Janelle Irwin Taylor
The city of St. Petersburg wants to streamline its timeline for swearing in new and reelected officials.
Under the current city charter, those elected during a general election are sworn into office Jan. 2.
That means every election cycle, which occurs every two years in odd-number years, the day officials take office changes. Depending on the year, Jan. 2 could fall on a weekend or just days before or after a regular City Council meeting, which adds burden to members of the public who would like to attend both swearing in ceremonies and meetings.
Instead, the city wants to change the charter to have elected officials take office on the first Thursday of the month unless that falls on New Year’s Day, in which case elected officials would take office on the second Thursday of January.
The proposed change would align swearing in ceremonies with the regular City Council calendar and avoid duplicative meetings.
The change would not affect this year’s election because the Jan. 2, 2020 swear-in date happens to fall on a Thursday. It would make the first day in office in 2022 Jan. 6 and in 2024 Jan. 4.
The move requires voter approval. City Council will take its first vote on the matter Thursday with second and final approval to put the issue on the ballot Aug. 15. The deadline to put the question before voters on the Nov. 5 general election is August 20.
The issue has been under consideration since 2017. This year was targeted as a prime implementation year because the 2020 swearing-in date would not change.
If approved, the changes would have minimal effect on existing candidates leaving office in 2022 or 2024. Those candidates’ terms would be extended by four days and two days, respectively.
City Council members leaving office in 2022 include Darden Rice and Amy Foster who will have reached the end of their term limits. Ed Montanari and Lisa Wheeler Bowman will leave office in 2024, providing both are reelected this year.
