the mayor to extend temporary appointments from 60 days to 120 days?”

Bryan Chambers, communications director for the city of Huntington, said this first amendment would give the city more flexibility in the time frame of choosing its officials.

“The change was suggested in light of recent events,” Chambers said. “As we started the selection process for the new police chief, we realized that was a process that was going to take some time. If you want to make a national search, that is going to take more than 60 days.”

2.“Shall the Charter be amended to amend Article 7 of the official Charter of the City of Huntington as it relates to the qualifications for the Director of Public Works position, wherein the requirement of licensed professional engineer is eliminated?”

Chambers said the second amendment would remove the word “shall,” and add the word “may” in referring to being a licensed engineer for the position of director of public works.

“The city has had some problems finding someone to fill that position who was a licensed engineer, who is willing to work for the salary,” Chambers said. “The requirement has resulted in some prolonged vacancies in this position.”

3.“Shall the Charter be amended to amend Section 14.11 of the official Charter of the City of Huntington as it relates to the central garage and motor pool so a system is in place for rules and regulations on all vehicles and equipment?”

This provision states when city vehicles are not in use, they are to be parked in the city’s parking garage. Chambers said the city garage is not large enough, and the charter is not practical in this sense.

“Due to advancing technology, primarily GPS, we can track our vehicles and what they are being used for,” Chambers said. “We can essentially have a virtual city garage or motor pool. That gives us more flexibility.”

4. “Shall the Charter be amended to amend Section 9.1 and Section 9.2 of the official Charter of the City of Huntington as it relates to changing only the job title of Director of Administration and Finance to the title City Manager?”

The fourth and final amendment would change the job title of the director of administration and finance to city manager. This does not change the duties or the job responsibilities of that title. Chambers said the city will continue to operate with the mayor as its acting CEO.

“The title of city manager better reflects the role of that position,” Chambers said. “The director of administration and finance oversees divisions of finance, human resources, IT and purchasing. Those job duties and responsibilities will not change. The title of city manager better reflects the duties and alleviates the confusion of that position.”

The city of Huntington, Chambers said, believes that the Charter is a strong document, but needs some revisions due to changing times.

“These changes provide us with greater flexibility and allow us to become more efficient due to technological advancement,” Chambers said.

Emily Rice can be contacted at [email protected].