Loveland council advances charter review committee plan after amending selection and outreach rules

The Loveland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday on first reading to create a nine-member ad hoc charter review committee to study possible amendments to the city charter for a future ballot. Before approving Ordinance 6841, council rewrote key parts of the proposal to require the full council to score applicants in public, expand the interview pool to at least 22 candidates, add two alternates, require members to be Loveland residents for at least one year and registered electors, and require a public engagement plan within 60 days of the committee’s first meeting.

The committee would review the charter and return with recommendations for council, which would then decide what, if anything, to refer to voters. City Attorney Vince Douglas said the committee itself would not have authority to change charter provisions on its own. Responding to public concerns about voter-approved measures, Douglas said the committee could discuss provisions such as Charter Amendments 300 and 301, but only the council could place any repeal or revision before voters.

Douglas told council the committee route was chosen instead of a statutory charter commission because it offers more flexibility and avoids a more cumbersome state process. He said staff’s initial focus includes administrative and legal cleanup items, such as publication requirements, election procedures and charter language that conflicts with court decisions, but he emphasized the committee would be free to examine any part of the charter.

Public comment focused heavily on transparency and on whether past voter-approved measures could be reopened. Darren Barrett urged the city to consider a charter survey and said the committee should reflect a wide range of viewpoints and knowledge of Loveland history, law and the current charter. Cindy Van Slambroek said the process needed to build trust and include people who represent residents who backed previous charter changes by large margins. Chuck Hubbard also pressed for transparency, including public ways to contact committee members.

Much of the council debate centered on how applicants should be screened. Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Samson proposed replacing the original screening model — which would have relied on the mayor, mayor pro tem, city manager and city attorney — with scoring by the full council during an open meeting. That amendment passed 9-0. Council then voted 9-0 to increase the number of applicants advancing to interviews to no fewer than 22 and to appoint nine members plus two alternates.

A third amendment, approved 7-2, tightened eligibility so members must be Loveland residents for at least a year and registered electors within the city. Council Member Sarah Rothberg objected to the one-year residency rule, saying it could exclude someone with valuable expertise who moved to Loveland recently. Some members also discussed whether people with a Loveland mailing address outside city limits should be eligible, but Mayor Patrick McFall and others argued the committee should be limited to residents who can vote on city charter issues.

Council later unanimously added a requirement that the committee produce a formal public engagement plan within 60 days of its first official meeting. Council Member Laura Light-Kovacs said she wanted to avoid vague promises of outreach and make sure the committee spelled out how it would gather public feedback during its work.

Council members also discussed the timetable for launching the process. Douglas said the committee likely would begin meeting in late fall after applications and interviews, though members pushed staff to move quickly enough to keep potential ballot timing in view. McFall said the city should prioritize doing the process correctly over rushing it, and he indicated a special meeting could be used if needed to keep selections on schedule.

The ordinance now heads to a second reading, where council can give final approval before applications open and the selection process begins.