Stockton holds first public hearing on charter amendment to create mayoral public information officer

The Stockton City Council on May 2 held the first of two required public hearings on proposed charter language that would formally create a mayoral public information officer and distinguish that role from the City of Stockton Public Information Office.

City Clerk (City Clerk) told the council the proposal would add a new Section 11.53 to the city charter to permit the mayor to appoint a mayoral public information officer "who shall serve at his or her pleasure" and that the officer "will be provided information necessary to fulfill his or her role in a reasonable and timely manner." The clerk also said this was the first hearing, that a second hearing will be held during the regular council meeting on June 4, and that the council scheduled a final vote on the ballot language for June 27 at 1:30 p.m.

Council member Blauer praised the Charter Review Ad Hoc Committee and the Moss Adams peer-city analysis, saying the draft aligns Stockton’s language with similar practices in other cities. Blauer proposed renaming Section 11.51 to "City of Stockton Public Information Office" to reduce ambiguity and suggested replacing the phrase "allowed access" with "provided" and removing a clause about "extenuating circumstances where access cannot be afforded." "I think that's great that, what we're doing here," Blauer said, noting peers do not have the mayor oversee the public information officer.

A council member who took part in the discussion raised a practical concern about the word "access," arguing it could be read to grant broad system permissions. "When you say access, I can just think of way too many circumstances where you can't have that many people having full access to all of our city systems," the council member said, urging the charter to emphasize that the mayoral officer be provided necessary information rather than full access to systems.

Council member Padilla asked for clarification and was told by the City Clerk that the hearing concerns placement of the two charter sections on the ballot and not a detailed specification of job duties or internal responsibilities. Council member Via Padua and Council member Susan voiced agreement with the proposed wording changes.

The City Clerk restated the edits the council discussed: change Section 11.51 to read "City of Stockton Public Information Office," revise the mayoral paragraph so the mayoral public information officer "will be provided information necessary to fulfill his or her role in a reasonable and timely manner," and remove the exception referencing extenuating circumstances. The council closed the public hearing and then moved to adjourn the special session.

Next steps: the council will hold a second public hearing during its regular meeting on June 4 and may consider final ballot language and a vote on June 27 at 1:30 p.m.