Nixa Voters Will Vote on Becoming a Home Rule City Tuesday - By Tara Muck Springfield News-Leader

Nixa -- On Tuesday, Nixa voters will get a chance to become the 41st city in Missouri to adopt a home rule charter. If approved, the city of Nixa will go from being a fourth-class city to a home rule city -- creating a structured government that gives more power to the residents. The system has become an alternative to the more popular city administrator plan, which Nixa and Ozark currently operate under. Home rule gives citizens greater self-government -- allowing them to make local decisions instead of relying on the state legislature, said Gary Markenson, executive director of the Missouri Municipal League. The state legislature establishes laws for specific class cities. But home rule cities can decide not to follow specific laws -- instead, creating and passing their own. For example, home rule cities can make their own ordinances regarding elected officials, such as their duties, the number of council members and the length of their terms. "The idea of a (home rule) charter is the people of the community can devise their structure of government better to fit Nixa than the state legislature can do to apply fourth-class cities all over the state," Markenson said. It appeals to some Nixa residents. "If that means the people have more choices on what's going on, I'm for that," said Vivian Hughes. Referendum A home rule charter offers residents many opportunities to have a say over what happens in their city. One of those is the initiative, referendum and recall article, which was drafted into Nixa's home rule charter. It's one issue Loren Winter, chairman of Nixa's home rule charter committee, said stands out to him. "(It's) the most empowering piece, in my opinion, in the whole document for the general citizens," he said. Under home rule, the initiative authority allows citizens to propose ordinances to the council, and if the council fails to consider or adopt the ordinance, the residents can send the ordinance to voters. The referendum authority allows residents to require the city council to reconsider any adopted ordinance, and if the council fails to repeal it, residents can ask voters to decide. Residents dissatisfied with elected or appointed officials can ask voters to remove them from office under recall authority. Elections would cost the city each time, though Winter said he wasn't sure how much. But it's the article's ability to provide more power to the city residents that concerns Nixa resident Lois Helderman. "I have mixed emotions about it," she said. "It all depends on how the people use that power. "It gives us more say, and I appreciate that. That's a very good thing. But I worry it will bring more trouble to the city," she said. Winter said he's not concerned that it could be abused. For an ordinance to be considered by voters, it would take the signatures of 7 percent of the total number of qualified voters registered to vote at the last regular municipal election. It would take 10 percent to sign a petition to recall an ordinance or removing an official. "As citizens, people need to educate themselves on whether or not those issues are important enough (to go to election) because there is going to be a city cost," Winter said. "Common sense, generally, is going to drive these issues, and most people are not going to be able to obtain enough signatures to get something on a citywide ballot that isn't going to have merit." Markenson said many times he sees cities opt for home rule charters because of the initiative and referendum powers. But there are other cases when the current structure is no longer suitable, mainly due to growth -- something Nixa has experienced in the last decade. "The structure that suited Nixa 20 years ago, is it still appropriate today? I don't know. That's what the community has to determine," Markenson said. "If it is appropriate still, the only way to keep it or not have it change (by state legislature) is to have it in the charter." Other proposed changes are: - Allow voters to ask that certain ordinances be adopted, rejected or reconsidered through a municipal election; - Allow voters to remove an elected official through a municipal election; - Allow city to determine local taxation; - Change "aldermen" to "council members" and "wards" to "districts;" and - Change mayor term length to three years and councilmen to staggered three-year terms