Committee extends pro‑tem city manager limit and adds deputy signatory authority to avoid operational gaps

The Sweet Home Charter Revision Committee revised provisions designed to maintain administrative continuity when the city manager is absent or the manager role is filled on an interim basis.

Committee members voted to allow a pro‑tem (interim) city manager to serve for an initial six‑month term with up to three renewals (two renewals were discussed, yielding a potential maximum of 18 months), with renewals to be approved by council action requiring the same vote threshold set elsewhere in the charter. The change reflects committee members’ statements that typical city manager recruitments often take nine to 12 months and that the prior six‑month cap could force premature transitions.

The committee also approved adding the deputy city manager (or equivalent second‑in‑command) to the list of named officers authorized to sign city checks, after staff noted a shortfall in signatory coverage when multiple authorized officers were simultaneously out of town. The committee emphasized maintaining a two‑signature practice for checks where practical and asked staff to preserve the practice of pairing a council member and a staff member when optics allow.

Committee members discussed bonds for officers and whether to retain bond language for the manager; the committee believed prior language on bonds had been deleted earlier in the revision and did not take new action on bonding.

Staff will draft a precise amendment to the interim manager provision and update administrative rules to reflect the deputy signatory change.