Chandler Council leaves all 4 charter changes on Nov. 3 ballot
Independent Newsmedia/Jason W. Brooks
O.D. Harris speaks at a recent meeting. The Chandler City Council member wanted to revisit city official residency requirements in a proposed charter amendment that voters will have in front of them in this November’s election.
One Chandler council member’s effort to get his peers to take a second look at a proposed residency requirement change for top city officials was unsuccessful.
On the heels of City Manager John Pombier directing Police Chief Bryan Chapman to move within city limits to comply with Pombier’s understanding of the current Chandler charter, Councilmember O.D. Harris took time at a July meeting to revisit one of the four amendments voters will be asked to approve on their Nov. 3 ballots.
The amendment had already been assigned a November proposition number — 434 — by Maricopa County officials when Harris asked to revisit it at a July 13 Council study session. Harris asked procedural questions of Acting City Attorney Tawn Kao and City Clerk Jennifer Ekblad, later telling Council he wanted to “just make sure we really want voters to decide on this now.”
Mayor Kevin Hartke polled the council as part of the public discussion, with neither he nor anyone on Council sharing Harris’ concerns to the extent of wanting to amend or yank the proposed amendment. Proposition 434 will remain on city voters’ ballots unchanged and will be described in the county’s voter guide.
Proposition 434 will ask voters to approve continuing to require that the city manager start living in Chandler within six months of hire, but extend it to 12 months for the three other positions appointed by Council — currently the city attorney, clerk and magistrate. It would eliminate the residency requirement for all department heads not directly appointed by the council, such as the police chief.
It would also declare that all city employees must live within a “reasonable distance” of the city.
Harris pointed out to Hartke that Council might have to revisit a newly approved amendment to address the “reasonable distance” aspect.
“Or, we could leave that up to the city manager, since that’s a personnel matter that’s within his purview,” Hartke replied.
Deputy City Manager Ryan Peters presented the same recent history leading up to the change that he detailed in a spring work session. Council, on the heels of some contentious charter language about mayoral and Council term limits, established the City Charter Amendment Resident Advisory Committee in June 2025.
The nine‑member resident committee appointed by the City Council was tasked with reviewing the City Charter and identifying areas for clarification or modernization, without any set of recent areas of interest or current situations mentioned, Pombier told Harris during the study session.
From July through December 2025, the committee conducted a comprehensive review of the charter, identified potential revisions and directed city staff to prepare draft amendment language.
Council then picked from that list in a February 2026 work session, directed staff to prioritize four amendments and to work up ballot language and approved the four proposed amendments at an April meeting for the November ballot.
The other three proposals are to clarify the timing of the annual selection of vice mayor, updating “resign to run” provisions to align with current state law and to eliminate the second reading requirement for approving new city ordinances.
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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