Proposed changes to Slidell's home rule charter that seek to double the amount of time candidates for office must live within the city limits could go before voters this fall.
A five-member Slidell City Council committee voted Monday to recommend seven amendments to the full City Council, which will take up the issue in May. The amendments deal with who can run for office in St. Tammany's largest municipality, as well as some procedural matters.
If approved by the City Council, the amendments could go before voters as early as the busy Oct. 14 ballot or the Nov. 18 ballot, which will include any runoffs from the October gubernatorial and parishwide races.
Longer residency considered
Currently, a candidate for mayor must have lived in Slidell and had a legal domicile in the city for at least one year before qualifying to run. The proposed amendment would double that to two years.
City Council candidates are also required to live in Slidell and have their domicile there for a year under the current charter. Those seeking one of the seven district seats must live in that district for at least six months. The charter change would double the residency requirement to two years in the city and a year in the district.
The committee did not consider an increased amount of time that police chief candidates must live in Slidell. But committee member David Dunham said that candidates for that job should have to live in Slidell for two years as well. City Attorney Thomas Schneidau said that if the City Council wants to add an amendment to that effect, it could do so when it votes on the package of amendments rather than dealing with it by adding another committee meeting.
Changes for vacancies
Other proposed changes dealt with vacancies in elected offices. Under existing charter provisions, an appointee filling a district council seat vacancy cannot run for that position in the next regular election cycle. The amendment would also forbid a district appointee from seeking one of the two at-large positions.
Council member Leslie Denham said that the proposed change would be more consistent.
The committee also wrestled with what to do if the office of police chief were to become vacant, as it did when Randy Smith resigned during his second term in office after being elected St. Tammany Parish sheriff.
The charter currently calls for the assistant police chief to fill the position until the term expires if less than a year is left or until a special election can be held if more than a year remains.
The proposed amendment deals with what would happen if there is not an assistant police chief. Current Police Chief Randy Fandal eliminated that position when he was elected in 2016. The amendment calls for the mayor to make an appointment in the absence of a designated assistant chief with a majority confirmation vote by the City Council.
The amendment also specifies that the appointee does not have to live in Slidell but must live in Wards 8 or 0, which cover the greater Slidell area, for at least a year before being appointed.
Committee members said that many of the ranking members of the police department who would be possible considerations for the interim job live outside city limits.
When Smith was elected sheriff in 2018, the assistant police chief lived outside the city limits. Smith appointed Eugene "Butch" Howard, who lived in the city, to fill the five-month vacancy until a special election was held.