Chandler Council bumps term-limit charter decision to June 2
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
Chandler City Council member Matt Orlando speaks during the May 22 regular meeting. Council bumped a decision about whether to put an election-rules charter amendment on the November ballot into a special meeting, which is set for 5 p.m., Monday, June 2.
The Chandler City Council’s two closed-door executive sessions held Monday, May 19, might have produced some consensus on how to address a budding problem with its charter on mayoral and council term limits.
But those executive sessions did little, if anything, to calm, reassure or clarify much for council members, judging by how their regular meeting unfolded three nights later.
After more than two hours of debate, questions for an assistant city attorney and public input from more than a dozen Chandlerites at its May 22 regular meeting, council unanimously voted to table a proposed charter amendment.
Council is set to meet Monday, June 2, 5 p.m., in council chambers for one purpose. That’s to hammer out and fine-tune language in a proposed charter amendment about term limits and whether current council members can run for mayor, or vice versa, without a break in service.
The deadline for cities to turn in any proposals for a November election is midnight, Monday, June 9.
Before making the motion to table the proposed amendment, Council member Matt Orlando had tense words with Vice Mayor Christine Ellis, who said she was told Orlando had approached City Attorney Kelly Schwab about a charter amendment.
“If this is the rabbit trail you want to go down, Vice Mayor, we just solved the mystery,” Orlando said, raising his voice slightly in speaking to Ellis. “No. I did not call the city attorney. She called me."
Orlando could become the largest beneficiary of the new proposed language, if council votes June 9 to add it to the November special election and it passes and becomes effective for the 2026 election cycle. His second consecutive term on council expires in January 2027, and the current charter not only caps both council and mayor term limits at two, or eight years apiece.
A staff report states that a legal opinion from attorney Christina Werther, which the report calls “an election law expert,” is that under the existing charter language, a Council member such as Orlando, who, in 2026, will be the only council member approaching the end of his second term, is not eligible to run for a term as mayor until he takes a break in service for at least four years.
The amendment, if approved as written, would erase that requirement. It calls for a 16-year maximum consecutive years of mayor and council service, which, if effectively immediately, would permit Orlando to run for mayor in 2026.
Mayor Kevin Hartke, elected to council in 2010 and to his first term as mayor in 2018, plus time as an appointed council member in 2008, so he would reach that 16-year limit before 2026 ends. It’s unclear how the charter amendment would affect his final year as mayor in terms of it aligning with the charter.
Hartke told the Chandler Independent he has no plans to resign as mayor before January 2027, nor does he plan to seek a clearly charter-barred third term. He didn’t mention if he’s considering a run for council in 2026.
Complicating the 4-hour May 22 meeting discussion were having Ellis attend by phone and Schwab not present at all, as she was attending a graduation ceremony. Those two factors created communication gaps while discussing an already hazy set of issues.
Assistant City Attorney Tawn Kao had to field questions and provide recommendations, especially on meeting and election procedure and some recent history on conversations about the charter.
Kao said she was part of a city legal team who crafted the proposed new charter language. But she hasn’t been in all the same conversations as Schwab, who wasn’t at the meeting to either explain why the issue is so pertinent now or how boldly precedent can and should factor into big decisions such as the one at hand.
More than half of the 16 people who weighed in at the meeting said the city should slow down and appoint a citizens’ committee to study such charter changes.
Even some of those who encouraged a November 2025 public vote on a simple amendment said they still want to see a committee formed to examine further changes, possibly for a 2026 ballot question.
Former council member Rene Lopez was among those who opposed a November 2025 amendment vote. He said the $475 million bond Chandler voters will already be voting on, on Nov. 4, is critical, and need not be muddied by council appearing as if it doesn’t know what to do about elections.
Another speaker said the fact council spent 30 minutes understanding the implications of the proposal, prior to taking public input, indicates it isn’t time to rush through an amendment to voters. Hartke told the Independent he and several of his predecessors have run for mayor while at the end of council term limits “based on precedent,” and that charter language “is ambiguous.”
The staff report uses that term as well, noting that “Other lawyers have reviewed the language and have reached different conclusions” about whether a break in service is required between two council and/or two mayoral terms.
“I’m perplexed by all the information I’m hearing tonight,” longtime Chandler resident Lisa Askey said at the meeting. “I’m saddened to learn that the city charter has been misinterpreted and consequently overlooked for the past 50 years. The document should be clear and concise and not open to interpretation. Unfortunately, the section (Article II, Section 2.01, subsection E of the charter) in question and the proposed amendment to fix it, are anything but.”
Several other detailed items were addressed in the 4-hour May 22 meeting, including the city’s annual budget. Those topics will be covered in other Chandler Independent stories.
The June 2 regular meeting is public and is set to be held at City Hall, 88 E. Chicago St., downtown Chandler. The city stated agenda documents for the meeting will be uploaded after Memorial Day.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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