On August 18, 2020, the City of Stuart  held a public referendum to address two changes to the Charter recommended by the Charter Review Board.  The first was a recommendation to change the 2 year terms of the City Commission to four (4) years and then place a 12 year term limit.  The second was to prohibit any sitting City Commissioner from actively running for another public office or accepting campaign donations for another office while continuing to serve as a City Commissioner.

Both referendum issues were approved by the voters and as  a result, the City Commission is responsible for adopting ordinance language which amends the Charter to include the changes.  The draft changes amend sections 7.03 and 7.05 of the Charter as well as Section 14-25 of the Code of Ordinances.  The effective date of the term limits has been set as August, 2022.  As a result, an time served by any commissioner prior to August, 2022 will not count toward the term limit.  Beginning in August, 2022, no commissioner shall be qualified to serve more than 12 consecutive years.  In addition, the Charter has been amended to reflect that Groups 1,3 and 5 will begin serving 4 year terms at their next election in 2022.  The election in 2021 will be a three (3) year term to transition to even year elections for Groups 2 and 4.  Then at the expiration of the three (3) year term, Groups 2 and 4 will serve four (4) year terms thereafter beginning in 2024.

Further, no commissioner shall qualify to run for another office nor open an account for the purposes of raising funds for another office while actively sitting as a Stuart City Commissioner.